Category: Articles

Hawaii has it’s pineapples, but for size, color, texture, and taste, the king of the fruits here on the mainland has got to be the watermelon. An icon of folk art, plantation lore, and kitchen décor, the watermelon makes a perfect fit with another symbol of camp and kitsch, the ukulele. The Ipulele (Ipu means melon in Hawaiian) is hand painted with uncanny realism by NY artist and uke enthusiast, Kim Do. A concert size uke with a bolt-on maple neck and ash body, the Ipulele is a delicious feast for the eyes and the ears…too bad you can’t eat it!

Concert – $875

The original EARNEST octave mandolin has gone through a number of design changes and refinements resulting in OCTAVIO, a flat-top, octave mandolin featuring a strong, guitar-like bass and a sweet, balanced treble with lots of sustain. The deep, rounded teardrop shape creates a large air chamber allowing the instrument to respond to the low G strings, while the 23″ scale gives it the “feel” of a tenor banjo. OCTAVIO fills a void in the mandolin family. It creates an ideal voice for Celtic music, as well as other ethnic, classical, and contemporary styles. OCTAVIO is available in domestic or exotic tonewoods, with a spruce top, ebony or rosewood fingerboard (12″ radius or flat), and ivoroid binding.

See Price List for prices.

Curly Mahogany

“My Blue Heaven” Uke

“My Blue Heaven” Uke

American Standards
Earnest Instruments, in collaboration with several artists, is pleased to introduce the “American Standards” series, a limited edition of one-of-a-kind painted ukuleles commemorating the golden age of American popular music. The paintings attempt to illustrate both the lyrics of the songs as well as the spirit of the times in which they were popular. Customers can request special songs for the series, or choose from a list of suggested titles. No two ukes will be alike and prices will vary depending on the size and style of uke, and the requirements of the painting.

Number one in the series commemorates the song “My Blue Heaven”, written by Walter Donaldson and George Whiting, which became the first million selling vocal hit with the 1927 recording by Gene Austen . The “My Blue Heaven” uke was painted by Greg Dearth, illustrator, painter, and an accomplished jazz musician, from Franklin, Ohio. (Scroll down for close-ups)

Possibly the first four-string cello guitar (tuned CGDA), BIG RED combines the best qualities of the flat-top guitar and the mandocello in one instrument. Originally based on a Bourgeois slope-shouldered dreadnought body, BIG RED is built with padauk back and sides, a spruce top, and a long 26.5″ scale (similar to a cello) that projects powerful bass response, great sustain, and clear separation of tones. BIG RED has none of the weak muddiness of most acoustic bass guitars, and none of the wimpiness of most mandocellos. Bass (even slap bass), rhythm, or melody are all possible on this unique hybrid instrument.

See Price List for prices.

Junior Deluxe

Junior Jr.

A vintage style electric mandolin featuring a sunburst finish, block inlays, and a bound top and fingerboard, JUNIOR DELUXE has a mahogany body and spruce top, combined with a Seymour Duncan mini-humbucker pickup to deliver a warm, fat tone suitable for jazz, blues, country, or rock music. A hollow tone chamber enhances the low and mid range of the instrument, giving it a guitar-like quality while still retaining that tuned-in-fifths sound. JUNIOR DELUXE is available in 4, 5 or 8 string models and can also utilize an EMG bridge transducer for a more “acoustic” sound. The double neck, JUNIOR II, is also available with an 8 string acoustic/electric neck and a 4 or 5 string solid body electric neck (see Custom Instruments).
See Price List for prices.

Custom Junior II Doubleneck Electric Mandolin

There is an inordinate number of bass players who double on ukulele. Something about the tiny, chordal instrument holds an irresistible attraction for people who often just pluck one note at a time and must fit their vehicles around their axe. So, at last there is an instrument not much bigger than a tenor uke, that not only plays in the bass octave, but sounds remarkably similar to an upright bass. STRETCH utilizes the same silicone rubber strings as the DeArmond Ashbory Bass. The fretless 18″ scale is inlaid with maple fret markers on a rosewood or ebony fingerboard. The body and neck are mahogany. An active piezo saddle transducer provides a signal for an on-board preamp with volume, treble, and bass controls. The sound is as big as the instrument is small, and it fits in an airline overhead compartment!

See Price List for prices.

Take a piece of Firebird, a little Explorer, some Flying V, add a bit of Danelectro, and a touch of Fender. . . put ’em all together and what have you got?. . .The Boomerang! Earnest Instruments combines the best of what’s “out there” into one retro-electro-mando that brings back the future. Available in mahogany or limba (a.k.a. korina), the Boomerang features a bolt-on neck, reverse headstock, lipstick tube pickup, pearloid pickguard, amber speed knobs, and a strat style tailpiece with through body string anchors. Available with 4 or 5 strings, 14.5″ scale length, or NovaX multi-scale fretboard.

See Price List for prices.