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 ...

What on earth am I speaking of? Super soprano ukuleles of course! You may ask what is a super soprano ukulele? Well, basically it is a concert scale married to a soprano body. Some also put tenor necks with soprano bodies as well. Oh and then there is a tenor neck on a concert body but that's for another post. Kala Spruce Mahogany Long Neck Soprano Okay, so what might be the advantage of the super soprano ukulele? For one, you get to keep the soprano sound but have the room and additional frets of a concert. The feel and balance on many of the brands feel quite nice too. The portability of a soprano is still there. Now anyone who loves the tonal characteristics of the soprano ukulele but felt the fingerboard a little cramped can get on playing one. If you already play a super soprano or if perhaps it may be your first, you will be happy to know that there are plenty of combinations to choose from! There are more and more ukulele makers doing this combination. To na...