UKE Republic Ukuleles

🍍🍍🍍Pineapples! Pineapples! Pineapples! Perhaps you own one or two in your own personal collection or maybe you've thought about trying one out and wanted to know something about them. To start the pineapple's design was patented first by Samuel K. Kamaka in Hawaii, in 1928. The design and style proved to be popular and over the years others have produced their own pineapple-styled ukulele in various scales and tonewoods. Some that we carry are Kala, Makala, Ohana, Kamoa, Mainland Ukes, Pono, Ko Aloha, Ko'olau, Makai, Magic Fluke's Flea and sort of a pineapple shape from Pepe Romero's Tiny Tenor . Tone-wise it seems the pineapple shape produces more bass than the traditional figure-eight shaped ukuleles. Using a variety of tonewoods changes the sound as it would with any other ukulele. mahogany and Koa tend to produce the warmest tone with mango adding a bit more treble. Very lively sounds are coming from the spruce and cedar tops. The sizes UKE Republi...

2017 Winter NAMM Impressions and NEW Items at Uke Republic Always a fun time going to southern California and attending the 2017 NAMM show but it's also serious work going over all the new products, trying them out and choosing new things to introduce at Uke Republic . Some of these items are available now and others will be made available throughout the year. To start off, there was plenty to see and try. New ukuleles were abounding, so here are some highlights. First, let's start with Blackbird. Blackbird Guitars and Ukuleles Blackbird continues to impress us with their innovations using their own Ekoa material to produce their new tenor -Farallon and concert Clara. The sound is so sweet and it's nice to know it's made from a sustainable and green material.  Joe Luttwak (L) of Blackbird Guitars and Mike McQueen of UKE Republic Kala Brand Ukulele Kala introduces an eight string baritone from their cedar/acacia line. It has a big full sound ...

I was intrigued when I first heard about these ukulele strings, especially when I understood they were being produced by a friend Ken Middleton.  You may already be familiar with Ken Middleton from YouTube , or perhaps you have seen or met him at a ukulele festival somewhere around the world. Ken is a fantastic player and instructor giving workshops and explaining songs online. Ken is also one of those persons with high standards for musical instruments and their complements, such as strings, so when Living Water Strings were made available, I knew it would be something wonderful. I quickly popped an email over to Ken in England asking if we might be able to carry the strings at UKE Republic, and the next day I received a phone call. Ken and I have known each other for a while, and he told me that if he did decide to have dealers carry, I would be the first to have the option of stocking them. Fast forward to May 2014, and I'm honored to say UKE Republic is currently the...