Southern California Ukulele Shops

Nurdaben

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Location
Music City - Nashville Tennessee
Orange County

AB Music Studios - [view]
Alley Kat Sheet Music - [view]
Island Bazaar - [view] -- [online store]


Los Angeles County

Cassell's Music - [view]
Charles Music Store - [view]
Island Legends - [veiw google info] let me know if you find a better webpage
Kayes Music Scene - [view]
Larry Larson Music - [view city search] let me know if you find a better webpage
McCabe's Guitar Shop - [view]
Morey's Music Store, Inc. - [view]


San Diego County


Buffalo Brothers Guitar - [view]
Giacoletti Music (aka Carlsbad Music)- [view]
Momilanis - [view]
Old Time Music - [view]
The Blue Guitar - [view]


 
 
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Ok lets see if this will work =)

if you know of any good shops in southern california please post them up and if they have a website the link for that.

I will up date the first post see if we can get a good list of places.

Looking for anything ukulele but not joes pawn shop that has 1 uke in it =) if you get my drift.
 
McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica.

http://www.mccabes.com

I'm surprised I don't hear more about McCabe's on this forum. If you're in L.A., as a number of UU members are, you simply have to go here. Period. This shop is over the top good. They carry a number of low-end ukes, Fleas and such, some of the mid-range Pono's and Ohana's, and then your super ukes like Kamaka, G-string, and Martin.

They offer lessons, their guitar techs are second to none and their shop is staffed with friendly luthiers who will perform all manner of custom work. Except put a Floyd Rose on my vintage Black Beauty... they wouldn't do that. No one will. Damn zealots.

Anyway, McCabe's is great. They're willing to negotiate price, as well. If you swing by, ask for Nancy and tell her Tom sent you. She'll hook you up.

Additionally, they sell all kinds of wonderful instruments. Their selection of ouds and mandolins is superb. They have dumbeks imported from Turkey and Armenia... Irish whistles... some world-class shakuhachi's... as well as piles of Asian and African instruments I can't begin to describe in terms of beauty and novelty. A bunch of dulcimers, some yali tamburs, Egyptian ney flutes... electric sitars...

I saw an electric baritone violin that was pretty cool.

And they have some original instruments invented by local musicians, or created in-house for the hell of it. They range from totally off-the-wall to bizarre but pretty.

I recommend McCabe's. VISIT THEM!!

Best place to park is on the residential street to their immediate south... pass the shop on Pico, it'll be on your right, then immediately make a left onto a long residential street. I think it's 30th Street. Get past the meters and then park wherever 'til 6 pm. I regularly flirt with danger by hanging out past 6 pm (McCabe's closes late) and haven't been ticketed yet, but don't follow my example. :D

-Tom

P.S. Some additional info... McCabe's will perform minor repairs and maintenance on your uke at no extra charge for the first three years you own the instrument. Lowering or raising the action, fixing small cracks or replacing a busted tuner or something like that. Additionally, if you want to upgrade your uke within three years of buying it, you can put 70% of the purchasing price towards your new uke. As long as your old uke's in good condition for resale, that is.
 
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I gotta give props to my girl Shirley (the owner) at Island Bizaare. Not only does she carry a wide variety of ukes and accessories, she does soooooo much for the ukulele community - like hosting uke jams on Ties. and Thurs. She also provides her store as a venue for artists like Brittini Paiva and our own UU. No disrespect to McCabes (the folks there are great), but when you get to know Dan, Shirley and Shirley at Island Bizaare, it's like family. Hopefully you So Californians can make it on the 23rd and can check it out for yourself. :)
 
I spent ridiculous quantities of my life searching for uke shops in L.A.

There aren't that many... I'm not going to drift through every pawn shop in existence to see if they carry ukes. Orange County has a lot of those types of establishments, and you could waste months wandering through all of them. I'd love to find a vintage uke in one of those antique shops, though. That'd be sweet.

So realistically, I had to stick to the shops who expressly advertise the sale of ukuleles... there are actually an impressive number of them in NorCal, but for folks in and around Hollywood, you've covered all the ones I've ever heard of. I was hoping some additional shops would be revealed to me, but alas.

Like I said, I invested ludicrous time making note of the uke shops in Los Angeles and I didn't find any that weren't listed in this thread.

The thread was a good idea. There just aren't that many ukulele stores here. :) But between McCabe's and Island Bazaar (wish I still lived in the OC), I think you're pretty well covered as far as selection and service.

-Tom
 
SAN DIEGO:

few more spots!

Old Time Music: (I know they have Kanile'a ukes; not sure bout others)
http://www.sdoldtimemusic.com/ukuleles/index.htm

Momilani's in Oceanside: (food/storefront)
http://sales.momilanis.com/Cart/minishopper;jsessionid=08CCE2E2A6B2BBFFA4134A586E0DD2A9?action=cart&type=setgroup&form=shopcenter&value1=42&value2=&sourceform=shopcenter&path=IndexPath&pathindex=1


Like noted before... McCabe's in Santa Monica is good! I've been to a workshop out there and saw Bill Tapia jam! For reals too, he jams! HAHA
:bowdown:
 
Over 100 ukulele models in stock, at Giacoletti Music in Carlsbad (North County San Diego), California!!! Ric

http://www.carlsbadmusic.com/v2/ukuleles.htm

505 Carlsbad Village Drive
Carlsbad, California 92008
(760)729-1335

masthead3_03.jpg


Just two blocks down from The Ukulele Society of America club:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Ukulele_Society_of_America
 
OH, also, there is a place down on main street in Seal Beach that sells ukuleles, but they have a relatively small selection. I will search for the name.
 
OH, also, there is a place down on main street in Seal Beach that sells ukuleles, but they have a relatively small selection. I will search for the name.
Seal Beach Music
 
I gotta give props to my girl Shirley (the owner) at Island Bizaare. Not only does she carry a wide variety of ukes and accessories, she does soooooo much for the ukulele community - like hosting uke jams on Ties. and Thurs. She also provides her store as a venue for artists like Brittini Paiva and our own UU. No disrespect to McCabes (the folks there are great), but when you get to know Dan, Shirley and Shirley at Island Bizaare, it's like family. Hopefully you So Californians can make it on the 23rd and can check it out for yourself. :)
What ke leo said, and Shirley's online store is www.ukuleleparadise.com.
 
Coming from the other post, thought I'd put in my 2 cents.

in Orange county

http://www.alleyketsheetmusic.com in Cypress across from Cypress City College on Valley View:

Kinda small store, but they've got a decent selection, ranging from Kalas and Lanikais to Ponos and Kamakas. Whenever I seem to go in there, there's always some sort of sale going on. So the prices tend to get near to what you'd pay for online. Staff is really friendly, especially the owner and this other filipino guy, they really know their stuff. IF you're really strapped for cash but still want to get into ukes, they got some cheapies there too like Sunlites and Hilos.

LA county

http://www.moreysmusic.com in Lakewood near the cross streets of Woodruff and Del Amo:

Bigger than Alley Kat, but definitely much smaller selection, maybe 4 Kalas and Lanikais, 2 Ovations, and one or two Solid Koas, not really sure on the maker. Morey's is more geared toward guitars and orchestra string instruments. Prices are so-so.
 
I posted some info on another thread before. But there is a store in Torrance, called Island Legends. Lots of ukes there, last I checked, they have a bunch of lanikai's, kanilea's, koaloha's, kamaka's, pono's, ko'olau's. They have a bunch of accessories, a nice selection of island cd's, and apparel. They also have on occasion some used ukes for sale. There are also classes, and they seem to help promote some events, for players like, jake, herb ohta jr, abe lagrimas. Nice store, nice help. Check it out. Oh yeah a couple of suites down, there's Teri's place. Pretty good japanese food spot, their karaage is da bomb. That's Japanese style fried chicken.

Address is

2120 West Artesia Boulevard
Torrance, CA 90504
 
Island Legends

Checked it out. Nice guy. Nice store. When I was there a family was buying their teenager a Kanile'a concert ukulele. Nice little selection of CD's - bought one.
Teri's restaurant was good too.
Good recommendation Funkypeanuts!
 
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