Salvador Ibáñez

I bought a Ukulele in an auction, that with fees and shipping was probably a little too expensive, because I'm not 100% sure what I have! I looked at the picture in the catalogue and thought "that's a very Spanish looking bridge, but no golpeador, and you don't usually have rope binding on a Spanish Ukulele?" . It also said it was mahogany which is unusual for a Spanish Ukulele too, usually its cedar, spruce or even pine?? Of course the Mahogany explains why no golpeador, its a much harder wood and doesn't need the protection and the rope binding, well there is one Spanish workshop that routinely uses it both as a binding and as a rosette decoration; the workshop of Salvador Ibáñez, (and if I am right perhaps I was closer to the mark with my invitation?) 

I have been after a Salvador Ibáñez Ukulele for some time now partly as they are reputedly good, (the Japanese never went in for importing poor craftsmanship), and partly because it's a Spanish workshop that I don't have any examples from. It would have been nice to have one of those large, florid sound hole labels to confirm my suspicions, but maybe there will be some remnant when it gets here and I can examine it more closely, and even if there isn't I have seen very similar models but with the label in the past.

It's here now and its quite small for a Soprano with a scale length of just under 13 inches. It is still a Soprano and not a Mini but only just; and thinking about it I remember being told Salvador Ibanez ukuleles were quite small so this is more evidence that I might be right in my surmation, (sadly no sign of a sound hole lable for corroboration). On the condition side there is a little bit of the rope binding missing from the bottom and it looks from the inside that a crack has been repaired but whoever did it must have done a really good job because there is no sign of a crack on the outside. This may not have been the bargain some of my auction purchases have been but it is worth at least what I paid for it, including fees and shipping.