The question of who invented the banjulele has long been debated. What can’t be debated is that Alvin Keech was the man who trademarked the term ‘banjulele’ and the man who popularized it. Keech was born in Hawaii and moved to England (I can’t imagine what possessed him). His instruments exploded in popularity in the […]

Honu means turtle in Hawaiian. A fact that won’t be lost on you once you’ve seen their ukuleles. Their turtle motif can crop up on the headstock, the body, the fret-markers and even the bridge. The instruments are made by the Big Island Ukulele Company and are distributed by Kala. They used to be made […]

Gretsch might be best known for their kick ass rockabilly guitars, but they also sold a number of ukuleles. They were usually rebranded ukuleles made by others. They reached their peak in the 50s and aimed their ukuleles for the middle/lower end of the market. Even so, their instruments have aged well and the vintage […]

Cordoba are mainly a guitar company – specialising in nylon string acoustic guitars. Even though they have only been going since 1997, they have built a good reputation and have some very impressive supporters including Bon Iver, Leonard Cohen, Jose Gonzalez and The Decemberists. They are based in California and their ukes are made in […]

Laka ukuleles are a range from Vintage ukuleles. Probably a good idea for them to release ukes under a name other than Vintage because anyone searching for vintage ukuleles is going to find a lot of old ukuleles (and the new name is an anagram of Kala). Anyhoo, the ukuleles seem to be only available […]

Earnest Instruments was set up by Joel Eckhaus in 1976. Since then, they’ve gone on to produce a range of distinctive and trend setting ukuleles. As far as I’m aware they were the first people to come out with Telecaster and Les Paul styled ukuleles in the form of the Tululele (as played by Eddie […]

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 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 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 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 On Video Daddy Stovepipe lays down some blues on a 30s Regal ukulele.