Brüko Ukuleles are a family-run German company with a long history of uke making. The company started with in the 30s making ukuleles and banjos with brothers Franz and Josef Kollitz at the helm (the name is a contraction of “Brüder Kollitz”) and, with a few interruptions, are still making them today. You can find […]

Blackbird guitars are a San Francisco company who make their instruments from carbon fiber (and a bit of kevlar if your uke playing is so bad getting shot is a serious danger). That means they’re waterproof, tough and loud. They have one ukulele, a tenor. But the technology doesn’t come cheap. Their website lists it […]

Luna have been making guitars since 2005 and are one of the few guitar companies started and headed by a woman, Yvonne de Villiers. Villiers started out as a designer and stained-glass artist. Which might explain the Luna ukulele’s individual and ‘love it or hate it’ look. The website is heavier on symbolism than it […]

Johnah Kumalae was part of the second generation of ukulele makers starting in 1911. He quickly became one of the most prodigious ukulele makers around – making around 300 a month according to Jim Beloff’s The Ukulele: A Visual History. This may account for the fact that, despite them being high quality ukuleles, they can […]

Augustino LoPrinzi is a famed ukulele and guitar maker who has designed instruments for the likes of Fender, Martin and Guild. Nowadays he’s making his own ukuleles with his daughter Donna Lo Prinzi in Florida. As you would expect with a pedigree like that, his instruments aren’t cheap but they come with a great reputation. […]

The Le Domino has to be the coolest ukulele around. They’re marked out by their jet black color and the trademark is the decal on the body of a pair of dominoes – some models also have dominoes as fret markers. They were predominantly made in the 1920’s and 30’s and vintage Le Dominoes crop […]

LOCALS are a brand of ukulele that have cropped up on eBay recently and ,I must admit, I know very little about them. I Googled them and the first result was me – no help at all. So everything I know comes from their eBay listings: they’re solid koa, made in Hawaii and, “the finest […]

In Hawaiian, Ana’ole means, “unsurpassed, immeasurable, incomparable.” With a name like that, head Ana’ole man, Gareth Yahiku was obviously setting a high standard for his ukuleles and has followed that through by making high quality (and high priced) instruments. All their ukes are made in Hawaii. Ana’ole are famous for their ornate soundholes. Their models […]

Hamano are Chinese made ukuleles but that doesn’t mean, as it can do, that they are low quality ukuleles. Hamano make solid wood ukuleles to a high spec. When they first started doing this, they were the only Chinese made solid wood uke around which made them an excellent choice for someone wanting a high […]

Weissenborn are best known as makers of Hawaiian, hollow neck, lap steel guitars. But they have, at various times in their history, produced ukuleles as well. They don’t seem to make them any more and they’re very hard to get hold of. At the time of writing MGM has one in his store. And that […]