Kiernan Music

We are trained musicians from NYC (though we don’t many any money at it) and were on the Big Island for our honeymoon. For a nice souvenir of our time in Hawaii, I wanted to get a nice Uke to play. Before arriving, I did some research online for Uke shops on the west coast of the Big Island and found 3 (you can see my reviews for the other 2 on their Unilocal pages).
This shop was by far the best of the 3. Brian (the owner, I believe) was friendly and patient with us. He did a great job of listening to what I already knew and helped me understand what he had in stock. The stock (of Ukes) was wide, ranging from $ 150 to $ 1000+. He had no problem with us trying them out, including the upper end ones. He was forthcoming with details about the instruments and types, but not so much that I got overwhelmed. Plus, it was a very no-​pressure sale. In the end, I returned to Brian’s store after visiting the other 2 stores and purchasing one from him.
Plus, he even gave us a tour of his workshop where he builds guitars and ukes by hand. It’s a nice quality shop with top notch customer service.

Love this place!
Brian knows his stuff and will talk to you about any topic.
Great knowledge of stringed instruments.
Excellent repair work and set up work.
Highly recommend!

Had a good time stopping by here to get a ukulele for the husband. The owner was very nice to talk with, he invited some people into the workshop room and playing different types for us to see how they sounded. The prices ranged from $ 75 to $ 8000, which was an incredible range. Took the uke on 5 different flights during the week and on the way home and it survived nicely along the way.

I bought a ukulele here at a good price and I really enjoy it! The owner really helped me find what I was looking for and what would be the best for me :)

There were two people behind the counter and a customer in the shop. We were not greeted at all, which was unusual since we’ve received a friendly aloha everywhere else on this island. And even after staying a few minutes to browse, still no acknowledgement of our presence. Oh well, I will spend my money elsewhere.

I have a ton of experience dealing with musical instrument retailers and I love going to Kiernan Music. Brian is a very nice and helpful man. Some music store owners can be stingy about trying things out, but Brian was very encouraging. I ended up buying a wonderful used vintage Fender bass and a small Phil Jones bass combo and I love both .
I’m very happy that there is such a nice music store that has almost everything I need. Thanks Brian.