Ukulele Source

Great selection of ukulele. Very knowledgeable and patient. They let me play all the high end ukes. Surprisingly they had the kamaka and kanilea in stock. In this day and age the Internet stores have taken over. There’s nothing like great customer service and an actual brick and mortar store where you can actually play and compare instruments rather than reading others reviews online or watching YouTube videos. I’m all about supporting mom and pop shops and ukulele source definetly earned my business. I ended up picking up the kamaka hf3 and I am so pleased with it.

My daughter’s travel tenor Ukelele broke and we went into this store to see what they had to replace it. We were met by Smiley and informed him on what we were looking for. He is very knowledgable about the instrument and fit to the customer and I liked that he informed and advised accordingly. We ended up choosing a Uke still a little larger than what my daughter needed but considerably smaller than what broke. I believe we made a sound decision and Smiley was happy to let us choose even after he advised on a smaller Uke. He also pointed out the reason he advised smaller, which I liked. I will be back again for the honesty and integrity of this business.
To the bad mark on this review about the experience not finding a cheap Uke. There were a few inexpensive Ukuleles available at this store. If you are wanting to «just try it out» then you have to spend enough on an instrument that will be fair quality that will keep tuned while you learn the notes. Smiley was right saying he would not advise such a cheap instrument to «try it out». I would advise a visit to this store if you are looking to try Ukelele just to see the beautiful wood finishes available in this instrument.

The Ukulele Source is a small ukulele store located right in the heart of Japan town. It’s located on a corner and kind of hard to spot so just keep an eye out!
They have a great selection of ukulele for beginners and for advanced ukulele’s enthusiast. They have a variety of soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone ukuleles for a pretty good price.
For beginners, you can buy a very pretty good ukulele for about $ 100.00. It’s better to visit a store and try out then to buy it online so that you can see which of the ukulele size you may want. Plus shipping might ruin just ruin your ukulele due to heat and packaging. They carry pretty much everything that you may need here such as tuners, ukulele bags, etc. Also, they’ll give you a free ukulele chart, which I find super useful
Smiley and Janet are super sweet and friendly people. They have such a cute Bichon Frise (Heidi)! I enjoyed playing with their dog while I was waiting for Smiley to get my ukulele. Also, Smiley was very helpful and sat me down after I purchased my ukulele and taught me how to play a bit just so I know how to hold it right and ways to strum it.
Overall, I do recommend this place. I had a good experience here and with the owners. It might get a little bit busy and sometimes they can’t help everyone so you might have to wait a bit, but I guess that just shows that a lot of people do like this store. I love my ukulele! :)

Return visit! Still a wonderful store for the ukulele enthusiast. I asked for help/​instruction on changing strings for my instrument. No problem now I know and can do my own. Happy took the time to show my husband how to do the same on his instrument which was a different way then mine. While waiting I tried different instruments. Somehow another ukulele came home with us. Very knowledgeable and helpful. A great place for a quality instrument.

Went in Saturday afternoon had one heck of a great time.
Janet was so patient with me, showed me then played multiple ukes for me. Then it was my wife’s turn!
Great place, good assortment of beautiful instruments and the best customer service I’ve had in a long time…
We’ll be back.

Great local business. And yeah, that bad review below… I’m sure the guy laughed (but not in a bad way, but you know, in that Hawaiian jovial/​making fun way… it’s a cultural thang, get over yourself lady). Anyway, I just bought a new ‘starter’ uke and was surprised that I could get a decent one for under $ 200. He was very patient with me and demonstrated all the different price ranges and the tone quality. I enjoy the causal ambiance and the low pressure Hawaiian style sales. I also felt really good about supporting a J-​town community business, you know what I mean? I feel like San Jose and surrounding neighborhoods should support the arts and culture of this old community. Wonderful. I can’t wait to be the next Jake Shimabukuro! (hah~ jk, jk!)

The Ukulele Source has a wide range of ukuleles! I spent an hour trying out all the ukulele before I bought Islander MT-​4. The prices are «discounted» already, but I found cheaper prices online ($ 10 less). I still bought one in store to support local business, and you never know if shipping will ruin the fragile ukulele (due to the temperature in shipping trucks, humidity, etc.). My ukulele didn’t come with a case, so I had to buy one as well. Pretty pricey in the end, but the lady (Janet?) gave me a free ukulele chords sheet at the end. :D How nice of her!
Great experience! Would come again if I need a better ukulele!

Went in today to look for a beginner ukulele for a friend to take on a camping trip. The owner pretty much laughed at me when I said I wanted to spend about $ 40. I tried to explain that this was a starter to see if she liked it and that I might get her lessons across the street. He then told me that you can’t show up at lessons with a cheap instrument like that.
Worst salesman ever. Clearly this is a shop for people that know ukuleles… but everyone has to start somewhere.

Bought a beginner ukelele for our granddaughter. No problem. Great service. Good options. Got an affordable instrument and case.
Also our daughter took her Kamaka in to get restrung. They restrung it and replaced a bad tuning peg. Very affordable.

Mahalo! For anyone who’s ever thought about wooing that special someone through sweet melodies, yet just can’t seem to sing due to:
1. Sounding like a crying mantis, or
2. Looking constipated while «attempting» to sing.
(and believe me, I once thought my shower songs and car ride jams were Class-​A singing, sadly it was far from it.)
So whatever it may be, the best solution is to stop singing… and well, just play the ‘Ukulele. The first thing you’ll need of course is an ‘Ukulele, and the best place to find one is at the ‘Ukulele Source.
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[Location/​Store]
The ‘Ukulele Source is located right in the heart of Japan Town, and it can be a little hard to spot, so make sure you check every corner for that one-​of-​a-​kind blue sign. The store is relatively small but it definitely makes up for it with the many variety of ‘Ukes hanging throughout the store.
[’Ukuleles]
‘Ukulele Source is where it’s at! A one-​stop shop that carries everything you’ll need, from tuners and cases, to a wide variety of quality brands; each with their own unique sound and feel. If you’re a beginner, the owners, Smiley and Janet, can help you find the perfect ‘Uke. The prices for a beginners ‘Uke will usually range at around a hundred dollars and the high-​end ‘Uke can be well over a thousand dollars. The high-​end ‘Ukes at ‘Ukulele Source are handcrafted and they sound absolutely amazing, plus they’re made with only the finest materials.
I started out with a smaller Soprano ‘Ukulele, but after a while I decided to upgrade to a concert-​size instead. So with Smiley and Janet’s help, I purchased a Kala-​Solid Spruce Top and I couldn’t be anymore happy. The advantage that ‘Ukulele Source has over other online retailers is how you’ll actually have the opportunity to try and hear for yourself before buying, and trust me, every ‘Ukulele has its own unique feel and sound.
[Service]
The owners, Smiley and Janet, are two more reason why ‘Ukulele Source is hands down the best ‘Uke shop in San Jose. They’re extremely friendly, true experts, and they play a mean ‘Ukulele! Not only did they help me narrow my ‘Uke search, but they also gave me their ONLY (picking version) music-​sheet of «Somewhere Over the Rainbow,» after learning that I’ve been looking for it for a while. On top of that, they gave it as a gift and it was free of charge! Best service ever? You bet!
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So remember, if you’re just like me and you just can’t seem to make sweet melodies when attempting to open your mouth, then the only option is to stop… pick up an ‘Ukulele… and rigorously strum all four strings until you either:
1. Snap a string, or
2. Create a harmonious sound that’s capable of impressing anyone.
But the first step, of course, is to stroll on down to the ‘Ukulele Source, by far the best ‘Ukulele shop in San Jose.

Definitely worth it to come into a nice store like this rather than buying blind online, not to mention risks with shipping something like a ukulele. Just bought a concert uke and played for a few hours at home. It sounds awesome, couldn’t be happier.

This is my favorite ukulele shop in the area. In fact, I can’t think of any place here locally where the entire store is ukuleles. I’ve tried out many of the ukes there from the Kalas to the Kanile’as to the KoAlohas. Even tried a Kala U-​bass there. They are in the know when it comes to ukuleles. I highly recommend this store for their expertise. Smiley told me that Herb Ohta Jr. and Daniel Ho often do private lessons when they are in town. I’m so glad they told me that because that would be awesome!

This Ukulele Source shop is great. I walked in and saw the Uke’s hanging from the ceiling. I felt like I was a kid in a candy store. Yeah! The owners — husband and wife — are really nice, funny and are much involved in the Japantown community. Awesome!
It is a small store with a lot of character. Don’t let the high priced Ukes scare you off because they some Ukes for people on a budget. Price on Ukes can range from $ 170 to over $ 2,000. I highly recommend strolling in and taking a peak. Oh, do say hi to the owners and chat a little.
Happy Uke-​ing!

One of my 2012 resolution is to learn to play an instrument. I settled on a ukulele because it seems that it would be easier than a guitar and more portable than a piano. After some research I found Ukulele Source and was excited about planning a visit after reading all the positive reviews.
I am pleased to report that this place did not disappoint. What I liked best was the encouragement Smiley bestowed. He gave me a little pep talk and a quick lesson. Here’s hoping I don’t disappoint him!

Great location to get an uke.
If you just want a fast get, then this is the place. I don’t believe they do any customizations.
They have various selections of different brands from Kala ukuleles to kamaka ukuleles.
The people working there are super nice and friendly.

I play guitar but I’m a complete uke novice — so… I can follow along if you stick music chord sheet in front of me. At the Japan Town Oban festival last week I stumbled upon this place. Since my little nieces and nephews are learning uke, it was natural for me to browse. I thought it was a great place to go to get educated and learn about brands such as Kala, Nala, Ohana etc. I’ll recommend that the little guys browse through here.

Thumbs Up:
–Very cute, family-​operated shop in Japantown with nice owners.
–A good selection of higher-​end ukes.
Thumbs Down:
–A poor selection of inexpensive ukes. My husband and I have purchased two ukes in the $ 100 range with very good sound quality. You have to play a lot of low-​end instruments to find a gem, but it is definitely possible. Since this shop only carries a handful of inexpensive ukes, we weren’t able to find a decent instrument in our price range.
The advantage of stores like Sylvan Music in Santa Cruz is that they carry a LOT of instruments at all price points, so you’re more likely to come across something that sounds good in your budget. Of course, if you’ve never played before, it might be difficult to determine if something sounds good or not.
For uke novices, Ukulele Source is a great place to go to get educated and buy an above-​average (and probably a little more expensive than you intended) instrument. And parents looking to inspire future musicians – please don’t buy your kid a cheap-​ass toy uke! Spend a little more at Ukulele Source and make sure to get something decent. Real kids deserve real instruments!

My husband randomly wanted to learn how to play the ukulele and he found this cute little shop in Japantown. I never thought we would ever find a shop dedicated strictly to ukuleles, especially one this close to us! Smiley and Janet, the owners of the shop, were extremely helpful and friendly. Being that neither of us knew squat about ukuleles, Smiley helped my husband pick out a nice ukulele that wasn’t too far out of his price range. He even gave us both an impromptu mini lesson even though the store was about to close! They were so patient with us and we never felt rushed.
We assumed that Smiley and Janet were from Hawaii because there is a large Japanese population in Hawaii and the ukulele is very popular there, but they told us they were from LA and that Smiley takes lessons down the street, hahaha. Could’ve fooled us! The store couldn’t feel more authentic.
Anyway, if you’re looking for a good ukulele shop with down to earth, friendly service, Ukulele Source is the place!

I tried to learn guitar when I was in the seventh grade.
It was the wrong time for me; I was a disciplineless, unmotivated, unfocus’d, unrefinable, impatient youth of about 12 years old; that age where everything I wanted, I wanted to do with all of my heart.
For about 3 weeks.
Then on to the next, «Mom, please? Can I??? I promise!»
Guitar. Drums. TaeKwanDo. Painting. On and on. Thing after thing.
So, when I walked into this boutique shop today to look around, I had to keep my hand on my wallet and my heart in my chest lest I jump at the chance to take up yet another [potentially short-​lived] interest.
Smiley (and Janet Kai) was most welcoming of my questions and browsing! What an incredibly friendly and helpful experience; we talked about craftsmanship of the ukuleles, sound, lessons, range, preference. At the end (my «browsing» became a 20-​minute introduction to everything!), Smiley even taught me a few notes and chords… (the «oh, this is kinda difficult, but cool!» hit me right away!)
The small shoppe, and by small I mean tiny, does exactly what it needs to; showcase ukuleles aplenty, vend booklets and CDs, and provide an outlet for the beautiful sounds and strums of music. Its a beautiful boutique in one of my favorite areas of San Jose; historical Japantown.
Now, I didn’t make a purchase today, but if (actually, «when») I do decide to start the ukulele, I know its at the Ukulele Source that I’m starting…
The friendly and helpful owners. The cozy shoppe. The sounds of aloha… I’ll be back!
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I think I just might… Don’t be surprised one day, I come strumming along. =)

Strolled in here on a full stomach, killin’ time. bought my BF an uke boutta’ year ago from Hawai’i, he stopped playing it for several months now, but this place caught his eye.
Place is teeeny tiny. Perfect for little islanders like us :]. the two employees there were really polite and welcoming. Dude was showing my BF the ukes, most of them high-​end, like hella G’s & their cheapest is like. 6 G’s, I’m like thinkin’. foo I ain’t buying you that.
They got a little shelf with books, some CD’s with famous uke players, cute deco around the walls, and I guess they offer ukulele lessons too. BF bought some new strings from them for his uke, the service was really helpful in telling him what he needs.
Thanks, Ukulele Source, cause you wiped that dust off my BF’s uke and got him to start playing it again.