Exclusive selection: The top 13 music shops of Waikapū

Knowledgeable help with a great selection of Hawaii-made ukes. Beautiful sounding ukes from the real deal Mele Ukele.

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All I can say is WOW!

The entire process of buying my first ukulele was fantastic. From being greeted to walking out it was great customer service. The selection of ukulele is the best Maui had to offer, but I do have to say the staff is top notch. Thanks to Arlie-Avery for giving me an outstanding buying experience! You want a ukulele, come here and they’ll get you the best! Aloha from Texas!

Loved hearing Koa test out an awesome tenor ukulele from here.

Very nice music store.

I was excited to buy a nice ukulele for once. I spent $400 thinking the ukulele I bought would be great. The same day I bought it, without any chance to play, the peg broke. I asked if it could get it fixed by the time my flight left, and they did. When I went to pick it up they made me wait a half hour even though my ukulele was sitting right there. I asked if there was any way I could either get my money back, get a new ukulele, or if they could check to see that none of the other pegs would break. I’m writing this because they responded with oh no you’re peg won’t break again, that’s super rare. But Im back home now and just had a second peg break, different peg from the first one that broke. I am a very kind and patient person but I do not appreciate this kind of service and I hope there is some way they can reconcile for an absurd amount of money paid for a low quality instrument.

Surprised me with an incredible selection of guitars and accessories, better than most music shops on the mainland. I picked up a slide, and the staff was super nice and helpful.

Store representatives friendly and helpful. I don’t shop often, but Bounty Music is my go to place when I need particular items. Always pleasant with a smile.

Staff members very helpful. Free setup on new guitar by Jeff. Great price on a new Martin. Been shopping there for years always a good experience.

Quick and knowledgeable made me buy more stuff it’s like a candy store

There is not an empty spot on the wall in here. Some beautiful gibsons

Store jammed with loads of different instruments and their nice staff are all very helpful!

Hey Beware,
I’m sorry but I’ve had a couple of rough experiences at bounty. I wanted to buy an artist series Stratocaster. I explained that I had looked online and was wondering if they could match the price or come close? I was told…
“If you can find it online you should just order it there, it’s easier.” I did explain that I like to support local businesses … but the sales guy was less than interested, and he just ended the conversation by walking away . Boy did I feel naive! I will say that I went online and ordered a nice guitar with free shipping and it was at my door in no time. I’ve since ordered an amp and two more guitars… all online without talking to Bounty. I have to confess that all experiences were “easier” than dealing with Bounty.

I just got off the phone with them and again I can’t believe the attitude. I explained that I was going to ship some guitars to the mainland, and did they have any guitar boxes that they were going to recycle or throw away? If so I would like to reuse them…you know go “green”. I’m not planing to ship for a couple of months.

“no” we don’t have any of those boxes…I was told, but we will sell you a Taylor box for 20$. They hung up on me before I could explain that I can get a bundle of 5 boxes for 8$ (online) with free shipping, so 20$ for 1 box is … well typical Bounty. I’m not really sure what the bad attitude is at Bounty? It is true that you can buy online for quite a bit cheaper than what Bounty offers on almost every single item they carry (this includes shipping costs).

Honestly Bounty seems disinterested and even lazy sometimes. I still go in and look every once in a while, but I don’t feel compelled to spend my money there.

1 star because, really it’s not worth the head ache to drive into town to put up with bad attitude!
I’ll give another star because a couple of the staff members are very nice… so it’s not a total waste of time…

I recommend that you do what I do which is… I just sit at my computer with a hot cup of coffee and shop away.. (go Prime!).

Horrible service, incompetent tech can never repair instruments never demonstrate a true sincere desire to help toxic place not a true music store what a shame!! don’t go there!

I bought 2 guitars there. I’m happy with the guitars so they get an extra star. Their service is awful. I get that artistic people shouldn’t be expected to be the most professional at work so I gave them slack. I brought my guitar in to get serviced (strings buzzing on electric). Guy X says “The guy who can fix that isn’t here today and to start the process you gotta talk to Guy Y over there.” ( is there really only one person out of the 6 here that knows how to put a tag on a guitar with my name/#/ and problem?) I couldn’t believe only one person knew how to adjust it that worked AT A GUITAR/UKULELE SHOP. Guy X ditches me and I’m left stranded. There was more that day but I’ll stop here because Guy Y basically ignored me and helped people behind me.

I left it there (finally, and it wasn’t guy Y who helped but a girl who saw me there in line for 20 min and felt bad, she put a tag on the guitar with name/#/ and problem). 2 days later I called to see how it was going. They said “Dude, we’ll call you when it’s ready, click.” I went there 3 days after I left it and they said it hadn’t been touched. Would you trust a mechanic who didn’t even touch your car after 3 days in the shop? I wouldn’t. I took it home, watched YouTube videos and got it done.

If you need something NOW you have to go there. I love to support local business, even if they’re more expensive (to be fair in my cases they were not more expensive than online). However, I won’t support any business that is careless with me.

I’ve known Roy for several years, and worked with him both as an educator and a performer. As a teacher, he is patient, encouraging, and so creative! He always seeks out interesting and engaging repertoire for his students, and it’s always clear that they’re having a great time while growing as musicians. He also performed with my choirs as a cello soloist several times. He is an outstanding performer, always professional and well-prepared, and just a wonderful person to work with.

On our recent return to Maui, my wife & I rented a violin and guitar from Roy the Musical Mailman to use for a week. Roy was very clear in his rental terms, the process was easy, the price was very fair and the instruments and cases were in great condition. I especially loved the older violin I rented, and my wife felt the same way about the guitar. The violin had a beautiful mellow tone, and came with all accessories needed, including a wooden and a carbon fiber bow. If we need to rent instruments on Maui again, I will definitely contact Roy. Mahalo Roy, and thanks also for the work you’re doing bringing stringed instrument instruction to the children of Maui!

I recently bought a Kanile’a K-1T from ukes.com. They have great communications and happily answered all the questions I had. The ukulele was immaculately packed and arrived in perfect condition. I don’t write many reviews but thought this company deserved a 5 star review. Tim

The customer service I received was undeniably top notch. Paul was able to answer all my questions promptly and put me at ease with my ukulele purchase. Even after the transaction was completed, the customer service I received when I had a little issue with getting my delivery from FedEx just exemplifies the high quality level of service they provide. Thank you again so much!!!

Kia Ora, Paul was really helpful and gave me options to when I was choosing my ukulele. Even this crazy pandemic didn’t stop him getting my new uke to me in NZ. I’m rapt with my new uke and will recommend this company to others. When …….. international travel resumes I’m still going to Hawaii and will catch up with these guys in person. Cheers Catherine

Great place to rent as well as buy. Super nice people with aloha spirit. High recommended.

Had the best time picking out a Ukulele! The woman working was so incredibly talented, passionate and knowledgeable about music! I’m very happy with my new ukulele

I don’t remember the name of the person helping me, but she was awesome! Very informative and helped me pick out a great ukulele! Very nice little place to pick up a guitar or uke for sure

I’m so glad I stopped in here! Eva really helped us with a fantastic first time ukulele purchase. She stepped is through the various sizes, woods, manufacturing etc, and helped us narrow in on a perfect ukulele for me. We got a great deal I feel, she discounted a few items we picked up with it. They have a class there in the afternoon one day a week, teaching people how to play.

What a fantastic experience at Mele Ukulele in Wailia. Annie was great. Kind, helpful and patient. While I didn’t buy a ukulele on this visit, when I do, it will be a Mele, because of the experience with Annie. Great service, fantastic hospitality and beautiful product.

Great service. We decided we where going to a ukelele before we headed to Maui but we where looking for an authentic one made on the island. Mele did not disappoint one bit! We found a perfect one!

When we found out we were going to Maui I knew I wanted a Hawaiian hard wood ukulele for my collection! Then I saw Paula Fuga play with a 6 string ukulele for her new album and I needed to have one of those instead!

When I went, I was a little disappointed because they only had their 6 string ukuleles tuned like a guitar, not a ukulele. With the reasoning that they don’t sell that well because there isn’t enough demand. I understand though because I still got one!

It’s a limited edition mango wood 6 string with detailing and gloss. It had a small crack in the gloss in the back that I didn’t notice when purchased but I don’t mind character in an instrument!

Our rep was awesome! We gave us 1 on 1 time to help me with the decision, sold us the hard case for $50 and threw in a set of extra strings for free since we bought a $2000 instrument.

Great selection of ukuleles from starter models through high end. Many different styles and tunings, and knowledgeable, friendly staff. Several 6 and 8 string ukuleles. They have some with two sound holes that are a bit louder and with a unique appearance. Small selection of guitar-leles.

I talked to Eva she was super helpful in teaching about the different types of ukes. She taught me, a newbie some finger positions so I could play something to feel how it was in my hands. For states because I wish there was a bit more options in the pricing I felt they had a bit more ukes in higher prices. I didn’t want to jump high until I felt it was something I would stick with/my teen should be accountable for.

All instruments here are strung low-g. The explanation I got from the attendant was that they have always sold just low-g. We were told that all the pieces could be strung with traditional re-entrant tuning. But that didn’t appear to be a genuine offer to do so. This tells me they just don’t give a rip and they have a clientele that is willing to pay their premiums that really know nothing about traditional ukulele.

This shop caters to those who are more classically trained or are wanting a nice wood box to put on their wall.

You don’t care. Congratulations! I do care and here is your review.