THE HISTORY OF DE VEKEY UKULELES (Bournemouth, UK 1910's-1930's)

Рет қаралды 1,417

2 жыл бұрын

Did you enjoy this video? I would be honoured if you leave me a tip here; Paypal Tip Jar - www.paypal.com/paypalme/ukesw...
My findings about De Vekey and available links for reference;
De Vekey Ukuleles are one of many cool and unique stories that flew under the radar in pre-internet times. I felt a calling to create a video about De Vekey having worked in the Ukulele trade in the very same town for half my life... The legend is that Aladar De Vekey was a 'Hungarian nobleman' but was more likely actually born locally in Christchurch based on census information. He had a talent for Importing goods to the UK around the time of the first World War. If you had a music shop back then it was quite likely you taught too and when doing my research I found an example two people who learned mandolin from Aladar in the 1910's as children. This was from a Mandolin Cafe forum but annoyingly I cannot find the link to show my source.
Mandolins Imported by the De Vekey company have Stratford road labels. You can see an example of this here;
The Burlington arcade is just down the road from Stratford road here in Bournemouth so although it is possible De Vekey had a couple of shops or the information available online about the Burlington arcade has actually confused this for the Royal Arcade in Boscombe. Unless someone incredibly old remembers it as a child, I don't think we can truly know.
The made in bohemia label appears to be quite an infrequent thing on De Vekeys and many don't reference where they were made or just say 'foreign'. Other instruments with this kind of decoration but no De Vekey name pop up from time to time and labels inside claim Bohemia as the place of manufacture so I am going to run with this... If you have more information, let me know and maybe I can make a part 2? Bohemia became part of checkoslovakia in 1918 after leaving the austro-hungarian empire and many violins/pottery etc that came in the 1920s began using different terminology or directly reference nearby areas like Saxonby so it's likely this happened with the ukuleles too or as was mentioned to me before, De Vekey may well have made his own labels for the instruments and not bothered to change anything... they were clearly selling well, why mess with it if its part of your wider business ventures?
De Vekey supplied his ukes and the Gibson Mandolins from 1910-1932 so many people hedge their bets and proclaim they have a 1920s-1930s De Vekey but the more I dive deep into it, the more I think the De Vekeys were mostly made earlier...
Bonners link referencing Stratford Road - www.bonhams.com/auctions/1601...
JP Guitars link which uses information from Lardys Ukulele Database and other online sources that seem to no longer exist. - www.jp-guitars.co.uk/sales/ot...
Lardys Ukulele Database - sites.google.com/site/ukulele... (this link doesn't work but a lot of my information came from this site when researchign De Vekey 5+ years ago).
IMPORTANT LINKS
Email Enquries - ukeswithalex@gmail.com
Ukes Website - ukeswith.com
Music Website - alexbeds.co.uk
Merch Store - ukeswith.bigcartel.com
Patreon - / ukeswithalex
Paypal Tip Jar - www.paypal.com/paypalme/ukesw...
KZfaq Channel - / ukeswithalex
Facebook - / ukeswithalex
Instagram - / ukeswithalex

Пікірлер: 26

@paulkleinkramer5065 Жыл бұрын

What a fantastic pre-war sound! Thanks for doing this for us.

@robertolozanopetitsoleiluk6797 Жыл бұрын

Wonderful the way you share your passion, Alex ! Muchos thanks 😉

@AdventuresofanoldSeadog Жыл бұрын

I have a De Vekey style 3 that is unusual as it was bought in Quetta India by my Grandmother. I know for certain that it pre dates 1935 as Quetta was completely destroyed in an earthquake of that year. Hope that is interesting to you.

@UkesWithAlex Жыл бұрын

Love this. Looking forward to seeing photos

@MariUSukulele 2 жыл бұрын

DANKE, Alex, for your customer service/assistance over the phöne today ✌🏻- excited to learn about De Vekey tonight!

@benjaminbrogan9289 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you Alex. Being a ukulele player and ex resident of Bournemouth this was really interesting. Dorset is beautiful and enjoy your beautiful ukulele in a beautiful part of the world.

@craigrobertson12 2 жыл бұрын

Hello from Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Nice presentation, Alex. I have 3 deVekeys, and do record with them on occasion. I have two style 4s and a style 3.They definitely have their own sound...and it is a useful sound and distinct from the other tenors I have. They are very well made and the solid spruce top is much thicker than modern instruments. The 4s were rosewood back and sides and the 3s were lovely maple.(with a solid maple back, no multiply like the rosewood)

@UkesWithAlex 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much for the comment Craig (and the other thing in my inbox this morning). I am so intrigued to learn someone across the ocean has such a great collection... I am more than happy to be corrected about the backs as well. The more knowledge from De Vekey owners that this video can collate the better! I'd be very keen to know how you learned about the de vekeys, any quirks about yours and where you acquired them. Take care.

@craigrobertson12 2 жыл бұрын

@@UkesWithAlex Hi Alex, you’re welcome. Thanks for the video about one of my favorite Ukuleles. You’re just getting up I’m just going to bed. Oddly enough I got two of the Deveky’s from Manchester music. I guess they bought them from a private collection. One of the style fours I got from a bicycle shop in Pennsylvania, of all places. It was in a little rougher condition, but it appears to be a very early 4 Also I didn’t mean to suggest that you were wrong about the backs. The back of the force is a Solid sheet of Rosewood over Birch. Oddly enough the style three has a gorgeous tiger striped maple back that is solid you can tell from inside. I have no idea what the ones or twos are like, but if you come across any let me know…

@UkesWithAlex 2 жыл бұрын

I've seen about half a dozen style 2s and they are lovely but quite a bit darker than the style 4... possibly too dark really. Such a shame it was in the years before I did youtube The style 1 I've seen was in terrible condition but the owner had had it for decades and he loved it. I couldn't get a tune out of it. I'd love to know how that uke ended up where it did in that bike shop 😆

@davethorpe1945 2 жыл бұрын

As always - that’s a fascinating watch. Completely unique sound. 👍👍

@DanielFlores-ku8os 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the amazing video Alex. That De Vekey looks and sounds wonderful. I really enjoyed the effort you put into learning the history of the company. When I purchase vintage instruments to restore I try to find out the back story of the instrument when possible. There is something extra special about quality vintage instruments that needs to be experienced to truly understand. The aged wood, old building methods, unique shapes and sizes, wear from use, etc all working in harmony with one another in the hands of a respectful player to make beautiful music. Keep up the great work.🙂

@marimaeabreu 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for sharing Alex, that was really interesting to learn. It's a beautiful ukulele and in great condition considering how old it is and it has a unique sound! Thanks for sharing!

@liannejohnson5491 2 жыл бұрын

Wow, so interesting! And what a unique sound. Thanks, Alex.

@animateangus Жыл бұрын

George Formby and George Harrison both owned DeVekey ukuleles.

@dedalusjmmr 2 жыл бұрын

Wonderful (hi)story.

@danpugh9407 2 жыл бұрын

I have a 1920 De Vekey number 1 probably one of the last and best condition ones left bought in London over 100 years ago and held by John Lennon at some point in it's life for sale .

@UkesWithAlex 2 жыл бұрын

I have seen you advertising it in uke group's on Facebook. Good luck with the sale.

@leighwilsonartist 2 жыл бұрын

It’s a great Ukulele, it’s such a shame that some of the history is lost about the brand, you would think the family would know more, however there were probably many importers around that time that were relatively unknown. I’m new to Ukuleles so can’t really help much with the history. Great story though and you never know the power of the internet, someone may chime in with some information for you.👍

@inamemartin1003 Жыл бұрын

Hello, sorry for my English, I use a translator. I would like you to see some photos of a ukulele to know its origin.

@UkesWithAlex Жыл бұрын

Ukeswithalex@gmail.com

@marj1585 2 жыл бұрын

Alex, would you (or anyone) repair or refinish the wear on the top, or is that considered a total faux-pas?

@UkesWithAlex 2 жыл бұрын

I think the patina is Important to leave where possible... if the top split then you could always rebuild it but the wood and its age and maturity is part of the magic

@marj1585 2 жыл бұрын

@@UkesWithAlex Ah, of course. It would affect the tone. I'm just a philistine, I want shiny!

@UkesWithAlex 2 жыл бұрын

😄