Archive for April, 2009

Flea Ukulele

The Flea is the little brother of the Fluke and is constructed in much the same way. The top of the uke is solid wood (Australian hoop pine is standard and mahogany and koa are available) and the back and sides are molded plastic – the theory being that the top of the ukulele is [...]

Fender Ukulele

Fender are, of course, the biggest name in guitars. So they caused something of a stir when they moved into ukuleles with the release of three ukuleles: Pa’ina, Nohea and Hau’oli. Their biggest supporter (by some huge margin) is Ukulele Ray who seems to be continuously pimping them. The word from the rest of the [...]

T’s Ukulele

T’s Guitars are a Japanese firm run by Shinji Takahashi that began producing instruments in 1985. The started producing ukuleles in 1998 and now have a range of six standard instruments (the also make a number of other ukuleles) including a sopranino, a MiniTenor (halfway between a concert and a tenor) and a solid electric [...]

Regal Ukulele

Regal were the cheap and cheerful brand of their day (the 20s through to the 1950s) making inexpensive ukuleles often decorated with cartoon characters, cowboys or other scenes. They got themselves a big endorsement when they hooked in Johnny Marvin.
On eBay

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Beltona Ukulele

Beltona are a very highly respected maker of resonator instruments including ukuleles. They have a rather gruesome claim to fame: Tiny Tim was playing a Beltona ukulele when he had a heart attack and died. In fact, that very ukulele turned up on eBay in March 2009.
They might have lost one supporter, but they’ve picked [...]

Clearwater Ukulele

Clearwater are a UK based musical instrument company who sell a number of re-branded ukuleles – most notably their version of the BugsGear EleUke and their Harmony Vita uke copy.
On eBay UK

Clearwater Electric Ukulele Soprano Rosewood c [...]

Ibanez Ukulele

Ibanez have a long history in guitars. Despite the name, they are made by a Japanese firm called Hoshino Gakki. They adopted the rather more Western-friendly name back in 1929 when they began importing guitars made by Spanish luthier Salvador Ibanez. As it happens, Salvador Ibanez made ukuleles. However, it wasn’t until 2009 that Ibanez [...]

Riptide Ukulele

Riptide ukuleles are fairly new on the scene. They are made by Boulder Creek Guitars (in China).
Their most obvious feature is the oddly placed soundholes – one in the top corner of the soundboard and one on the side. The one on the soundboard is presumably to make way for some fancy bracing on the [...]