Honolua Banjolele

Plays like your ukulele. Sounds like nothing else you own.

A banjolele is exactly what it sounds like: ukulele size and tuning, with a banjo's tensioned drum head where the wooden top would be. Strum one chord and you get that bright, percussive snap that cuts straight through a room. It's the sound of 1920s dance halls and music hall records, and it hasn't lost any of its charm in the hundred years since.

Everything your hands already know transfers over. Same tuning, same chord shapes, same size. There's no learning curve. The chords you played on your uke last night sound completely different on this, and that's the whole point.

In a circle of wooden ukuleles, the banjolele is the one everyone hears first and asks about after. The drum head gives it volume and punch that a wooden top can't produce, and a solid rosewood fingerboard keeps the left hand feeling like home. Checked and adjusted in Calgary before it ships, like everything we sell.

We build these in small runs. If your collection needs the one instrument that gets a grin every single time it comes out of the case, this is it.

Why this one

• That banjo snap. A real tensioned drum head where a wooden top would be. Bright, percussive, and loud enough to cut through any jam without trying.
• Ukulele hands. Same tuning and the same chord shapes you already play. No learning curve between your uke and this, just a completely different voice.
• The jazz-age voice. The sound of 1920s dance halls and music hall records. It's been making people smile for a hundred years and it still works.
• The details. Solid rosewood fingerboard and a build checked and adjusted in Calgary before it ships. Same standard as the rest of the lineup.

What comes with it

• A 5mm padded with embroidered logo gig bag.
• Five trees planted through our partnership with Greenspark, for every ukulele sold.

Full specs

• Body Shape - Open Back Banjolele
• Head - Remo
• Rim - Maple
• Neck - Maple
• Fretboard - Solid Rosewood
• Bridge - Maple and Ebony
• Nut - Bone
• Nut Width - 35mm
• Binding - ABS
• Finish - Open Pore
• Tuning Heads - Gold Open Gear
• Tuning Buttons - Cream
• Fretboard Inlays - White Dots; Black Side Dots
• Strings - Aquila
• Scale Length - 394mm
• Gig Bag - 5mm Padded with Embroidered Logo, Included

Honolua Ukuleles is a Canadian company based in Calgary, Alberta. Every instrument is checked and set up here before it ships. Backed by 400+ verified five-star reviews.

Brand new, ships free within Canada.