Bob’s Ukulele
United States, Hawaii, Honolulu, Kalākaua Ave, A-206About Bob’s Ukulele
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United States, Hawaii, Honolulu, Kalākaua Ave, A-206Interested In Having Your Listing On This Site?
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I had visited a few "specialist" Ukulele stores and felt each time is being pushed in to spending as much as possible. I had budgeted for a few hundred but the people i spoke to unanimously declared that the only way to go was solid koa and nothing else was worth purchasing. These start at $1,000 for bottom range. Bob's did not try to force me in to spending a ridiculous amount on an instrument i may never pick up again. The salesman simply gave me all the options and as much information I needed and let me decide for myself. He also through in a free set of slate strings and a pamphlet with the basic cords while recommending i look online for instruction rather than spending more hard earned cash on books and videos. He continued with more information and advice even after i had paid for my new tenor uke and hard case. This is good after sale/customer service in my book and i will definately be returning to this store when i am a master and wanting to purchase a higher end model.
Horribly disinterested person working there who I assume was the owner. His attitude alone lost my business which was good since I walked down to Ukulele Paupua and got great service which led to my acquisition of a nice tenor Kamaka.
I think this place is an up and down experience, but mine was on the downside. The shopkeeper was attentive when I got to the store and came over to help me immediately. However, he had many assumptions about what I was looking for. When I rejected the low-end, factory made ukes he seemed annoyed but showed me to the higher-end koa wood local instruments. I asked some questions about the sound characteristics of the instruments and he didn’t seem to understand, which I fine really. It wasn’t fine when I asked to try a ukelele and he handed me the instrument without bothering to tune it. I strummed it a few times but it was completely out of tune. I asked for a tuner and he again seemed annoyed, but gave me one. I spent some time trying to tune the instrument but it wouldn’t hold true. The shopkeeper then took the instrument but he also couldn’t tune it, saying something about the strings being too stretched and it needed re-stringing. It was a fairly uncomfortable, unhappy retail experience. I could understand if the shop was busy but I was the only customer. I’d recommend going to The Ukelele Store or another place instead.
Worse customer service.. Purchase a ukulele, return the next day as child decided they did not really want the one they purchased. No where in store or receipts did they say no returns. Employee rude and would only say no returns... Would not talk or answer questions .. just would say no returns and proceeded to sit behind her desk and ignore.. brutal service..
During our recent trip to Hawaii, my wife and daughter gleefully strolled Kalakaua and went in the glittering stores that line that beautiful street and came out with bags, hats, dresses, and shirts and considerably less money. I had been plotting a trip to the uke stores to get a good look at premium instruments, which are unavailable here in the desert. It was with much anticipation that I entered Bob's, a small store with three walls mostly covered with ukuleles. It is true that neither shopkeeper I saw there was much of a salesperson or a talker. They tended to interact with monosyllables and stay behind the counter. However, that suited me, because it gave me plenty of time to examine and play every ukulele I desired. I estimate I tried out about 30. It was a pleasurable experience; after awhile, I could tell sometimes without playing whether that uke was the one. A few things helped me narrow down my quest. One, I quickly realized I wanted a soprano, that is, the tiny, classic ukes. The larger sizes just did not sound right to me. That more or less eliminated the concert, tenor, and baritone sizes. I also realized that, while all of the instruments I played were good, few of them really stood out to me. When I first picked up one of the KoAlohas I realized why that was... It was because I was meant to buy a KoAloha. They are koa, rather plain and dark, with odd orange tuners. However, with one strum, I was sold. So loud and bright! Such a light body! After I had tried it, the rest of the ukes in the store had little interest for me. The shopkeeper, who had seemed to not even being paying attention, had noticed I was interested in handmade, Hawaii-made ukes and subtly directed me away from the imports (which were also fine instruments). I am not given to impulse buying--usually. I left the store, head spinning a bit, and went over to Ukulele PuaPua. Now PuaPua, a rival to Bob's, contains a great range of instruments, as well as many extremely high end instruments. It also had some other KoAloha's, which I played. However, I realized I preferred the one at Bob's. So back to Bob's I journeyed (okay, it was about a 5 minute walk). Of the 3 KoAloha's at Bob's the pineapple soprano was my clear favorite. And now it's sitting here on my desk in front of me. Lovely instrument. If you are buying a uke, you should check out Bob's too!