Ukulele and ukulele banjo hand crafted from solid koa

Steve Noon of Eagle Music Shop writes …Why do I think the ukulele has become so popular?

My guitar teacher father put a ukulele into my hands at a very young age …from that day on I never looked back, I went on to play guitar, mandolin and banjo and was a professional musician by the age of twenty! The ukulele is the ideal stepping stone that will take you on to playing a whole range of stringed instruments. The smallest size soprano uke is ideal for ‘child size fingers’. The chord shapes are the same as the first four strings of the guitar. Britain’s George Formby society has created much interest in the ukulele with local branches now spread all over the country. Many people link the ‘Banjo’ to George Formby who was in fact a great ukulele player. George played the Ukulele banjo and his syncopated ‘split stroke’ right hand rhythmic playing is the goal of many players! As a leading UK retailer, we supply dozens of highly playable ukes to schools, a highly playable colourful starter kit costs around twenty pounds …thanks to the high tech modern far Eastern factories!

We have our own branded ‘Leader’ ukulele instruments with prices starting at £128.99 for an all solid mahogany instrument. We offer all solid Koa models in our ‘Kahuna’ range with prices around £200.00.

I saw a market for a high quality ukulele that did not cost the earth. I travelled to America and designed the Kahuna range with one of the worlds leading factory makers. We have these high quality ukes hand built in the Far East as part of our Leader brand of instruments. All Leader instruments are finally setup in the UK with the highest quality tuners, strings bone nuts and bridge saddles.

We sponsor schools and events in the ukulele and banjo world, and recently had the pleasure to meet Francesca Davies, The Ukulele ‘Banjo Kid’ at the Calderdale Schools Ukulele Concert. Francesca plays a Kahuna 'Wizard' all solid koa concert uke that she bought from us.

The most popular types of Ukulele:

• Soprano - The smallest size uke
• Concert -
• Tenor
• Baritone