Heading to NYC - any good ukulele shops in Manhattan?

Not really. There's a Sam Ash and a Guitar Center. I bought my Luna soprano from Sam Ash, but I wouldn't spend any more than $60 on a uke there, the rest of their stock was junk.

I bought my Fender NoHea from Ludlow Guitars down the street from Katz Deli. Not much stock there, but it was the uke I wanted, and it has the best Koa (laminate) of any NoHea I've seen.

There's also East Village Music Store who have plenty of ukes on their website, but they have weird opening hours. They stock Mainland when they can get them, and quite a few Eddy Finn* but phone first.

There's a few others that sell Lanikai and stuff like that, but I didn't visit them.









* 3...2...1
 
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Mandolin Brothers is in Staten Island. They've got a killer reputation for mandolins and banjos, but they also have a small but tasty selection of ukes. I crave the vega little wonder banjo uke. I have never been (I'm in the UK), but it's on the bucket list. If you go I'd love to hear what it's like. They have a website
http://mandoweb.com/Instruments/Ukulele
 
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FYI East Village Music is between locations and being run out of the guy's apartment, you can arrange a purchase easy enough, but not really the place to browse/try stuff out.
 
Cheers mate, it was 2012 when I was last there, so I guess my info is out of date. To be honest, looking at his opening hours and after speaking to him, he didn't really seem all the interested in doing business anyway. I could be wrong though.
 
Retrofret in Brooklyn has a nice selection of vintage ukes.
 
You could also check out Matt Umanov Guitars, they are in the Village (downtown), 273 Bleecker St., NYC or Call them (212) 675-2157. They've been in business since 1965, and have lots of vintage instruments of many kinds, and some new as well.

This page shows some vintage ukes (but scroll DOWN):

http://umanovguitars.com/store/old-stuff/mando-banjo-uke-tenor/

and this page shows NEW ukes:

http://umanovguitars.com/store/new/ukulele/

Once upon a time (many yrs ago) I bought a metal-bodied resonator guitar from them (but sold it shortly thereafter, as I needed the cash), and they were very pleasant to deal with.
 
+1 on Matt Umanov-- probably the best music shop actually in Manhattan. I also enjoy going to Rudy's Music on 47th Street, as the fellow who runs their acoustic department is really nice and very knowledgeable. However, at least at my last visit, they didn't have a whole lot in the way of ukes, but worthwhile if you play other acoustic instruments.
 
Alright dude...I defended you in another thread that led you down a dark path of blitzing this message board with post after post. I figured you were a well intended guy who just wasn't able to express himself in a way that fit in with the dynamics of this board. I watched you inject your political views into an ukulele discussion of all things. Still, I always try to see the best in people and didn't view you negatively. But this is where I draw the line.

A vast overstatement like NYC is fake and overrated from someone who obviously doesn't know the city is just too ignorant for me to ignore . It's the most populous city in the US and has more culture, intrigue, history, other dynamics than virtually any other city on the planet. To call it one big tourist trap because you didn't do the research to figure out where to go, ignoring the fact that there's more diversity in people, places and things than likely anywhere you've ever been, is actually downright annoying. Are you interested in art? Are you interested in music? Are you interested in food? Are you interested in cultures? Are you interested in architecture? Are you interested in history? Are you interested in people? Are you interested in anything beyond yourself? If the answer is yes to any of these questions you have absolutely no excuse to feel dissatisfied with what the city has to offer you.

And can I just offer one friendly piece of advice? Go on and write what you are going to write. Just don't hit post...wait five minutes, then go back to what you wrote and ask yourself if this is really what you want to say. Now perhaps you are going to say that I should be doing that myself. But trust me, this is me, holding back A LOT

Love,
Steve

iamesperambient said:
Having lived in philly for a few years. I find philly to be a more small town feel in a major city vibe. It has a more blue collar homey feel to it, NYC is like one giant tourist trap, it feels very fake to me not to mention its expensive as hell even to get there from NJ. Philly theres tons of cool record stores, and music stores and its much cheaper to live and shop there and has a more 'real' vibe at least to me. Again this is just my opinion.
Click to expand...
 
And btw, one thing that IS true is that NYC sucks for ukulele buying. Umanov and retrofret are about as good as you're going to get. But I doubt you'll find a single person who works in a store that has even heard of Koaloha.

Ukejungle said:
Or close by too.

Trey
Click to expand...
 
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Stevelele said:
Alright dude...I defended you in another thread that led you down a dark path of blitzing this message board with post after post. I figured you were a well intended guy who just wasn't able to express himself in a way that fit in with the dynamics of this board. I watched you inject your political views into an ukulele discussion of all things. Still, I always try to see the best in people and didn't view you negatively. But this is where I draw the line.

A vast overstatement like NYC is fake and overrated from someone who obviously doesn't know the city is just too ignorant for me to ignore . It's the most populous city in the US and has more culture, intrigue, history, other dynamics than virtually any other city on the planet. To call it one big tourist trap because you didn't do the research to figure out where to go, ignoring the fact that there's more diversity in people, places and things than likely anywhere you've ever been, is actually downright annoying. Are you interested in art? Are you interested in music? Are you interested in food? Are you interested in cultures? Are you interested in architecture? Are you interested in history? Are you interested in people? Are you interested in anything beyond yourself? If the answer is yes to any of these questions you have absolutely no excuse to feel dissatisfied with what the city has to offer you.

And can I just offer one friendly piece of advice? Go on and write what you are going to write. Just don't hit post...wait five minutes, then go back to what you wrote and ask yourself if this is really what you want to say. Now perhaps you are going to say that I should be doing that myself. But trust me, this is me, holding back A LOT

Love,
Steve
Click to expand...

Philadelphia also has just as much history behind it as new york. Just because nyc is more populated doesn't really mean anything.
I just think philly is a more working class 'real' city i like the vibe better and there as far as music stores goes much to offer.
Remember the whole it used to be a capital thing and ben frankin the hthe declaration of independence theres a lot of history
to be found there also. NYC is not 'the city'.
 
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Stevelele said:
Alright dude...I defended you in another thread that led you down a dark path of blitzing this message board with post after post. I figured you were a well intended guy who just wasn't able to express himself in a way that fit in with the dynamics of this board. I watched you inject your political views into an ukulele discussion of all things. Still, I always try to see the best in people and didn't view you negatively. But this is where I draw the line.

A vast overstatement like NYC is fake and overrated from someone who obviously doesn't know the city is just too ignorant for me to ignore . It's the most populous city in the US and has more culture, intrigue, history, other dynamics than virtually any other city on the planet. To call it one big tourist trap because you didn't do the research to figure out where to go, ignoring the fact that there's more diversity in people, places and things than likely anywhere you've ever been, is actually downright annoying. Are you interested in art? Are you interested in music? Are you interested in food? Are you interested in cultures? Are you interested in architecture? Are you interested in history? Are you interested in people? Are you interested in anything beyond yourself? If the answer is yes to any of these questions you have absolutely no excuse to feel dissatisfied with what the city has to offer you.

And can I just offer one friendly piece of advice? Go on and write what you are going to write. Just don't hit post...wait five minutes, then go back to what you wrote and ask yourself if this is really what you want to say. Now perhaps you are going to say that I should be doing that myself. But trust me, this is me, holding back A LOT

Love,
Steve
Click to expand...

Please stop calling it 'the city' i think thats why i dislike it so much.
Its not 'the city' its a city just in calling it that it just places a face of arrogance right on it for me.
 
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[in the interest of not derailing the thread with off-topic information, and by me being too gregarious without restraint (yes, it's a problem for me sometimes - my bad) I have removed my previous comment and replaced it with this explanation]

I apologize if I have upset any one.

Please continue the conversation as to the request from the OP...

Thank you. :)
 
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iamesperambient said:
This is just MY opinion you don't have to agree
or even pay attention to it if you disagree that's totally fine.
Click to expand...

Even if you were right that one of the most diverse cities in the world of almost 9 million people can be summed up and dismissed as a tourist trap (it can't, but that's neither here nor there) what does saying that accomplish? This guy posted a topic about the fact that he is going to be in Manhattan. I promise he does not care that it is expensive for you to get to from Jersey. I am also reasonably confident that he's not going to abandon his plans and go to Philly because you don't like NYC.

Yes it is your opinion and you're entitled to it but if your opinion is totally irrelevant to the conversation why not just keep it to yourself? Especially if its negative. And that isn't even addressing the validity of the opinion at all. You absolutely just come off as someone who loves to hear their own voice (type?). Does trumpeting your opinion add anything to the conversation at all? I wonder how many times someone has searched for something on this forum, seen a relevant topic, excitedly clicked it, and been treated to you on a tangent about your opinion, completely derailing the thread.
 
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