Ancient Alaskan ukulele or clever hoax?
An ancient stringed instrument was found this week on the banks of the Matanuska River in Alaska. Unusually high flows in the spring had cut deeply into the river banks exposing long buried strata and this incredible ukulele, dubbed “Matanuska”
An area man who initially discovered "Matanuska" said, "Yes I found her. It was way over there. Are you from People Magazine?"
The astounding find was initially believed to be hundreds of years old based on the remarkably well-preserved native American painting on the back and sides. Experts however revised their estimates when they discovered Grover 14:1 geared tuning machines, and a sweet sounding K&K Sound Twin Spot internal pickup.
Photo of the ukulele as it was found on the river bank recently exposed by the powerful river.
Is it really an ancient native Alaskan ukulele or is it an acoustic/electric hand-painted ukulele from Iriguchi Ukuleles in Carmichael, CA. Look at these images and you decide.
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- Ancient Alaskan ukulele or clever hoax?
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- Ukulele Matanuska – is it really hundreds of years old?
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- Ancient native American painting shows wear from it’s age but has vibrant colors
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- Ukulele Matanuska has painted poplar back and sides with redwood sound board
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- Image depicts a moon face and raven
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- Grover 14:1 geared tuners caused some speculation as to the age of the ukulele.
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- Cryptic ancient script unfortunately could not be deciphered. It was from a long lost dialect.
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- Detail of the sides shows the wear and tear of hundreds of years
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- The installed K&K Sound twin spot internal pickup created controversy among expert archeologists.
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- Photo of the ukulele as it was found on the river bank recently exposed by the powerful river.
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- An area man who initially discovered “Matanuska” said, “Yes I found her. It was way over there.”
Smile when you play that!™
wow what an amazing find! It looks JUST like the one you’ve been working on…
Remarkable isn’t it? I was astounded too!
Wow! I didn’t think I liked archaeology.
But NOW, I can see that I’m quite Inuit!!!
Ha ha!
You are so clever, you rascal you…
I live on the bluff above the Matanuska river and hike along that trail all the time. How could I have missed this artifact? Recently found? It had to have been a few months ago- there’s two foot of snow on the trail at the moment…
Uh oh they’re starting to see through my hoax…Ha Ha thanks for the comment Myrna.
I think I saw that beautiful instrument on ” Antiques Road Show” where they valued it at PRICELESS!!!
Priceless and STILL a bargain! Thanks Greg.
Dear Dave:
Good to see that you are making ukuleles. (Pam sent me the link)
I will be sure to pass this information on to my son, Ben.
Frank, my husband and the boys all lived in Alaska since 1983. Frank and I moved to Portland, Oregon in May 2010. We visit him and wife, Tania and our grandchildren every 3 months.
When did you move to Carmel?
How is your father, Jim doing?
Penny
Hey Penny,
So nice to hear from you on here. Alaska? I’ve never been, but from pictures it seems incredibly beautiful.
I’m truly enjoying building ukuleles. I’m actually getting ready for a show in Reno at the end of March so I’ve been very busy building.
My wife Diana and I live in Carmichael (though Carmel would be nice!), which is just outside Sacramento. We’ve been together here since ’88. Dad is doing pretty well. We just spent a week with him on Maui in December. Diana and I took him as an Xmas gift. He’s also going with me to the ukulele show in Reno. We got to see Pam’s Mom while we were on Maui. Dad wanted to take her some sushi and we got to see her right at lunchtime so it was great.
Dave
David,
You make beautiful instruments. I am looking for a Master to apprentice for. Do you know anyone in the area who might need or want or will put up with a 59 year old apprentice? Making beautiful Ukuleles is what I want to do when I retire. Purely for the joy of creating.
Thanks for showing yours.
Kurt
Hey Kurt,
Thanks for the comments. I don’t know of any open apprenticeships but why not just give it a go on your own? I recommend getting a kit first and then just jump in with both feet. I’m a very small shop so I don’t have the need or the room to double my workforce. There are lots of instructional videos on YouTube as well. Try it, You’ll like it!
Dave