On the island of O'ahu, in the city of Honolulu, at 550 South Street, is a small factory, where some of the world's greatest ukuleles are made. This is the home of Kamaka Hawaii, Inc., a company established in 1916 by Sam Kamaka. Now run by Sam's sons, Sam, Jr. and Fred, and by their sons, Chris and Fred, Jr., Kamaka Hawaii makes about 3000 koa ukuleles every year.
In May of 1998, my father and I were given a tour of the factory by Chris Kamaka. These are some of the pictures I took....
This is the front of the rather small factory, at 550 South St.
Kamaka Hawaii does repairs on vintage instruments. Here are a few they were working on...
This gentleman is attaching the back to the sides of a soprano ukulele...
Chris shows my Dad some Ohta-San concert bodies...
The neck of the ukulele is sawn into shape...
A big pile of unfinished ukes!
These workers are putting the finishing touches on the ukes before the final varnish...
After the varnish, the tuning pegs are attached...
Chris shows off a soprano model, ready for it's varnish...
My Dad just couldn't resist and bought himself a soprano model...
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