Family owned and operated. Offering the finest handmade ukuleles on Maui since 1993.
circa 1993, Cheryl & Mike Rock
Family owned and operated, Mele Ukulele welcomes every customer with open arms and aloha.
Sharing the gift of music through hand-made wooden instruments is not just our business, it is our passion.
Offering the finest handmade ukuleles on Maui since 1993.
In 1981, Mike Rock moved to Maui and fell in love with the colors, textures, and sounds of paradise. Being a talented craftsman his entire life, he had spent years creating hand-crafted furniture and stairways before guitars and ukuleles found their way into his hands. Once Mike discovered the incredible intricacies and beauty of these musical instruments, Mele Ukulele was born.
Meet the Luthier, Mike Rock
Our story begins when world-renowned luthier Michael Rock made his move from Boston, MA to Maui, Hawai’i in 1981. He began by building fine furniture, cabinetry, and spiral stairways, but enjoyed repairing guitars and ukuleles for his friends on the side. This hobby quickly grew and by the early 90s he was building custom Koa ukuleles and Hawaiian lap steel guitars under the Hawaiian Instrument Designs Maui brand. When Rainsong Guitars started up on Maui, they immediately hired him as production manager and sent him to New Mexico to collaborate with Pimentel & Sons, a company that has been building classical and flamenco guitars since 1951.
Sam Kamaka, Jr. of Kamaka Ukuleles, Steve Grimes of Grimes Guitars, and Bob Gleason of Pegasus Guitars and Ukuleles all gave their input and encouragement, further motivating Mike to continue to develop his own creations and business as Rainsong prepared to move away from Hawai’i to the mainland. It was time to finally build ukuleles full-time and open a retail store on the island of Maui.
Once the store opened, the demand for his ukuleles grew rapidly. He knew that he needed to develop a whole new production process in order to keep up with orders while maintaining the level of professional-quality and simultaneously offering affordable prices. A factory was built and an expert production crew was trained and hired.
Today the Mele brand encompasses not only the Mele line of handmade ukuleles, constructed from the world’s finest tonewoods, but also the new “Hula Ukes” line of affordable yet high-quality mass-produced models, which also receive fretwork, setup, restringing and final inspection at the Mele production shop.
Mele has become famous for its consistency, reliability and comprehensive lifetime warranty.
Mele has become one of the major authorized distributors for the MiSi line of state-of-the-art high-tech rechargeable active transducer systems, which are by far the best-sounding ukulele pickups we’ve ever heard. We can install one in almost any Mele Ukulele, either pre- or post-sale, for a very reasonable price. We also provide the excellent-sounding Belcat active pickup system in our reasonably-priced Hula Ukes A/E models.
As the renaissance of the ukulele continues into the 21st century, Mele Ukulele will continue to find ways to provide the highest quality ukuleles at the best possible prices to professional musician and music lover alike.
We have two store locations in addition to our online stores:
Just minutes from historic Iao Valley, right before the historic Waiale Bridge in Wailuku, you will find our original Wailuku Mele Ukulele Store.
We are also extremely excited to now be a part of The Shops at Wailea ohana. Our Wailea Mele Ukulele Store is located on the second level of the beautiful open-air mall near the Tommy Bahama Restaurant.
Quality construction for years of satisfaction.
Mele ukuleles are built to stringent quality standards to provide you with the utmost in satisfaction and value. Each Mele ukulele is a beautiful example of the craftman’s work, and will provide you with a lifetime of fun and music.
What People Are Saying
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Your mango double-puka tenor was my main axe at a recent gig. Many compliments from fans and onlookers at it’s looks. For me the price, looks (simple yet elegant) and functionality (easily the most perfectly set-up uke in my collection!! I’m not kidding!) = fantastic quality uke for the performer who likes it clean with no excess decoration. It’s a giant killer of an instrument!
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— Greg Farmer
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In my opinion the BEST made ukuleles, not to mention the BEST sounding ukuleles in the world! Cheryl and Mike have quite the selection and understanding of what exactly you are looking for. Whether you’re just beginning or have played your whole life, they just know. Trust goes a long way in this business and it’s kept me coming back for years!
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— Alika Nako’oka
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Everybody should have and play a uke it is so simple to carry with you and it is one instrument you can’t play and not laugh!
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—George Harrison
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Are you looking for the ULTIMATE Hawai’i gift for that someone special or for yourself? With locations in Wailuku and the Shops at Wailea, Mele Ukulele has over 300 varieties of ukuleles at every price point. This is the must go-to place when buying ukuleles! Tell them we sent you!
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— Maui Mondays
“I bought a 6-string tenor from the Wailuku store about 20 years ago. I’ve taken my ‘Ukulele in only a few times to add on a scratch guard and install a pick-up. I have taken it with me to perform in the mainland and other countries. I’ve made a few recordings. It is still the only ‘Ukulele I play on. I love my Mele.”
“Everyone that works here is not only awesome, but knowledgeable too. They work with you to become a better player with helpful hints. They are great! We have two of their ukuleles!!!”
“The wise ones say to find the ukulele that makes you smile, fills your soul, and that you connect with...and I found it here. This Mele custom series was all of that and more, and the photos here do not do it justice. I also loved that it was of Maui, built from scratch right there.
Mele is a Hawaiian brand located only on Maui. You may know that some years ago, Mele started having the necks and bodies made in the Phillipines, with the rest of the build (bridge, tuners, frets, etc.) done in Maui and this is still working well. However, you may Not know that they are now building their new top tier of ukuleles, the Mele Custom line, 100% right there on Maui, hand crafted like the famous K brands (Kamaka, Ko’Aloha, Kanile’a, and Ko’olau).
They were very generous in letting me hold this Mele custom and play while they helped other customers... this tenor was the finest, most beautiful ukulele I had ever played.”
Care & Feeding of your Mele
Your Mele Ukulele is a handmade solid wood instrument, just like guitars, violins and other fine stringed instruments costing many thousands! Sometimes our customers don’t realize that such instruments should be kept humidified. Please keep your Mele in its case when it’s not being played, and use a humidifier (we offer some inexpensive ones for sale) if you live in a very dry climate or heat your home. Aside from this, upkeep is very simple; wipe with a soft cloth occasionally, and slightly loosen the strings when traveling. Enjoy! There are some videos on the Taylor Guitars website that are very informative. To view them, go to www.taylorguitars.com, click on “Owner Resources”, scroll down to “Sometimes a Guitar gets Thirsty”, and you can click on the titles of the videos. Currently, they are: Humidity – The Symptoms, | Using a Guitar Humidifier, Video: Humidity – The Solution, Part 1 | Part 2. You can also click on them right here on our page to watch them on YouTube.