RELATED PAGES: Resonator Ukulele
A resonator ukulele or "resophonic ukulele" is a ukulele whose sound is produced by one or more spun aluminum cones (resonators) instead of the wooden soundboard (ukulele top/face). These instruments are sometimes referred to as "Dobro ukuleles," however the term "Dobro" is currently trademarked by the Gibson Guitar Corporation.
The resonator ukulele is a descendant of the resonator guitar. The resonator guitar was originally designed to be louder than conventional acoustic guitars, which were overwhelmed by horns and percussion instruments in dance orchestras. A resonator ukulele is generally somewhat louder than a standard wooden ukulele, and has a different tone quality and distinctive appearance.
Though resonator guitars are often played flat in the lap steel guitar style, resonator ukuleles are almost exclusively played in the conventional manner.
A Peter Howlett Resonator ukulele
Resonator Ukulele Builders and Manufactures
Current manufacturers
- Mya-Moe Ukuleles (USA)
- Kala Ukuleles (USA) - We'll have a few of the resonator ukuleles at our Funky Frets, Boyertown, PA store when they are available.
- National Reso-Phonic Guitars, Inc. (USA)
- Beeton Brass Guitars (Australia)
- Beltona Resonator Instruments (New Zealand)
- Big Rusty (South Carolina, USA)
- Donmo (Australia)
- Fine Resophonic (France)
- Pete Howlett (UK)
- R.E. Phillips (USA)
- Pohaku Ukulele (California, USA)
- Republic Guitars
- Wailing Guitars (UK)
- Wailua Instruments (Hawaii, USA)
- Duane Heilman / Black Bear (Washington, USA)
- John Morton (Washington State, USA)
- Geoff Davis / Old Crow (Indiana, USA)
- Marshall Stapleton Guitars (Great Britian)
Historical manufacturers
- Dobro Manufacturing Company (USA)
- Regal Musical Instrument Company (USA)
- Del Vecchio (Brazil)
- Johnson/Ashbury (China)
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Beltona
Old Parua Bay Road, R.D.5
Whangarei, New Zealand
Northern Hemisphere contact: www.northpacificproductions.com
Links
- www.beltona.net
- Tiki King's Ukulele: Brand name database: Beltona
Beltona began as a partnership between Steve Evans and Bill Johnson in the UK in 1990. A luthier and engineer respectively and sharing an interest in resonator instruments, they set out to produce a couple of instruments for themselves replicating the best features of the originals but also making adjustments and improvements where they were needed.
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Links
- www.blackbearukuleles.net
- Tiki King's Ukulele: Brand name database: Black_Bear
Ukuleles are sold on eBay by the luthier Duane Heilman of Black Bear Ukuleles.
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Pete Howlett
The International Ukulele Building School
South Wales, United Kingdom
UK Phone: 07870 677754
Links
( from listing's site )
A prophetic photograph of me age 4 used to form the background, Bowman style, to my labels. Clutching my plastic Woolworth's ukulele, standing in the tartan kilt of my mother's Scottish clan, in front of the wall my dad built, is a constant reminder that I really was born to do this job!
My whole philosophy is one of care in the selection of materials and attention to detail. I learned these qualities from my toolmaker father whose exacting eye taught me to take notice of the small things
.I remember when our neighbours painted their houses; it took a couple of days with a gallon can of Dulux. It always needed re-doing a couple of years later. Dad took a week applying 3 coats of Mangers lead based oil paint over 2 coats of red lead primer. He only did it once. It lasted years.
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Kala
(pronounced Kah’ la )
P.O. Box 751149
Petaluma, CA 94975-1149
1 877 Uke Duke
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- Over 120 Ukulele Models
- UBass - Bass Ukulele
- Tuners
- Cases
- Strings
- Accessories
Links
Funky Frets, Boyertown PA USA
Our family store, Funky Frets carries the line of ukuleles and accessories.
Listing Info
( from the Kala site ) - KALA BRAND UKULELES HAVE JUST BEGUN, BUT OUR ROOTS GO BACK A BIT.
Hawaiian Definitions of KALA (pronounced Kah’ la)
- v. To forgive, a prayer to free someone from any evil influence.
- nvs. Dollar, silver, money, cash, currency.
- n. Surgeonfish, Unicorn fish
- (Ono) Brand of Ukulele!!!
Hi, I’m Mike Upton, founder of Kala Brand Music Co. and Kala Brand Ukulele. I became acquainted with the charm of the ukulele at an early age as my Dad would strum the "uke" and sing old standards, entertaining the family, neighbors, and worshiping in Church. The sweet, soothing sound was the best pacifier for a fidgety child like yours truly, so as I grew up, you guessed it, I started playing the bass. Four strings like the uke, only much larger and able to rattle your teeth with the proper amplification i.e. Ampeg SVT 300 Watt Tube Head through a 8x10 cabinet. Anyway, back to the ukulele, I re-engaged with the uke while living on heavenly Lanikai Beach in 1991 with my lovely wife, Wendy. You were just starting to hear and see more and more people playing ukulele back then. My interest continued as I became the Hawaii Sales Representative for the Hohner Company in 1997. I found out very quickly that there were very few quality, affordable ukuleles available in the Islands. So with that in mind, I set out and with some help developed the popular ukulele line. In July of 2005 I went out on my own to start Kala Ukulele to continue to expand what is possible in the realm of quality, affordable instruments for the Ukulele Enthusiast and Novice alike.
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Links
- www.myamoeukuleles.com
- Goodbye Industrial Robotics; Hello Rock Stars
How one man went from chasing start-up and technology jobs in Silicon Valley to creating a thriving craftsman shop making custom ukeleles for the likes of Eddie Vedder.
Listing Info
( from listing's site ) - Gordon & Char Mayer are the luthiers who build all Mya-Moe ukuleles. They have combined expertise in design, engineering, music, and lutherie. They both have masters degrees in engineering. Gordon has been building guitars for 7 years. Char is a professional musician. Before building guitars, Gordon was a wood-turning artist, giving him extended knowledge of different woods & their properties. Char’s artistic bent was expressed in hand-pieced Roman shades. Together, they hand-craft each instrument, a culmination of their combined educations & experiences in engineering, art & music.
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National Reso-Phonic Guitars, Inc.
871 Via Esteban #C
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
Tel: (805) 546-8442
Fax: (805) 546-8430
Links
Info
(from their site) - These instruments were first created in the era of the Hawaiian and Jazz Bands, prior to electrical amplification. All sorts of musicians, Hawaiian, jazz and blues, wanted louder guitars: to be able to be heard alongside horns; to project out into music halls or smokey night clubs; or, to be the loudest guitar on the street corner. In response to this need, the mechanically amplified resonator guitar was created.
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Marshall Stapleton Guitars
Mondo Mando
Providence Place
Lyme Regis
Dorset
Great Britain
Phone:
eMail: marshalluke@gmail.com
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- Acoustic Guitars
- Electric Guitars
- Mandolin
- Ukuleles
Links
- www.wix.com/marshallstapleton/guitars
- Tiki King's Ukulele: Brand name database: Marshall Stapelton
Listing Info
( from listing's site ) - I got my first guitar when i was about 13.A cheap and extremely nasty plywood model with metal strings about 1/2 " off the fingerboard (got me started on slide mind!) First thing I did was shave down the floating bridge to save my soft little fingers -it was the start of a long journey.
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