Great UKE shops - NY, Nashville, San Fran, LA

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DougalM

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Hi - We are coming over to the US (from Oz) in Aug/Sep 2013. I want to buy a quality (around $200?) Tenor UKE and am visiting NY, Nashville, San Francisco and LA. Can anyone give me some recommendations of newbie friendly UKE shops that I should visit to part with my hard earned $?

Cheers,
Doug
 
From San Francisco drive south for about 25 minutes to Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto. Go south another 20 minutes and hit Ukulele Source in the Japan Town neighborhood of San Jose. Best selections for your budget and more if you feel so inclined.
 
If you're enjoying your drive, keep going southwest to Santa Cruz and Sylvan Music, a great shop with a lot of ukes. Santa Cruz is also a great town well worth a visit.
 
Nashville, Indiana has the Mainland Ukes Factory Store. But I expect you are going to the larger Nashville in Tennessee. Nashville,Tennessee should have about 1,000 guitar shops, at least three or four of which will have a great selection of ukes. But I do not know which one to send you to.

McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, Ca (part of Greater LA) had a huge selection of ukes in 2008, I have not been there since. And Santa Monica is a nice place to visit while you are in LA anyway.
 
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For Nashville, Tennessee, check out Artisan Guitars, who carry Kamaka, Collings, and National ukes. They're in Franklin, TN, about 10-15 miles south of Nashville.

There's also Gruhn Guitars (pronounced "groon"), in downtown Nashville, who are well-known as a snooty dealer of vintage and collectible instruments, and who usually have a few snooty ukes on hand as well. :)

Oops, just noticed the $200 price range above. There probably won't be any $200 Tenors at either of my suggestions, but it might be fun to check out some high-end ukuleles during your travels. Just try not to drool on them.
 
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Steedy said:
For Nashville, Tennessee, check out Artisan Guitars, who carry Kamaka, Collings, and National ukes. They're in Franklin, TN, about 10-15 miles south of Nashville.

There's also Gruhn Guitars (pronounced "groon"), in downtown Nashville, who are well-known as a snooty dealer of vintage and collectible instruments, and who usually have a few snooty ukes on hand as well. :)

Oops, just noticed the $200 price range above. There probably won't be any $200 Tenors at either of my suggestions, but it might be fun to check out some high-end ukuleles during your travels. Just try not to drool on them.
Click to expand...

I have never found Gruhn to be particularly snooty, but I agree that the stock here tends to be toward the high end. Definitely worth a visit, as one of the premier fretted instrument shops in the world, but not a good place to find a $200 uke. :)
 
It pains me to say it, but the big Sam Ash store in midtown Manhattan has a pretty good selection of the usual suspect under-$300 ukes, and they have a lot of them. Sam Ash would not typically be a recommendation, but I was there a couple of months ago and they really did have a lot of ukes. Rudy's Music across the street is actually a very nice acoustic store, but they only had a few ukes last time I was there.

Mandolin Brothers in Staten Island is well worth seeing for musical instrument lovers. They don't have a whole lot at the low end, but if you love music, there's a lot to see there. It's accessible from Manhattan by public transportation, but get comfortable, it's a long ride. Better to drive if you can.

Given the OP's budget, I would suggest a Mainland-- both Ukulele Source in San Jose and Sylvan in Santa Cruz carried a good selection last time I was out there.
 
RichM said:
I have never found Gruhn to be particularly snooty, but I agree that the stock here tends to be toward the high end. Definitely worth a visit, as one of the premier fretted instrument shops in the world, but not a good place to find a $200 uke. :)
Click to expand...

I had a bad experience there. They answer the phone in a friendly manner but they totally blew me off on my first visit.

I had to visit the store twice before a clerk would talk to me. Ended up buying a used National guitar there.

Artisan Guitars was very nice but unfortunately they didn't have any used Nationals at the time.
 
Good Luck finding a good shop that sells good instruments. Last time I was in NYC I saw nothing of value. Just basic big box stores with basic cheap imports (some were decent though). I have never been to the CA shops but the ones that Gyosh recommends seem to be awesome. Hear nothing but good about them. The Artesian shop I have talked with but they seem to carry higher end type stuff.

From Nashville, TN about 4 hours away there is ATL. In the ATL you have UkeRepublic. But that might be a little to far for you. I recommend just trying the ukes out then ordering online. If you are going to be in the US for an extended time you could have the uke mailed to a hotel you are staying at.
 
In San Francisco try Aloha Warehouse (alohawarehouse.com) at 1731 Buchanan St which is the Japantown area (415) 346-7553. Good range of ukes from inexpensive to $1,000+ K-brands. Usually plenty of Kanile'a, Kamaka, Ko'olau, Pono, Kala, and Kamoa in stock. It's a few blocks walk from my work, so I'm a regular there checking what is new in the stock (like three Kanile'a gloss tenor ukes yesterday... lovely!).
 
In Los Angeles, McCabes in Santa Monica still has lots of ukuleles. Going a bit south to Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach might be worth your while. It is a real hub of ukulele activity for Orange County, and has lots of uke group meetings and some concerts. They specialize in ukuleles.

–Lori
 
Lori said:
In Los Angeles, McCabes in Santa Monica still has lots of ukuleles. Going a bit south to Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach might be worth your while. It is a real hub of ukulele activity for Orange County, and has lots of uke group meetings and some concerts. They specialize in ukuleles.

–Lori
Click to expand...

What she said.

McCabes has more high end ukulele selection like Collings,old Martin's,etc.
http://www.mccabes.com/
Island Bazaar is strictly geared towards ukuleles, and they frequently have deals. Shirley is very nice. They have ukulele lessons,events,get togethers frequently.
I bought a Kamaka there, and have gone back since for strings,books,etc.
 
Thanks

All,

thanks for the info. I know my budget is a bit limiting but I will trawl thru some of the shops listed. Thanks very much for sharing your knowledge.

Doug
 
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