Dianetic Tiple

Scientology and Tiple ....what a weird cocktail!
Ron Hubbard owned a post 1933 T28 Martin Tiple, it's obvious that he could played the instrument as could a longtime uke player (he bought a decal pineapple Kamaka ukulele in 1927 in Hawaii and boast about having inspired Arthur Godfrey with his Washigton DC Radio banjo,uke & talk broadcasting performances in the 40's)

On the dangerous "church" pages we can learn that Ron,the hero, was captivated by ethno music and during his numerous travels bought notably a columbian cuarto a timple canarias and the pineapple Kamaka....the Dianetic T28 was probably purchased at his local dealer...

Alexis Korner

The Alexis Korner T28 Martin Tiple

Born in Paris in 1928, austrian greek/turkish by his parents, Alexis Koerner lived in France, Switzerland, North africa and finaly reach London in 1940 were he felt in love with the blues during the blitz !
British blues pioneer in the 50's he brings the delta and chicago riffs to most of the mid 60's brit pop heroes young ears (Stones, Cream, Mayall, Page etc..) His focus on the 10 stringed instrument goes far more than a guitarist interest for a funny little instrument as told in a page by Tom Robinson about AK instruments :

"The one Martin guitar that did capture Alexis’s imagination was the Tiple, a small ten-stringed ukulele-like instrument with a stretched neck and overgrown headstock. He’d first been drawn to its sound on 1930s country records by artists such as the Carter Family, and asked the London guitar dealer Ivor Mairants to find him one. It took ages, but when Ivor finally delivered, Alexis worked hard on mastering the instrument. With the likes of Page, Clapton, Hendrix, Beck and Kossoff all jostling for attention in 1960s London there was no sense in competing as just another guitar player. But by evolving his own unique style on the Tiple, Alexis could hold his own on any stage and in any company – and indeed put it to good effect when recording the Snape album at Island studios. As the UK’s foremost Tiple player he was in a class of one."

Korner shows his tiple skills
on this cover of "Vicksburg Blues" :




A"heavy" Korner & Snape title, "Country Shoes" with
great tiple chorus around 2"30...




A 1971 Robert Johnson cover with wild tiple playing,
including cymbalum sound tremolos,"Hellhound On My Trail" :




from the same album "Bootleg him" :
"Evil hearted woman" with the same bluesy mid-oriental touch

Timmy Rogers

Timmie Rogers (Timothy Louis Ancrum) 1915–2006
Known as a pioneer of emancipated black stage comedy in the united states, he was also a tiple player and composer, adding songs in his shows during his entire career.
Back in the 20's dançing in the streets at 8 he joined the vaudeville circuit and was part of a successful dance duo in the 30's "Timmie & Freddie", probably learning uke & tiple in the early 30's as so many ...
Then, in the 40's & 50's he was the first black comedy artist acting alone, without blackface make up and stereotype racial clichés in front of a white audience … also known for his tuxedo wearing on stage and his famous"Oh Yeah !" gimmick.




He starts on TV Shows in 1949 "Sugarhill times" an "all stars" show with Belafonte, Armstrong, and guests as The Charioteers , probably singing & playing tiple…
Then during the 50's he appears many times with Jackie Gleason and later in the 60's in The Dom DeLuise Show.






Then, he shows up several times in the 70's "Sanford & son" sitcom with Redd Foxx (John Elroy Sanford) singing old times duos with an electrified T28 showing an humbucker style pickup betwin the neck and the hole, a pickgard and two buttons... probably a luthier customisation.

As a composer and singer he ran a parallel career, sharing scenes with Jazz artists he met Nat Cole and wrote for him “If You Can’t Smile and Say Yes, Please Don’t Cry and Say No” and for Tommy Dorsey “Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven, But Nobody Wants To Die" and probably much more for other artists.
As an interpret he started in the 40's with for example this patriot 1944"Bring Enough Clothes For Three Days"



Then during the RockN'Roll decade he recorded some hot 78rpm around 1957 for Cameo records "Take me to your leader", "Back to school again" but the notable one is here "I've Got A Dog Who Loves Me" with what I think is an open chord tiple strumm covering the entire song…..wow !! a real RockN'Roll tiple hit!
...the later soul funk "Chicken Back" sounds more like a lousy come back... of course without tiple.
The splendid black and white photograph come from this page :
an interview of his daughter Joy King were she report a small museum project in Portsmouth showcasing his father memorabilia, including the famous Martin tiple....is it the old 50's/60's T28 showing strum wear on the table or the 70's electrified one ?