By Greg Olwell Using “12th Street Rag,” a popular early ukulele showpiece, as a demo piece, Rachel Manke introduced the new vintage-style Ohana SK-39 at our booth at the 2017 NAMM show. Taking its design cues from the desirable Martin Style 3…
By Greg Olwell For players not able to spend the money on one of Kanile’a‘s Hawaii-crafted ukuleles, the company developed the Islander line. Developed by Kanile’a’s Joe Souza, this line includes several features from the higher-end line, but in a more affordable import line…
By Greg Olwell No tour of the NAMM show is complete without a stop at one of the most popular ukulele booths, Kanile’a. Not only do they have regular performances by some of the Oahu maker’s artists, the wall of sumptuous ukuleles…
By Greg Olwell Martin is celebrating the ukulele in 2017, the centennial of the vaunted guitar-maker cataloging the ukulele. Though the company had built ukes since 1906, steam really picked up once the company began placing them in the catalog as…
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By Greg Olwell One of Kala’s exciting debuts for 2017 is a dramatic new finish available on the Elite line’s mahogany tenor. The new Kala Elite Salt & Pepper Doghair Tenor is a tribute to a recent Collings guitar that…
By Greg Olwell Though it began to make ukuleles prior to 1917, C.F. Martin & Company began offering ukuleles to the public in earnest 100 years ago. To celebrate this centennial , Martin is kicking off the anniversary celebration with two…
By Greg Olwell A version of this article originally appears in the Spring 2017 issue of Ukulele. Several months ago, ukulele star Jake Shimabukuro began posting pictures to his social media accounts of himself with what appeared to be ukuleles in…
With a reverse headstock that recalls some heavy-metal guitars of the ’80s, the new Ortega Horizon concert ukuleles have a unique look. The Horizon ukes are available with rosewood, mango, or bamboo bodies and in non-cutaway acoustic and cutaway acoustic-electric…
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By Greg Olwell The Guinness World Record for the longest stretch of playing ukulele was shattered last weekend during an attempt in London. Robin Evans, a 22-year-old player from the city of Farnham, Surrey, England, played for 30 hours, 2…
By Jim D’Ville Neither snow nor rain nor Minnesota’s first blizzard of the impending winter could stay over 100 hearty ukulele players from attending The Great Minnesota Ukulele Gathering, held November 18 and 19 in Minneapolis. The event, produced under the…