FAQ

We accept the following credit cards: MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover. We only take payment once your order has been shipped.

We aim to process refunds within three days of an item being returned to us. Please note, however, that your bank may take several days to process the payment back into your account. With that said, please allow up to ten working days after posting the item back to us before getting in touch about your refund. We’ll contact you by email to let you know when your refund has been processed.

We have a 24-hour return policy, which means you have one day after receiving your item to request a return. 

Damages and issues
Please inspect your order upon reception and contact us immediately if the item is defective, damaged or if you receive the wrong item, so that we can evaluate the issue and make it right.

To be eligible for a return, your item must be in the same condition that you received it, unworn or unused, with tags, and in its original packaging. 

To start a return:

1. Contact us at sales@islandbazaarukes.com or call us at (714) 843-9350. Items sent back to us without first requesting a return will not be accepted.  
2. You are responsible for the cost of the return shipping.
3. Once we receive your package, we’ll inspect the issue that concerned you. We’ll notify you by phone or email that we receive your package and the results of our inspection.
4. If a REFUND is requested and approved, you’ll be automatically refunded on your original payment method within three business days.  Please remember it can take some time for your bank or credit card company to process and post the refund too.
5. If an EXCHANGE is requested, the fastest way to ensure you get what you want is to return the item you have, and once the return is accepted, make a separate purchase for the new item.

Exceptions / non-returnable items
Unfortunately, we cannot accept returns on sale items, gift cards or ukuleles that have been customized with pick-ups.  Strap buttons and set-up add-ons are acceptable for returns.

Let's make this easy...  shipping is free for all purchases over $450.  Shipping is only $24.99 if your purchase price is less than $450.

We'll confirm the order within 1-3 business days which is the handling time. And after that we will handover your product within 3-10 days to the shipping company. 

Our shipping and receiving from our retail store is located at 

16582 Gothard Street, Suite R
Huntington Beach California
92647 United States

We only ship to buyers in the USA.

Shipping is free for orders of $450+.  For orders of less than $450.  We charge only $24.99

Yes. In your delivery confirmation emails, you’ll receive a tracking reference which you can use to check the progress of your order shipment online.

There is only a short amount of time between when you place your order and when we start processing it. If you contact us straight away after ordering, via sales@islandbazaarukes.com, we may be able to cancel your order before it’s processed. If not, we’ll despatch your order and then you can return it to us if you wish upon receiving it.

We have a 24-hour return policy, which means you have one day after receiving your item to request a return. 

Damages and issues
Please inspect your order upon reception and contact us immediately if the item is defective, damaged or if you receive the wrong item, so that we can evaluate the issue and make it right.

To be eligible for a return, your item must be in the same condition that you received it, unworn or unused, with tags, and in its original packaging. 

To start a return:

1. Contact us at info@islandbazaarukes.com or call us at (714) 843-9350. Items sent back to us without first requesting a return will not be accepted.  
2. You are responsible for the cost of the return shipping.
3. Once we receive your package, we’ll inspect the issue that concerned you. We’ll notify you by phone or email that we receive your package and the results of our inspection.
4. If a REFUND is requested and approved, you’ll be automatically refunded on your original payment method within three business days.  Please remember it can take some time for your bank or credit card company to process and post the refund too.
5. If an EXCHANGE is requested, the fastest way to ensure you get what you want is to return the item you have, and once the return is accepted, make a separate purchase for the new item.

Exceptions / non-returnable items
Unfortunately, we cannot accept returns on sale items, gift cards or ukuleles that have been customized with pick-ups.  Strap buttons and set-up add-ons are acceptable for returns.

As the situation with COVID-19 continues to evolve day-to-day, our top priority during this time is to ensure the health and safety of our employees, clients, and community. 

At Island Bazaar Ukes, taking care of each other is important to us. We have therefore taken new measures to ensure that you have peace of mind when receiving your orders.

Update: 7.12.22
⁠
In light of the increasing concern for public safety due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we will be limiting our operations.⁠
⁠
⁠We will be OPEN with limitations for the time being. We will be limiting a maximum of 3 groups of customers at a time. Finally, we ask that all customers wear a mask, disinfect their hands upon entering, and refrain from handling merchandise.
⁠
⁠We also encourage our patrons to take advantage of the services we are providing during this time, such as:⁠
⁠
- Curb-side pickup during normal office hours.

- Private shopping appointments by request

- In home delivery (within a reasonable distance from the store.)

⁠If you have any questions or requests at all, please call us at (714) 843-9350

As a beginner, you will most likely choose an inexpensive instrument to start your ukulele journey. That’s fine! However, you will also have to decide which size is right for you. Flight offers great ukuleles for beginners in all four main sizes (or “scales”):

• Soprano: With only 53 cm from head to tail and 12–15 frets, sopranos are the smallest (and most portable!) members of the ukulele family. Often called “standard” in the Hawaiian motherland, sopranos have that classic sound immediately associated with the ukulele, making them the most popular among beginners.
• Concert: They might be only 10% larger than sopranos, but concert ukuleles are louder, warmer in tone, and definitely easier to play if you have large hands. Plus, the larger neck (typically with 15–18 frets) allows concerts to reach higher notes than sopranos. Weird, we know.
• Tenor: Larger still in size and volume, tenors are arguably the most versatile member of the ukulele family. Sporting up to 19 frets, a tenor can do everything a concert can, and then some. Tenors are especially well-suited for trying alternate tunings, making them especially attractive for solo playing.
• Baritone: The largest members of the ukulele family, baritones are usually tuned like the four top strings of a guitar, making them perfect for guitar players who wish to step into the ukulele world without having to relearn all the chords. Due to its size (74 cm), baris have a very warm sound that reminds you of a classical guitar.

B-Stock

B-Stock refers to items that were opened and returned, have a cosmetic blemish or imperfection (like a ding in the tolex of an amp or a scratch on the face of an effects pedal), or were used as demo units in a shop. These products are tested to manufacturer's specs and are guaranteed to function perfectly. Many B-Stock items come with a limited manufacturer’s warranty and ship direct from a brand or distributor who sells on Reverb.

The most popular tuning for the soprano and concert ukuleles is gCEA, known as “reentrant C tuning” because the G string is tuned one octave higher than what you would expect. Many players prefer a “Low G” tuning (also called “linear C”) with the G string pitched below the C, because of the extended range you get, especially when playing longer-necked ukes such as concerts, tenors, and baritones. Speaking of baritones, those are usually tuned to DGBE, exactly like the four top strings of a guitar.

But that is not all, oh no it isn’t. There are many alternative tunings you can try, such as Hawaiian slack key (GCEG), viola (CGDA), open G (GBDG), or pipa (ADEA). Why not develop your own?

If you need help tuning your uke, just head over to UkeBuddy’s Ukulele Tuner.

Depending on what kind of pickup you decide to run, you’ll find that there are some parts specific to certain models and some that are pretty standard.

Endpin Jack

Every pickup has some way to plug into an amp or a PA. The most common comes in the form of an endpin jack. This is the place where the pickup signal leaves the ukulele’s body. It’s a metal ¼” jack that accepts a ¼” instrument cable. This can also be used for one end of a strap! Usually the jack is secured in its hole by a washer, nut, and then a screw-on cover that makes the assembly look nice on the outside.

If your pickup is active, the preamp is usually mounted onto the jack on the inside of the uke.

Transducer

The actual pickup element that creates an electronic signal from vibrations is called the transducer. It’s usually created with piezo crystals which is why most ukulele pickups are classified as “piezo.”

If the transducer is the UST type, it’s a little flattened wire that sits at the bottom of the saddle slot. You can’t see it unless you take your strings off and remove the saddle.

If it’s SBT type, it looks like a little UFO stuck on the end of a wire. This UFO gets attached to the soundboard with an adhesive. You can see it if you peer into your uke with a mirror.

Battery

Explained in detail above, it is usually mounted in a little pack, bag, or clip inside the soundhole where it’s fairly easy to access.

Onboard Controls

EQ, volume, tuner, notch filter, and gain are all things you can have at your fingertips if you choose to have an onboard system installed. The controls of an onboard system are usually put in the side of the ukulele – after cutting a rectangular hole in your uke. Some companies are making simple controls like volume and tone that stick on the inside of the sound hole, allowing fairly easy access without having to do any cutting.

That greatly depends on the size of the uke, whether you play standing up or sitting down, if you’re a boy or a girl, and if you use a strap. To sum up:

If you are sitting down, try balancing the uke in between your legs or on one of your thighs. In fact some of the greatest ukulele players of all time (Roy Smeck, Jake Shimabukuro, the members of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain) rest their ukes on their thigh when they play. Holding it that way will also help with one of the most important aspects of holding the ukulele, i.e., minimising the amount of contact with your body. Please resist the urge to hug your uke (no matter how much you love it/him/her!) because if you hold it tightly you will stop the vibration of the wood, which will in turn deaden the sound.

Resting the ukulele on your thigh is also works when you’re playing larger ukuleles (or both!). Sometimes you will have no choice but to play standing up, though…

If you are standing up, hold the ukulele by two points: (1) between the forearm of your strumming arm and your body, and (2) the underside of your fretting hand. Make sure the thing doesn’t slip out of your hands too often, and you’ll be fine. It might take a bit of practice, but it’s worth it.

Although I personally almost never use one, there are clear benefits to using a strap when standing up. Above all, you will not have to juggle your holding position at all when playing, and for those with large mammalian protuberances, it is kind of a must. When using a strap you can also prance around and even dance, as the lovely virtuoso Taimane Gardner is famous to do.

Now, you can use a guitar or mandolin strap if you have one, but you will have to install a strap button. You can try using the sexy-sounding-but-boring-looking Uke Thong if you feel like it, but I personally would recommend just tying a bootlace around the uke’s body, looped around your neck, and keep going.

So, you want to read the “quick start” guide instead of the whole instruction manual? Follow these steps, then:

1. Get a beginner soprano ukulele, something good and inexpensive.
2. Tune it to gCEA using UkeBuddy’s Ukulele Tuner (see answer #2 for more).
3. Hold it as well as you can (see answer #3 for more).
4. Learn to play some basic chords, like C, F, Am, and G7. Flight Ukuleles has put together a nice chord chart you can download here.
5. Use the Internet to find the lyrics and chords to a cool song you want to play.
6. Strum, sing, enjoy! Stop when your fingers start to hurt.
7. Find another song. Lather, rinse, repeat.

There are thousands of ukulele websites out there. For lessons, tabs and chords I personally recommend Ukulele Underground, especially their short-and-sweet series “Uke Minutes“.

Last but not least, check out Flight’s own instructional booklet, which features chord charts, strumming patterns, and chord progressions.

The single most impactful adjustment that should be made to a ukulele relates to string height; removing buzzing and making it easier to play.  Our Full Setup service includes all the Basic QC plus we attend to the Nut and Bridge to ensure best playability.  If the strings are too high, the instrument becomes uncomfortable to play, if the strings are too low, it can cause fret buzz. Typically, low and mid-price range ukes have actions really high to avoid fret buzz. This solves one problem but makes playing more difficult.

Getting a Pickup Installed:

In addition to deciding what pickup you need/want/like, you’ve got to consider the process of getting it in your uke. External solutions not included, installing a pickup, at the very minimum, requires drilling a hole in the tail block of the ukulele. This is where the endpin jack is mounted. The only part you see is a little button about the size of four stacked pennies, but this will forever become a part of your instrument.

Once you decide that “Yes! I want a pickup!” you’ve got to find somebody who can do the job. It’s certainly a project you can do yourself. There’s not much to it, really, and you’d save some money. But if you’ve never done it before and expect a great sound from a nice instrument, it might be a good idea to find a third party to do the work.

It’s a fiddly task and getting it correct makes all the difference in the world, believe me. Because of how a pickup works, the sound can be downright terrible before you might realize that something isn’t right. If you redo the job, you might find the same pickup sounds fabulous. Which is why it’s nice to get it done right the first time.

Chatting with some ukulele friends should turn up some luthiers competent enough to do the job. The procedure is pretty much the same as for guitar so even if your local music shop isn’t too hip on ukes, their luthier can probably do the install. But get a couple opinions. There are a lot of competent folks up for the task, but there’s also plenty of schmucks who are looking to make a quick buck and get you out the door.

Ukulele Pickups: Get the Best Live Sound From Your Amplified Uke

Ukulele pickups are overwhelming to think about. There are different types: UST, soundboard transducer, internal mic – each in either active or passive styles.

Narrow down what you want and you will find many different brands, most with several models that are relatively suitable for the ukulele. Each has different pros and cons and can have wildly different sounds.

There’s no silver bullet, but doing a little homework will go a long ways towards helping you find what you need in a pickup.

Ukulele Pickup Types and Styles

Most acoustic instrument pickups these days are made from piezo crystals. This is because the magnetic pickups found in electric guitars require steel strings in order to disturb the magnetic field and create an electric signal.

A piezo converts sound vibrations directly into an electric signal, without a magnet. This is vastly more useful for nylon stringed instruments.

While the technology is basically the same, implementation of the piezo pickup can vary a bit.

Soundboard Transducer (SBT)

A soundboard transducer is a little piezo disk that is stuck onto the soundboard of the ukulele. Usually this is done internally with a pickup jack installed in the end block to get the electrical signal out out of the uke to an amp. Sometimes though, non-permanent SBTs are installed externally. These often have a long lead with a 1/4″ plug at the end and don’t require any kind of endpin attachment.

Since an SBT picks up the vibrations centered wherever it’s placed, positioning is very important. A correct install will give a sweet, balanced tone while anything else can be a nightmare.

SBTs often have a warmer, more natural tone than other type pickups. However, the wide range of frequencies they reproduce can lead to feedback problems and extraneous noise from arm movement on the instrument.

Under Saddle Transducer (UST)

This type of ukulele pickup sits in the bottom of the saddle slot. The strings pressure presses the saddle down on the pickup and transfers vibrations into the piezo transducer. These pickups require a small hole be drilled on one or both sides of the saddle slot for the wire that goes to the endpin jack. These holes in the saddle slot are invisible, but because of this, a UST is always a permanently installed pickup with an endpin jack.

Because of the direct string-to-pickup vibration transfer, USTs often sound more sterile and “plugged in” than SBTs. This is because less of the instrument’s resonance is is getting into the pickup sound, which also makes this install style less prone to feedback. Most performing ukulele players have this type of pickup in their ukulele because of consistency and ease-of-use onstage.

Microphone

A mic is also a pickup. It’s very picky and can be difficult to use onstage, but if you can pull it off, hands-down will provide you with the best amplified ukulele sound.

Using a microphone on your ukulele requires careful planning of the whole stage setup. It’s very easy to for an improperly positioned mic to feed back. This is remedied by reducing a stage volume as much as possible.

In fact, the best microphone application for acoustic instrumentation is usually just a nice big condenser mic in the middle of the stage with no monitors. The performers move their bodies and instruments to keep the sound balanced and “turn up” one instrument or another by getting closer to the mic. It’s a beautiful dance to use a microphone like this and it can be highly effective.

Otherwise, a small dynamic spot mic (like a Shure SM57) positioned close to the ukulele can also work, but it won’t sound quite as nice as the “big mic.”

Active vs. Passive

As soon as you sound a note, the pickup converts the sound into an electronic signal and away it goes at the speed of light towards the speakers. Everything in between the pickup and the speakers can be considered electronics, but what happens between the pickup and the endpin jack is of most interest to us here.

Active

An active ukulele pickup has an internal powered preamp built into the pickup electronics. This preamp balances and boosts the signal, sending a “finished product” onto whatever you are plugging into. There are several ways to power this preamp:

• 9V battery – Heavy, but straightforward, popular and has decent headroom. Used by many Fishman pickups like the Matrix.
• 3V watch battery – LR Baggs uses this for their Five-0 pickup. The battery is small, light, and can be easily mounted inside the soundhole via velcro. The drawback to 3V of power is that, while it sounds good, headroom is limited and the sound can be a little clipped
• 2 AA batteries (18v) – Mainly found in D-TAR products. Lots of headroom from the additional voltage, but the additional weight might not be worth it for some people. I’ve also heard of external battery packs that feed the power up a stereo TRS cable.
• Super capacitor: By far the most revolutionary, simple, and light pickup power is the system MISI uses. They figured out how to get a super capacitor to operate like a battery except that it can be recharged again and again without loosing capacity. Simply plug your pickup into a power outlet for a minute and the preamp with work for 8-16 hours.

With an active onboard preamp you basically have a plug-and-play sound. The signal that comes out of the jack is ready to go and can interface with pretty much any mixer without too much trouble.

Passive

A lot of ukulele pickups do not have a preamp built in. They send a raw signal to the output jack. This can sometimes be harsh, weak, or “quacky” as people like to say.

This is usually due to impedance mismatch. I don’t claim to know all the details, but thanks to Booli – a long-time sound guru – over at Ukulele Underground, have enough of an understanding to give an overview here.

Original Article Link

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Collecting Personal Information.
When you visit the Site, we collect certain information about your device, your interaction with the Site, and information necessary to process your purchases. We may also collect additional information if you contact us for customer support. In this Privacy Policy, we refer to any information that can uniquely identify an individual (including the information below) as “Personal Information”.

See the list below for more information about what Personal Information we collect and why.

Device information

Examples of Personal Information collected: version of web browser, IP address, time zone, cookie information, what sites or products you view, search terms, and how you interact with the Site.

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Brand New

Brand New condition is for products listed by authorized dealers that are in the same flawless condition as they were when they left the factory floor, and are covered under the manufacturer’s original limited warranty.

If you are not an authorized dealer, you cannot list brand new unless you handmade the item yourself. If you are reselling a piece of gear that you bought brand new from a retailer—even if it has never been used—it automatically falls under the Mint condition since it may no longer be covered by the manufacturer’s original warranty.

B-Stock

B-Stock refers to items that were opened and returned, have a cosmetic blemish or imperfection (like a ding in the tolex of an amp or a scratch on the face of an effects pedal), or were used as demo units in a shop. These products are tested to manufacturer's specs and are guaranteed to function perfectly. Many B-Stock items come with a limited manufacturer’s warranty and ship direct from a brand or distributor who sells on Reverb.

Synonyms: Like New, Open Box, Closeout, Customer Return, Blemished, Resealed

Mint

For something to truly be mint, it needs to be just shy of Brand New. Mint items should include the original packaging in most cases. If there's any sort of imperfection, the item should be listed in Excellent condition at best.

Excellent

When something's been used a bit but is still close to new, you can file it under Excellent. For modern gear, Excellent items are almost entirely free of blemishes and other visual defects and have been played or used with the utmost care. For vintage items, there may be some marks here and there, but the item is still in the top echelon when compared to similar examples. All Excellent items should be 100% functional in every way.

Very Good

Very Good describes items with more cosmetic imperfections than Excellent but is still in great condition overall. With a Very Good guitar, for example, you might find some scratches, buckle rash, or other minor blemishes but nothing that affects the playability or function of the instrument.

Good

Good condition includes items that are in fine working order but have some visual imperfections here and there. A pedal with scratches and dents on its chassis, a guitar with some cracks in the binding, or maybe an old snare drum with some corrosion on the lugs could all be classified as Good. All of these items work just fine but have enough visual imperfections to only be in the middle of the scale.

Fair

This would be where the various nicks and blemishes start to actually impact the function of the item. Fair items mostly work fine but maybe have some minor functional issues. Say you've got an old archtop that's totally playable but has some neck warping that render some dead spots on the upper registers. This could be considered Fair.

Poor

Poor condition items have definite functional problems that will usually require some sort of repair. Perhaps this is an old acoustic guitar where the action is so high, it's practically unplayable. Maybe it's a keyboard where some of the keys just don't work. It could be an amp that powers on, but doesn't generate any real volume.

Non-functioning

This would be for instruments and other gear that simply do not work. It could be a guitar with an entirely broken neck, or maybe a mixing board that won't power up. Keep in mind, there are still plenty of buyers out there who are in the market for project guitars and other fixer-upper items.

Other Condition Considerations

Condition and the factors that determine it are, of course, contingent on the type of gear you're talking about. A few dings on the face of a distortion pedal may not make a huge difference to anyone, but a few dings on the face of a hand-crafted classical guitar can drastically impact its desirability. Age is also a major consideration. A 70-year-old mandolin can't be held to the same standard as one that was made this year. It's important to keep in mind that it's all relative.

And of course, if there's any uncertainty, you can always take more pictures and write more detailed descriptions to cover your bases.