Premium music shops of Wailua Homesteads: Our Top-11 selection

My wife and I were looking for a uke as a gift for my dad and had a very positive experience. Sam is very knowledgeable and took the time to explain the ins and outs of the industry, different makes, woods used, etc to help us make an informed purchase.

Beautiful shop, find all your ukulele needs with a super kind and knowledgeable staff!

Sam was great, helped me select a perfect ukulele! Highly recommend.

Great and knowledgeable sales folks. Be careful about the “Larry’s Custom” cases. Not good! Barely good enough to bring back on the plane. Need a case made by the manufacturer to protect your ukulele long term. BTW who sells Kamka Ukuleles without a case? For the money they charge it should always come with a case from the manufacturer. Too bad I was in a hurry. Everyone was in hurry that day.

I wanted to like this shop. Plenty of expensive ukuleles on the wall. Sam may be friendly but I guess he was busy. Jay greeted me and is very into himself. He was selling Kamoa ukes made on Kauai at high prices. He only had a few minutes to chat as he had to ship ukes out. These might be equivalent to Kala and lots of used ones on eBay. I guess if you want one made in Hawaii, this would qualify. Shop not so friendly for me.

My only review is due to the fact that they are actually closed weekends in a resort area. Makes no sense. Would have bought one but alas…no deal.

Very knowledgeable. Helpful. Kind. Great service. 100% recommend!

Great selection of ukes and even better customer service. They answered my rookie questions for over an hour and really helped me pick the right instrument. Great buying experience.

On my first trip to Kaua’i last week I was sure I would find the perfect ukulele, and I did. Fifteen minutes out of the airport my friend brought me by your shop and I played a few but your E5 Tenor Cedar sound board spoke to me. All night long in my hammock I dreamed about it. The next morning I borrowed a car and my friend Dick Yamamoto and I beat it back to Kapa’a. We played and talked for an hour and became convinced that this beautiful island blond uke was the one for me. I love it. It has soft tone but big volume and bottom and is as warm as can be anytime of day or night. Thanks so much, and I think Dick should get one too.

Was excited to stop by and had purchased a ukulele for the 1st time at Kamaka in Honolulu 2 yrs prior. I let the owner know I was an amateur, and as I played, he assumed I’d learned my strumming pattern on YouTube…but I listen to the music I like and interpret as an artist. He told me about the free lessons he offers. I said, “Let me try playing this song and you can tell me what to improve.” He says, “I don’t need to hear it; I can tell you right now.” I was enjoying playing and felt a bit disappointed. But I listened as he told me I was playing much too harshly, audiences do not like that, compared it to fingernails on a chalkboard, and told me as my audience it was basically terrible for him to listen to. I replied that he is like 2 feet away. I also agreed I could try softening my strumming, but his ex.of very soft, slow strumming did not fit the style of the song I was going for. I explained that, and he then told me that his dad had to leave the room b/c of my harsh playing. I said, “If he needs to leave that is his opinion and doesn’t offend me”(although it did make me feel bad!) I teach piano students and can’t imagine saying my husband had to leave the room b/c of the way they were playing the piano!! I guess there’s a reason the lessons are free! He could’ve said something positive and nicely asked, “What if you tried softening your strumming a bit?” I would’ve felt and responded totally differently. I was happy to take feedback but was there also for the enjoyment of trying out the instruments. This quickly dissipated through the interaction. He needs to work on his approach with a potential customer! I would never want to take lessons here, let alone purchase an instrument. Side note:, instead of starting out by explaining all the info about the instruments and knowledge, maybe could try asking what I’m looking for in an instrument. I highly recommend Kamaka Hawai’i, Inc. in Honolulu, because they treated me very kindly and respectfully.
*Response: His answer is unnecessarily scathing and of course refuses to take any responsibility or acknowledge my honest experience.
A. Don’t talk about my daughter; barely worth replying to; she was not crying because she wanted to try a ukulele. Has cried on and off during our trip when tired, and we both try to console her. Sad he’s even trying to bring up parenting to throw in our faces! Wow…no we were not looking for ukulele lessons for her but thanks for the offer. I told her about egg rolls…
B. There was 1 lady worker in the room who was quiet, and she was actually grooving a little after he walked out for a bit ;), & maybe 1-2 other people milling around, so I’d hardly say I was “entertaining” the store. As any musician can understand, we enjoy going in to a music store and trying out instruments for learning and enjoyment..
C. He has no understanding or care about the frustration that I’m expressing here. I feel like he’s not used to sharing knowledge then listening to a slightly different response. He drives his point home at the expense of a person’s feelings. He wants to paint me as an obnoxious person who was there to brag on my talents and annoy everyone, though I berated my skills sev. times, then he says all these ppl walked out who weren’t even there. Keep in mind this was a short episode: I was talking with him, trying to figure out some chords, playing a couple short songs in a virtually empty store, until my terrible playing completely emptied it?
D. This was not an official “lesson” to my knowledge. I was there to try out instruments and be free to do so /ask for input
E. I took his advice by playing a song again more quietly, to which he said it was much better, so again his story is not adding up. Also, at that point, I was the one who showed myself to the door!
F. I was told this is common behavior for store owners/employees on the island, but we did have some nice experiences! I’m sure others have enjoyed this store, but I did not, and feel it is worthwhile to share my experience, even if it means I’m berated vs. validated once again in return.

The vibes at this shop are immaculate. So much so that when I was having a bad day, simply visiting the shop—and interacting with the workers there—managed to completely uplift my mood for the rest of the day.

I had the best experience there. Excellent customer service. One of the guys working there even offered to tune the cheap ukulele I was carrying around. I bought a few things there too that I definitely don’t regret buying. I highly recommend going to this shop.

Beautiful and intentional store, I love stopping in here!

This store and the employees have my support…awesome attitude and meaning behind the products they sell…highly recommend going in and talking with them and buying something meaningful to you

I had been looking forward to buying myself a ukulele as a 40th birthday present, and this experience did not disappoint! We stopped by this store as we drive from Princeville to Waimea. Dawn D greeted us when we came in and seemed truly excited to help me shop. She respected my price range, and encouraged me to try several styles of ukulele from different manufacturers, explaining the features of each. But above all, she gave me the time and space to feel my way to the right instrument. She didn’t judge me for only knowing a couple chords, and even taught me more. I wish I could do it all again!

Friendly atmosphere, very helpful. Very good place to pick up supplies..

Stopped by to take a look at the ukuleles they have, and I was impressed by the variety in stock. They have beginner and well as high end ukuleles, so there’s something for everyone. I was able to play several and the person who helped me was patient as I played and made my decision on which to take home. I highly recommend stopping at Scotty’s if you are interested in a Hawaiian ukulele!

A well kept shop that mainly has guitars and ukelele’s. A little on the pricey side.

friendly . local . low-key . support your local music shop.

Informative and incredibly helpful staff.
Make sure to respect the instruments and ask for help before touching.

31 year old Male Staff employee took advantage of me(16 year old). Told me a guitar was 600 dollars retail was 400. Made the mistake of buying it, looked it up later and it was 300 dollars. I knew it was my mistake too. Definitely a store you cannot trust

Ron and Lawrie were wonderful! Lawrie took the time to make sure of the ukulele fit and showed us so many beautiful looking and someone ukuleles. We ended up with one of their own designs as well as a gorgeous travel guitar. I highly highly recommend this shop.

Great little shop. Ron was super helpful, informative and let me try multiple different ukuleles

I bought a 12 string guitar a few weeks ago for a fantastic deal, the owners are very personable and helpful, anytime I’m in the area I would go back for anything from a pack of strings to a new ukulele because I know that they are good people running an honest business

I found this place to be hard to shop at. Due to Covid there are plastic screens up almost all along the counter. The workers while trying to helpful left me feeling very defeated. They do give good guidance. Make sure it is your first stop in your ‘ukulele shopping or you may find what they say contradicting what others say.

The clerk was not very friendly. We did end up getting a UKE but from another place. Nice selection of instruments.

Lots of ukelele stuff (naturally) but a lot of accessories that I have never seen before like jelly caps for your fingers so if you’re a beginner you’re fingers won’t hurt as much. A very vast selection of ukeleles and you’re even able to take lessons!

The woman I spoke with was very kind and helpful, however the gentleman there was rude and dismissive. After making a purchase I was told to leave the store. I won’t be doing any more business here.

Was looking for a ukulele while in Hawaii, and thought this was a good place to try. Sadly, the staff was rude and literally all of the products are behind the counters so when the staff isn’t being helpful… good luck seeing if the ones you like feel or play nicely. On top of that, the store is tiny. Many better I Keller and music stores on Kauai that I’ve found after stopping here. Nicer people, better prices, and you can actually try a few chords without being hassled. Save your time, these people don’t want your money.

A unique mix of ukuleles and yarn, but somehow it works and is a quaint shop!

Great little ukelele shop. Live music tonight and ukelele lessons!

Fun lil shop! Took a ukelele lesson here. Staff has great passion for music, and they also sell yarn!

What a cool place. Fantastic people

Friendly staff

Lots of pretty ukuleles. But expensive.

The store hours listed on Google are not accurate – they do NOT open at 11AM. I was there today a few minutes after 11, and the lights were still off and doors locked. I hung out for a bit, but at 11:15 the doors were still locked. No clue what time they actually open

Wanted to check this place out. Even though the doors were open the lady was very dismissive shooing us out of the store said come back around 10:45 and said actually 11 is better. I guess I won’t be buying anything here as they have no interest in new customers.

Don’t waste your time. Picked up a guitar, played for 2 mins before asked to “play quietly.” So that she could make a call. No one else was in the store.