Luthiers or Uke Shops in Kauai? Recommendations?

blue_knight_usa

blue_knight_usa

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
1,139
Reaction score
3
Location
East Bay, CA.
Hello All,

I will be heading to Kauai in April. Do any of know of any custom luthiers on the Island there or any uke shops? Appreciate any recommendations.

Thanks!
 
Hi, I don't know of any luthiers, but I do know of about five uke shops.

If you are on the South or West part of the island, there are Scotty's in Anahola and the Ukulele Store in Koloa.

In Kapa'a there are Larry's Music and Kauai Music and Sound.

And in Hanalei on the North Shore, there is Hanalei Strings and Things.

Have a great trip, Kauai is such a wonderful place!
 
wickedwahine11 said:
Hi, I don't know of any luthiers, but I do know of about five uke shops.

If you are on the South or West part of the island, there are Scotty's in Anahola and the Ukulele Store in Koloa.

In Kapa'a there are Larry's Music and Kauai Music and Sound.

And in Hanalei on the North Shore, there is Hanalei Strings and Things.

Have a great trip, Kauai is such a wonderful place!
Click to expand...

The ukulele store in Koloa is a second store of Larry's in Kapaa. The Kapaa store is also the home base for Sam Bananno (sp?) and both stores carry Kamoa almost exclusively, just so you know. Still a must do. Great people!
 
Island Ukulele in Kealia and please check the 808 Builders List. You can also ask the locals if they know of anyone who builds. Hawaii has some very talented and skilled craftsman, and their wares can be found by way of just talkin story wit da locals.
 
And make sure you hit up the Oasis on Wednesdays and Rob's Good Time Grill on Friday. A couple UUer's play shows there every week. :)
 
I believe Kamoa has a line of ukuleles made on Kaua'i by local luthiers. Stop by Larry's Music in Kapa'a which, as has been mentioned, has become a Kamoa shop, to see if they have any locally-built Kamoas in stock.
 
mds725 said:
I believe Kamoa has a line of ukuleles made on Kaua'i by local luthiers. Stop by Larry's Music in Kapa'a which, as has been mentioned, has become a Kamoa shop, to see if they have any locally-built Kamoas in stock.
Click to expand...


Hey Mark>> i heard the Kamoas are made in China by a Violin making company..a local guy(Hawaiian) married into the company and designs the ukes..

MGM told me very few Kamoas where built on Kauai..they gone by now i would think..
 
hawaii 50 said:
Hey Mark>> i heard the Kamoas are made in China by a Violin making company..a local guy(Hawaiian) married into the company and designs the ukes..

MGM told me very few Kamoas where built on Kauai..they gone by now i would think..
Click to expand...

You have to get one of the ones specially marked as Kauai built.

http://kamoaukulelecompany.com/info.php?id=18

I have one, a KB-T tenor. They usually seem to have a few in the Kapa'a store, when I bought mine I think they had four or so.
 
I bought my Kanile'a K1-T Premium for $ 1100 from Scotty's in September (or October ?). To be honest, if you buy a Uke from any other store on Kauai you're a dope ;) His prices are unbeatable.

By all means visit "World of Kamoa", but they're way overpriced for Chinese Ukes (in my opinion). Also, I'm not fooled for one second by the fact that they "donate" Ukes to the local Hawaiian cultural centre at Coconut Maketplace for people to learn on. The only reason they do it is so that when 70 year old Joe Average from the mainland comes to visit and has one of the 30 minute Ukulele lessons at 8:30 in the morning, he will take a trip up to Kapa'a and buy a Kamoa. The guy who runs it came over to me while I was standing watching the Marketplace hula show (I had just picked up my Uke that morning) and started telling me how good Kamoa Ukes were, and how generaous they were. He asked to look in the case so he could advise me on how good the "beginner Uke" I'd bought was, then shut the f**k up real fast when he saw what it was.

I know he has a business to run, but I hate the atmosphere in both shops, but the multicoloured Ukes hanging everywhere look like someone ate overpriced rainbow crystals and puked all over the walls.

Can you guess I'm not a fan ?
 
wickedwahine11 said:
You have to get one of the ones specially marked as Kauai built.

http://kamoaukulelecompany.com/info.php?id=18

I have one, a KB-T tenor. They usually seem to have a few in the Kapa'a store, when I bought mine I think they had four or so.
Click to expand...

They are nice Ukes, I played a couple. Scotty has one of those in the store from before Kamoa "bought" the company (or whatever the deal was) and rebranded them. That's the story, anyway. I still fancy one at some point.

Btw, don.t be tempted to buy one of the "Kauai Built" Island Ukes by Raymond Rapozo, they're overpriced junk. The couple that I tried felt as though someone had just hollowed out a piece of solid Koa, the finish was shite and they sounded deader than a dead thing...even taking into account the fact that the strings had probably been on a while.

Stay out of the Ukulele and Knitting shop at Hanalei as well. They guy there wouldn't recognise a decent instrument if you hit him in the face with one. He tried to sell me a junk Rapozo Uke for $ 1800.
 
The Big Kahuna said:
I bought my Kanile'a K1-T Premium for $ 1100 from Scotty's in September (or October ?). To be honest, if you buy a Uke from any other store on Kauai you're a dope ;) His prices are unbeatable.

By all means visit "World of Kamoa", but they're way overpriced for Chinese Ukes (in my opinion). Also, I'm not fooled for one second by the fact that they "donate" Ukes to the local Hawaiian cultural centre at Coconut Maketplace for people to learn on. The only reason they do it is so that when 70 year old Joe Average from the mainland comes to visit and has one of the 30 minute Ukulele lessons at 8:30 in the morning, he will take a trip up to Kapa'a and buy a Kamoa. The guy who runs it came over to me while I was standing watching the Marketplace hula show (I had just picked up my Uke that morning) and started telling me how good Kamoa Ukes were, and how generaous they were. He asked to look in the case so he could advise me on how good the "beginner Uke" I'd bought was, then shut the f**k up real fast when he saw what it was.

I know he has a business to run, but I hate the atmosphere in both shops, but the multicoloured Ukes hanging everywhere look like someone ate overpriced rainbow crystals and puked all over the walls.

Can you guess I'm not a fan ?
Click to expand...


Wow..i get it Lol

i am a local guy grew up in Hawaii and advise tourist to watch out for those local hustlers..they might say their ukes built in Hawaii but watch out..

i went to the Aloha Stadium flee market and saw someone selling ukes(to tourist) that were built in Hawaii..but the build quality and sound was really bad and i was 98% sure the ukes were not built in Hawaii..

i asked him later and he told me,,some of the ukes are built in Hawaii..my guess 1 of 100..
 
The Big Kahuna said:
I bought my Kanile'a K1-T Premium for $ 1100 from Scotty's in September (or October ?). To be honest, if you buy a Uke from any other store on Kauai you're a dope ;) His prices are unbeatable.

By all means visit "World of Kamoa", but they're way overpriced for Chinese Ukes (in my opinion). Also, I'm not fooled for one second by the fact that they "donate" Ukes to the local Hawaiian cultural centre at Coconut Maketplace for people to learn on. The only reason they do it is so that when 70 year old Joe Average from the mainland comes to visit and has one of the 30 minute Ukulele lessons at 8:30 in the morning, he will take a trip up to Kapa'a and buy a Kamoa. The guy who runs it came over to me while I was standing watching the Marketplace hula show (I had just picked up my Uke that morning) and started telling me how good Kamoa Ukes were, and how generaous they were. He asked to look in the case so he could advise me on how good the "beginner Uke" I'd bought was, then shut the f**k up real fast when he saw what it was.

I know he has a business to run, but I hate the atmosphere in both shops, but the multicoloured Ukes hanging everywhere look like someone ate overpriced rainbow crystals and puked all over the walls.

Can you guess I'm not a fan ?
Click to expand...

No...really...tell us how you REALLY feel :D

I also bought a uke at Scotty's. Not the coolest environment, but like Kahuna said, the best prices, and great selection when I was there. Once Scotty new I was a serious buyer he pulled out a good number of ukes for me to look at so I could decide.
 
Where are you going to be staying on Kauai by the way ? Plenty of UU members know Kauai better than me, but I might have been the last to visit there, so I may (possibly) have more up-to-date info on some of the bars, restaurants etc...doubtful though.

There was a new sports bar called "The 9th Island" opened near Safeway down from Kapa'a. They closed at 6PM every night!!!!

I made a bet with a friend who lives on the island that they'd only last 3 months. I'd like to know if they're still open ;)
 
PedalFreak said:
No...really...tell us how you REALLY feel :D

I also bought a uke at Scotty's. Not the coolest environment, but like Kahuna said, the best prices, and great selection when I was there. Once Scotty new I was a serious buyer he pulled out a good number of ukes for me to look at so I could decide.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Scotty can be a bit of a salesman, but he's no worse than most...and a lot better than the mother******s on the jewellery counter in Hilo Hatties in Lihue, running their "Pearl Oyster" scam.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

R
 
hawaii 50 said:
i am a local guy grew up in Hawaii and advise tourist to watch out for those local hustlers..they might say their ukes built in Hawaii but watch out..
Click to expand...

Heh yeah mate. The one thing in my favour when I visit Hawaii is the fact that I'm English. Every Englishman is fitted with a bullshit detector at birth. We believe NOTHING :)
 
The Big Kahuna said:
Heh yeah mate. The one thing in my favour when I visit Hawaii is the fact that I'm English. Every Englishman is fitted with a bullshit detector at birth. We believe NOTHING :)
Click to expand...



Haha very funny..it's the little old ladies from Iowa that i worry about!!their grand son wanted a nice ukulele from Hawaii etc..
 
hawaii 50 said:
Wow you got lucky..Lol
they say the ones built in China not bad..as i guess they have been building violins for awhile now..
Click to expand...

There is a hand built line within Kamoa's line that are made on Kauai. "Kauai-built"

Personally, I thought their 500/700 series sound very good . . . but there's always the allure of the hand-built koa uke.
 
I bought my Pono at Scotty's and had a really good experience. I was playing the one hanging on the wall and I really liked it, and I decided that was the one I wanted. Before he completed the sale, he took me in the back and we proceeded to open every last box containing the Pono Koa Tenor model I wanted just to make sure that the wood, etc was the best one for me. They were very nice and not rushing me out the door at all, they were very helpful. I ended up buying the one that was on the wall in the first place. I would buy from them again. Best price I ever saw for the Pono also, but it was four years ago.

I also have a Grand Concert 700 series Kamoa, made in China. It was more expensive than the Pono, but I really prefer my Pono. It's not that the Kamoa is bad, it's just that the Pono is better. There appears to be a lot more attention to detail in the Pono, I think the QC for Kamoa could be better, especially at those prices. These are just my personal opinions and experiences, please play as many ukuleles as you can and choose what is best for you.

Have a great trip, I love Kauai and hope to go back soon.
 
gyosh said:
And make sure you hit up the Oasis on Wednesdays and Rob's Good Time Grill on Friday. A couple UUer's play shows there every week. :)
Click to expand...

Jerry, Jerry, Jerry...

Name names, man. A couple of UUers? :-D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

weeshan
Crying...new uke damage...please help...luthiers?
2
Replies
36
Views
3K
lfoo6952
L
JamieFromOntario
Uke stores or Luthiers in Lyon
Replies
0
Views
248
JamieFromOntario
JamieFromOntario
hellotracy
Upgrading my uke, young luthiers, entry level pono
Replies
7
Views
3K
hellotracy
hellotracy
Doc_J
Want to build a uke in Atlanta under one of the world's best luthiers?
Replies
5
Views
831
Doc_J
Doc_J
bunnyflower
Crack in uke, any local luthiers?
Replies
12
Views
2K
bunnyflower
bunnyflower
Top Bottom