Looking for a good ukulele store in London UK

[greenie44]

Hi all -

A friend of mine is just starting out on uke and lives in London. I was thinking about pointing him towards an in-person store for his first uke, and immediately thought of Duke of Uke, but it looks like it is currently closed.

Can anyone recommend another good place in the London area?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Robert84]

Guitar Guitar in Camden is by far the best-stocked and well-kept guitar shop I've visited.

Wunjo is also one of my favorites. When I've gone in there, they've said, "if you like anything, you can give it a try, amp's here," which is good.

 

[Graham Greenbag]

Hi all -

A friend of mine is just starting out on uke and lives in London. I was thinking about pointing him towards an in-person store for his first uke, and immediately thought of Duke of Uke, but it looks like it is currently closed.

Can anyone recommend another good place in the London area?

Thanks in advance.

London is usually the place where you can buy anything yet as far as I know it no longer has a specialist Ukulele store. I make a few suggestions below which I hope others will improve on:
# Ask on Ukulele Cosmos, several of the active members there either are or have been London based.
# Contact some of the London Uke Clubs and ask about local shops - joining a Uke Club would be a good idea too.
# Contact Prof Chris of this forum, he works In London and is a very knowledgeable chap.

Of course Uke set-up is important but not all shops do it well, or even do it at all.

Good luck.

edit. As a starter instrument he could do a lot worse than buy a Brunswick or a Kala from Yamaha Music London: https://www.yamahamusiclondon.com/Guitars/Ukuleles/

 

[Contrails]

Hobgoblin has some ukes. And really interesting string instruments. Very friendly staff who encourages you to play anything you want.

Hobgoblin Music London
+44 20 7323 9040

Hobgoblin Music London · 24 Rathbone Pl, London W1T 1JA, United Kingdom

★★★★★ · Musical instrument store

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[DuckyI]

If it's not too much hassle, I would highly recommend them taking a day trip to Bournemouth for the Southern Ukulele Store where they would find a much better selection than anywhere in central London. Plus, Bournemouth is a nice day out in any case.

 

[SurferJay]

Update - Just realised we posted the same thing at the same time @duckyl

Honestly, the best thing your friend can do is take a weekend away to Bournemouth for the weekend and visit the Southern Ukulele Store. Send them an email or call it will be the best decision he makes. The guys there are awesome and it would be a dream for me to visit (I live 5000 miles away) but I still buy my Ukuleles from them.

He will end up with exactly what he needs and the Uke will be perfectly setup.

 

[DuckyI]

Update - Just realised we posted the same thing at the same time @duckyl

Honestly, the best thing your friend can do is take a weekend away to Bournemouth for the weekend and visit the Southern Ukulele Store. Send them an email or call it will be the best decision he makes. The guys there are awesome and it would be a dream for me to visit (I live 5000 miles away) but I still buy my Ukuleles from them.

He will end up with exactly what he needs and the Uke will be perfectly setup.

High five @SurferJay !