Ukulele Review

i-tab Portable Guitar Tab Player

Julie — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:23:14 +0000

The i-tab is a portable 4GB guitar tablature player with a 5 inch touch screen and built in speakers. Clip it on to the end of your guitar’s headstock and it will scroll lyrics and chords while you play. It can also be used to display guitar lessons and play backing tracks. It ships with 30 free songs, but you can purchase more content through their tab store. The i-tab is available now for $199. I wish they had a ukulele version too! Press release after the jump. … [visit site to read more]

Make a loan and win a uke!

Julie — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:51:44 +0000

My friend Mike over at Mainland Ukes has giving away a Mainland Cedar/Rosewood Soprano ukulele. To win this instrument, you have to go to Kiva.org, and join his team visit site to read more]

Get an Oscar Schmidt Uke for $49.99

Julie — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:16:24 +0000

Tim of Ukeeku.com has just posted about a sweet deal on a Oscar Schmidt ukulele for less than $50 at JR.com. The deal only runs through … [visit site to read more]

Switching Between a Pick & Fingers with the Jam Kat

Josh Skaja — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:18:59 +0000

When I got the invite to test drive Pick Smith’s Jam Kat I agreed, not knowing what exactly a Jam Kat did or who Pick Smith was. Twenty minutes of poking around their website got me only marginally closer to answering those questions, but I did eventually determine that the Jam Kat is a rather clever device for quickly switching between playing fingerstyle and using a pick. … [visit site to read more]

Prevent Swine Flu with a ukulele and a Rabbi

Julie — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:08:42 +0000

Are you terrified after listening to all of the doom and gloom news reports about the Swine Flu (H1N1) pandemic? Never fear, Amelia Robinson has the perfect solution to this global problem. Check out her YouTube video for a fun Sunday … [visit site to read more]

Building Stewart-MacDonald’s Soprano Uke Kit

Josh Skaja — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:02:01 +0000

I’ve never been a particularly handy person. My friends know better than to ask for my help with home improvement projects, and my instrument repair skills are mostly confined to string changes. But after building Stewart-MacDonald’s soprano uke kit, I have a new found confidence in my abilities. … [visit site to read more]

Handmade leather uke straps

Julie — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:56:13 +0000

Check out the gorgeous hand braided leather straps at The Bailey Strap Shop. The site shows mandolin straps, but Bill has branched out into making ukulele straps too. Definitely worth … [visit site to read more]

Love the Ukulele? Answer a few questions?

Julie — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:24:03 +0000

Judy Robinson sent this in:

I am hoping that if you love the ukulele you are willing to share your thoughts on the following survey. It would take about 7 minutes if you want to go quickly through it. It could take longer if you have more you … [visit site to read more]

Tune your ukulele with vibrations – Planet Waves Headstock Tuner

Julie — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:01:15 +0000

I’m a fan of guitar (and ukulele) tuners that use vibration help you to zero in on the right note for each string. Here’s a new one from visit site to read more]

Hand shaped custom instrument hangers – Grip Studios

Julie — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:14:55 +0000

Check out these made to order resin and steel reinforced wall mounted guitar hangers from Grip Studios. They are available in different colors and shapes, including human hands, skeleton hands … [visit site to read more]

Jake Shimabukro to release a 2 song mini-EP

Julie — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:50:45 +0000

Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro new mini-EP “Annon” will be released on September 1st as Part of the Shin Buddhism Founders 750th memorial.

The Shin Buddhist path was founded by Shinran Shonin (1173-1263) during the Kamakura period, and in several centuries grew into one of the largest and most influential schools of Buddhism in Japan, a position it maintains today. The Hongwanji temple is the headquarters of the Hongwanji denomination of Shin Buddhism (Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha), and is known as Nishi (lit. “West”) Hongwanji. … [visit site to read more]

A guitar pick with training wheels? – ZeroGravity Orbit Guitar Pick

Julie — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 21:39:32 +0000

During my normal Saturday morning routine of hot tea, steel-cut oats and magazine browsing, I happened upon the ZeroGravity Orbit Guitar Pick in the latest copy of a visit site to read more]

The Kala U Bass is a high-end low end

Kevin Wolfe — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:52:29 +0000

Owen Holt may not be a name you know, but he’s one of the great innovators of the ukulele. His Road Toad shop produces some amazing-shaped ukes, like the Sharkfin and Mana, that are some of the finest sounding ukes made today. But more importantly, he’s created a fifth uke to add to the set of soprano, concert, tenor and baritone: The bass uke. For a few years his Big Bufo Bass has quietly been earning a solid reputation in uke circles. While similar in size to a baritone uke, the BBB was created for Pahoehoe unique polyurethane bass strings, which Owen developed. … [visit site to read more]

Oscar Schmidt Visit

Julie — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:23:04 +0000

I just finished reading Tim Szerlong’s article about his trip to the U.S. Music Corp factory in Illinois. This factory is a parent company to Washburn and Oscar Schmidt among others. Go check out the article and Tim’s new site at visit site to read more]

The economy might suck, but ukulele sales don’t

Julie — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:41:16 +0000

Leo Biovin sent me the link to this nice article on NPR (National Public Radio) yesterday. According to the article (which also has an audio version if you prefer to listen instead of read), overall instrument sales are down around 20%, but not for the uke. … [visit site to read more]

Ukulele World Congress Rules

Kevin Wolfe — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:27:33 +0000

It was an event entirely guided by one mans karma. Mike, alias hoosierhiver on Ukulele Underground, didn’t organize this event. He just cleared the way to let the cosmos manifest it into existence. Back in January Mike, owner of the recently-opened Mainland Ukes in Nashville, posted on UU that he had a great site for a ukulele campout. There was no planning beyond this. Destiny just took over. Six months later the World Ukulele Congress happened. … [visit site to read more]

Southern Indiana Ukulele Luau 2009 Report

Kevin Wolfe — Mon, 11 May 2009 01:04:32 +0000

The second Bushman Ukulele Luau turned out to be an intimate crowd again with a few more attendees than last year. Those who did come were treated to some great informal and impromptu performances Saturday by Zoe who flew in from Toronto, Jodi Mathews, Wade Johnston (who Julia Nunes has dubbed “The Boy Me”), and DaveDaveDave who flew in from Ft. Myers. This moved from the stage at the Bushman Brewhouse to what turned into Zoe’s communal cabin to continued well into the night. … [visit site to read more]

Help Wanted – Ukulele Bloggers Apply Here!

Julie — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:54:56 +0000

My day job and my other site (The Gadgeteer) have caused me to severely neglect this site for awhile now. I want to turn that around ASAP and am hoping that some happy volunteers to help me do it. I’m looking for a … [visit site to read more]

Monkey Swing Monkey Doo by Doctor Sparkles – CD Review

Julie — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 06:00:43 +0000

Title: Monkey Swing Monkey Doo
Artist: Doctor Sparkles
Label: Kevin Patrick Baiko
Year: 2008

… [visit site to read more]

A closet of ukes is way better than clothes

Julie — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 13:56:43 +0000

The Guitar Hanger is a pretty ingenious way to store your guitars in a regular closet. Just throw all your clothes on the floor (that’s where half of them are anyway right?) and dangle your Strats and Les Pauls in glorious splendor. I need 7 of these for my ukuleles!

visit site to read more]

Ukulele Luau 2009

Julie — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:33:01 +0000

If you’re going to be in the Southern Indiana area May 8-9th, be sure to stop by the free Ukulele Luau being put on by Bushman.

I attended last year’s luau and had a lot of fun watching all of the … [visit site to read more]

Help Kids in Canada (and everywhere) Learn to Play the Uke!

Julie — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:08:55 +0000

The Ukulele Project is the brain child of Pat Costello. He’s asking for help creating various ukulele instruction videos to aid students in Ontario, Canada to learn to play the ukulele. These videos will be made available to everyone to learn from, so it’s definitely for a good cause. Check out Pat’s site for more … [visit site to read more]

Jake Shimabukuro Concert in Indiana 3/8/09

Julie — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:01:20 +0000

I just received word that Jake Shimabukuro is going to be giving a concert in my home state of Indiana in a few days. Unfortunately for me, Fort Wayne is a bit too far to drive… Here are the details for those of you within driving distance:

Sunday, March 8 Concert 7pm

Fort Wayne, Indiana @ Come2Go / … [visit site to read more]

Hercules I-Stand

Julie — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 14:50:36 +0000

Hercules has updated the boring old guitar stand to new levels with the I-Stand. The design is pretty cool. It collapses into a disc shape when not holding a guitar. I need a bunch of these for my ukuleles! Hercules doesn’t show these on their own … [visit site to read more]

Jake Shimabukuro releases his first Live CD

Julie — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:07:18 +0000

Just received an email from Jake’s PR person with the following news…

… [visit site to read more]