The American tiples are based on the Canary Island instrument and were used in Hawaiian and novelty music during the golden age of ukuleles(1920's-1950s). The South American tiples are quite different and require a different playing technique. The problems with the tiple are a) that the tension from all the strings tended to rip the instrument apart and B) difficult to tune and keep in tune. For this reason, it never became very popular, and there are few surviving instruments.

D'Angelico made a few. They are wonderful solo instruments. Tommy Tedesco had a Martin tiple as part of his studio set, and so you may notice it from time to time in pop recordings from the 60s and 70s.