Southern California Ukulele Shops

slapbass said:
World of Strings in Long Beach has a wall full of ukes..Theyre on 7TH and Cherry..
I get my upright bass work done there and have never actually checked them out before for brand names..
I tend to get lost in the bass room :rolleyes:
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ohmygod. i have to go there some day.
isnt that downtown or something?
 
Close to Downtown..Head down 7th st toward downtown..When you pass Cherry its on the left hand side about a block or 2 past Cherry..
 
KiLO said:
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.
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It is (not surprisingly) called Seal Beach Music :D I bought my Lehua longneck soprano there. A very cool little shop with a pretty decent selection of ukes IMHO, guitars and amps and other folk instruments and accessories. Nice folks.

http://www.sealbeachmusic.com/

(oops! I see it's already been answered, but I'll leave the post for the link, and my added comment)

BTW, did anyone mention the Folk Music Center in Claremont?

http://www.folkmusiccenter.com/

I keep meaning to run by there. Huell Howser ("oh my gosh! look at that!") did a show there, and it looks like an instrument paradise!
 
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i have some things i want to say just from my first experience with McCabe's Guitar Shop

i called them looking for a kamaka hf-3 tenor. it was a lady who answered and she told me she saw a 6 string but no 4 string. so she went to check and said that they were out but they were on order.

so i asked the price (knowing what the website listed as msrp which is $980) and she replied that the msrp was $1160. then i said, did the price go up or something because on the kamaka website it was listed as $980.

she proceeded to say yes its due to the economy and kamaka raised up they're price. so again i asked to confirm and i said is the msrp really $1160? she said yes. so i said okay thank you.

so i called up kamaka's office line and asked about theyre price to see if it went up, she said the price was $960 and i inquired if they still did the 10% discount but sadly no. so i told them that i had called a store an told them what they had told me.

she said, no thats not right, the msrp is $980.

so, iono maybe i got some lady who hasnt worked there or doesnt know what she's talking about. or theyre jus trying to rip me off, im not sure.

but mccabe's gets a big fat ZERO from me.
 
flipanda said:
i have some things i want to say just from my first experience with McCabe's Guitar Shop

i called them looking for a kamaka hf-3 tenor. it was a lady who answered and she told me she saw a 6 string but no 4 string. so she went to check and said that they were out but they were on order.

so i asked the price (knowing what the website listed as msrp which is $980) and she replied that the msrp was $1160. then i said, did the price go up or something because on the kamaka website it was listed as $980.

she proceeded to say yes its due to the economy and kamaka raised up they're price. so again i asked to confirm and i said is the msrp really $1160? she said yes. so i said okay thank you.

so i called up kamaka's office line and asked about theyre price to see if it went up, she said the price was $960 and i inquired if they still did the 10% discount but sadly no. so i told them that i had called a store an told them what they had told me.

she said, no thats not right, the msrp is $980.

so, iono maybe i got some lady who hasnt worked there or doesnt know what she's talking about. or theyre jus trying to rip me off, im not sure.

but mccabe's gets a big fat ZERO from me.
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Wow, sorry to hear that. I have only bought a case at McCabe's, and had the luthier work on something for me, but I take ukulele lessons there, and I have always found the people to be really nice and knowledgable. I'm sorry to hear that happened to you. I can vouch for Island Legends in Torrance (though I don't know if they have any Kamakas) and Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach - where I bought my Kanile'a.

I don't know how far you are willing to drive, but this Thursday I'm heading to San Diego, and on my way down, I'm doing at Uke store road trip. Island Bazaar, MomiLani's, Giacoletti's, and Blue Guitar are all planned stops. If I see a Kamaka tenor, I'll post my find so you can check it out.
 
Hey wickedwhine11 if you're at Island Bazaar in the evening of Thursday, from 6:30 to 8:30 is our weekly Uke Jam. It's $5 at the door and I'll share my music book with you.
 
salukulady said:
Hey wickedwhine11 if you're at Island Bazaar in the evening of Thursday, from 6:30 to 8:30 is our weekly Uke Jam. It's $5 at the door and I'll share my music book with you.
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Aw, you're sweet. But no, I plan to be there when they open. I'm heading to San Diego to take my Mom to a Dodgers/Padres game and dinner for her birthday. But I did force her to let me stop at all those stores along the way. I'll take a raincheck on the music book and Bazaar jam though. :)
 
wickedwahine11 said:
Wow, sorry to hear that. I have only bought a case at McCabe's, and had the luthier work on something for me, but I take ukulele lessons there, and I have always found the people to be really nice and knowledgable. I'm sorry to hear that happened to you. I can vouch for Island Legends in Torrance (though I don't know if they have any Kamakas) and Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach - where I bought my Kanile'a.

I don't know how far you are willing to drive, but this Thursday I'm heading to San Diego, and on my way down, I'm doing at Uke store road trip. Island Bazaar, MomiLani's, Giacoletti's, and Blue Guitar are all planned stops. If I see a Kamaka tenor, I'll post my find so you can check it out.
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thats cool. i went down to island legends in torrance. now thats a nice shop, the guy was totally helpful and even gave me a really good deal on a k1 kanile'a and case. walked out feeling really happy even after that whole mccabe's thing.

so thumbs up to island legends in torrance. id do business again with them anyday.
 
wickedwahine11 said:
Aw, you're sweet. But no, I plan to be there when they open. I'm heading to San Diego to take my Mom to a Dodgers/Padres game and dinner for her birthday. But I did force her to let me stop at all those stores along the way. I'll take a raincheck on the music book and Bazaar jam though. :)
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Shirley's the owner and Dan is her assistant. One or both of them will be there. She's a delight and he's a little dry. They're both great people. Tell them you're a friend of Sally's on Ukulele Underground. I'm always talking up UU to them. They like to know where their customers come from.
 
Perhaps, there may have been a confusion with Kamaka models on the pricing at McCabe's. I've been there a few times and the prices looked accurate. The secret is in the haggle. If you're good enough, you can work it down to around 20% off MSRP.
 
flipanda said:
she proceeded to say yes its due to the economy and kamaka raised up they're price. so again i asked to confirm and i said is the msrp really $1160? she said yes. so i said okay thank you.
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Actually.. If the economy is bad, shouldnt the price go down so people would be tempted to buy the products?
 
Buffalo Brother is awesome and the best part is they will always take back an instrument from you in trade for the same amount they sold it to you, even if you bought 20 years ago from them.
 
I thought 20% off tag was standard

SuperSecretBETA said:
Perhaps, there may have been a confusion with Kamaka models on the pricing at McCabe's. I've been there a few times and the prices looked accurate. The secret is in the haggle. If you're good enough, you can work it down to around 20% off MSRP.
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When I went to McCabes, I got Nancy, who is a uke expert. As she was showing me the the instruments, she added that they could take 20% off the tag price. That was in mid February. And other shops said the same thing. So, I thought it was standard practice to put the tag price out, and then discount 20%.

–Lori
 
SuperSecretBETA said:
Perhaps, there may have been a confusion with Kamaka models on the pricing at McCabe's. I've been there a few times and the prices looked accurate. The secret is in the haggle. If you're good enough, you can work it down to around 20% off MSRP.
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thats all good an all. but i did ask for the kamaka HF-3. she knew which i was talking about and she still said msrp was 1160. so are you willing to accept 20% off an msrp thats not even right?

granted i didnt go to the store, but that phone call just turned me off to them right from the start.
 
SamUke said:
Buffalo Brother is awesome and the best part is they will always take back an instrument from you in trade for the same amount they sold it to you, even if you bought 20 years ago from them.
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who and where?
 
Regarding McCabes (and most stores), you will never get the same opportunity to negotiate on the phone as you will when you are in the store and a sale in imminent. I'll bet your experience and opinion of that shop would be different if you were there in person.
 
In Fullerton there's Mo's music shop they sell everything but they have a great selection of ukes I've even seen Eleukes there.
 
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