FAQ

A few independent music stores across Canada still carry Honolua Ukuleles. You can also visit our Calgary shop inside Shedpoint; call or email before you come.

We're not adding new dealers right now, but we're always happy to hear from independent music stores. Email us at info@honoluaukuleles.com.

Of course, all products we sell, including ukuleles, are covered by a 1 year warranty.  

Your personal information is safe with us.  We use Shopify Payments and Paypal as our primary payment processors and we never receive any of your financial information.  Both providers use every available safety measure when processing transactions.

All models are designed from our home base in Calgary and built to our spec by our partner factory in China. Back in Calgary, every one is inspected, played, and adjusted before it ships. Part of our decision to pledge to plant trees for every ukulele sold was to offset the environmental impact of sourcing materials, production, and transporting products.

Yes, Shop Pay allows you several plans, from biweekly interest free plans to 12 month programs. Get more info by clicking the Shop Pay icon on any product page on our website, or go HERE.

Well, the truth is, we don't very often. When we do, it's a real sale with a real end date.

We love helping musical road warriors.  If music is more than just a hobby for you, we want to help.  Use the chat in the bottom right corner and let's work something out.

If you have feedback, a suggestion, a complaint, or you just want to share a family recipe with us, we want to hear from you.  Use the chat in the bottom right corner of this page or contact us at info@honoluaukuleles.com.

YES!  You can read more about our partnership with Greenspark here.

First you'll need something to tune it with.  We suggest our clip-on tuner but you can also use other electronic tuners or even a tuning app on your phone.  The standard tuning for soprano, concert and tenor ukuleles is GCEA, while a baritone is DGBE (from the top string to the bottom if you are right handed).

Ukulele strings take up to a couple of weeks to become fully stretched so it is normal to need to tune often in that first week.  You can speed the process by stretching the strings every day and tuning your uke at least twice a day in that first week.

Yes!  We can ship any model without a pickup system in a left handed version.  We can't currently offer our acoustic electrics because the pickups are installed at the factory and would be on the wrong side for lefties.  Look for an options box under the checkout button on each product page to check off the left handed option when you're adding to your cart.

Yes, when we do final inspection and setup we can string with a low G set for any of our tenor models.  Look for an options box under the checkout button on each product page to check off the Low G option when you're adding to your cart.

We make sure you can see which models have a solid top because it makes a real difference. The alternative to a solid top is a laminate top, which is much more rigid. The top of a ukulele is the biggest factor in the sound that comes out of it, and a solid top will vibrate much more than a laminated one, producing more overall volume and tone.

As with all instruments, you'll want to avoid extreme temperatures, cold or hot.  Otherwise, there isn't much to it.  We highly suggest you use a ukulele humidifier like this one with all of our solid top models.  A solid top instrument can dry out much easier than a laminate one, and the symptoms of dryness, including sharp fret ends, cracking, and a sinking top, are not covered under warranty, so take care of that thing!

This can vary for people, depending on how much you play, but we suggest changing the full set twice per year.  If a string breaks, the full set should be changed out.  Fortunately, string changes are very easy to complete with our bridge pin bridges.  

Our ukuleles are strung with Aquila Nylgut strings from the factory. You don't need to use the exact same brand or model strings when it's time to change them.  Just make sure that you are using a set that matches the size of your ukulele.  

For help determining the right size ukulele for you, please have a look at our Buyer's Guide, take our Meet Your Matchquiz, or open the "Size chart" beside the price on any of our ukulele product pages for a size visualization.

For help choosing the right model for you, please have a look at our Buyer's Guide or take our Meet Your Match quiz.

We do full inspection and test all ukes before they ship and make any necessary adjustments which could include fretwork, action adjustment, truss rod adjustment (on applicable models), hardware/electronics adjustments to ensure good playability for any player. Unfortunately we can't guarantee optimal playability for every player's style so some may choose to have further setup work completed to customize to their personal preferences. We suggest waiting for about a month after receipt of the ukulele to have further work completed to allow the wood to acclimatize to your climate.

Every series comes in an acoustic electric version, with a "pickup" built in, which means they have the option to be plugged into an amplifier. An acoustic electric model works just like a ukulele without a pickup when it is unplugged, it just gives the option to plug in. As an added feature, our pickup system includes a handy built in electronic tuner.

Every Honolua Ukulele comes with the Honolua Starter Course, free and yours for life. No subscription, no theory, no notation, no reading music.

It comes in two parts. First, the Owner's Course: sizes, woods and strings explained, how to hold, tune, restring and look after your ukulele, the accessories worth buying, a troubleshooting hub, and left-handed setup. Then the 3-Day Fast Track: three sessions of about an hour each, with sixteen popular play-along songs and Dave playing along on every one. Go slower if that suits you better. When you want more songs, The Uke Night Songbook is where you go next, at an exclusive Honolua customer discount.

The ukulele bass and the guitaleles are tuned differently from the rest of our ukuleles, so the course doesn't fit them. If you'd like a hand finding material for yours, just ask.

Your course link usually arrives by email after you order, so check your inbox and your spam folder first. Can't find it, or bought your Honolua Ukulele from a store? Email info@honoluaukuleles.com and we'll set you up. Every ukulele also ships with a hang tag whose QR code takes you to the course page.

Yes! And you should! 

All ukuleles ship free anywhere in Canada and the mainland USA, and U.S. orders never pay customs, duty or tariffs. Other orders of $100 or more ship free too; orders under $100 are charged a flat rate of $14.99. For the full shipping policy please go here.

We ship nearly every order within 24 hours of receiving it.  Orders placed on the weekend or a holiday will be shipped on the first business day following the order date. For US orders please allow an extra 1-2 business days for parcel to be transferred to our US warehouse before tracking will start to update.

Transit times vary by shipping address, but orders usually arrive within these estimates:

to Alberta - 1-2 business days

to BC, Sask, Man - 2-3 business days

to Ont, Qc, NWT, YT - 3-4 business days

to Maritimes - 4-5 business days

to USA - 3-4 business days

Your order could be shipped with Canada Post, Canpar, FedEx, UPS, Purolator or USPS.  We ship via whichever method works best for your shipping address based on cost and estimated delivery time.

Yes, all orders are shipped with a tracking number.  An email with your tracking number is sent to you once the shipment is created.  If you can't find that email, check your junk mail folder, access it in the Shop app, or contact us.

Uh-oh.  If you have passed the estimated delivery date associated with your tracking number, please contact us and we will get to the bottom of it for you.  Note that the estimated delivery dates are rarely met in December and small delays may occur.

Your complete satisfaction is our service standard.  To that end, you have 30 days from your order date to initiate a return/refund/replacement if you aren't totally satisfied.

If you have a problem with your order, are unhappy with your purchase, or have a warranty claim, just contact us and we will work with you to correct the problem.

You bet! With free shipping on any ukulele.

Checkout takes Canadian and U.S. addresses. Anywhere else, email us and we'll see what we can do.