Maui Music

Peter Lieberman formed Maui Music when the only “k” brand was Kamaka. On december 27 2000 a fire burned down his factory forcing him to close down. He was soon back to building, but instead of running another crew and factory production, he decided to be a one man custom shop and focus on the highest quality. Both the “pre-fire” Maui Music and Peter’s custom ukes are among the most loved Hawaiian instruments in the world. This nearly came to an end last year. Health problems made him unsure if he would ever build again. Peter tells me,

I almost died last year. When I recovered and came back to work I decided to make the best ukes I had ever made in my life.

And that’s what he did. And he says that is his plan for every year to come. That’s awesome!
Mango Soprano 
Behold mango in all it’s craziness. This Big Island wood is alluring with all kinds of figure to enjoy. On top of that is has a super punchy tone! This must be the first time I have seen a side port on a soprano. Have you guys seen that before?

Concert Long Neck
So this koa beauty has a concert body with the 17″ tenor scale. This gives the feel and tension of a tenor with a more classic uke, smaller body, tone. All of these are framed off with abalone purfling and wood binding. Green wood strips sit in between making the greens in the abalone pop. Super beautiful design!
Spruce Top Maple Tenor
This tenor features a Spruce top and some of the most eye-popping gorgeous maple I have ever seen. This wood is so glorious I had to force myself to stop taking pictures. Notice the details like purfling going around the end jack. Touches like this show the artist and designer that Peter is.
Spruce Top Cocobolo Tenor
Cocobolo is like rosewood but twice as sexy. This tenor has some jaw dropping looks and rich yet articulate tones. A very unique instrument. 2 Koa Tenor Deluxes
So this first koa deluxe has the oval soundhole that Peter introduced 10 years back. We had these in our store from MGM when he still had his ebay store. He was always pimpin’ us out with awesome ukes. Great to see this design back for atleast one of these ukes. I love the look. The next koa deluxe tenor is more to Peter’s 2014 design with the side port, which I think is great. It really gives the player more volume and clarity to their ears. Let’s face it, we play for ourselves, and the side port releases the sound where we can hear it best.
Mango 6 & 8 string Tenors
Of all these amazing instruments the one I personally covet the most is this 6 string. I love the sound of a good 6 string and this might be the best I have ever played. So easy to play and just sings with wonderful tones. Budget model 6 and 8’s can really turn players off. These are easy to play, easy to keep in tune and sound amazing even with Hilo strings.
The only thing I am not crazy about with these instruments is the Hilo strings. IMO they don’t do justice to the potential tone. I reckon I’ll be slowly switching them out for other strings when I get a chance. But that’s just my opinion and an easy thing to change. Overall these ukes from Peter exceeded my expectations and I am grateful to him for letting us show them off.

Peter builds differently than any other custom builder I know. He basically does one batch each year of around 100 ukes. He truly kicks some luthier butt doing this quantity and quality all solo, and even while fighting health problems, taking care of his mother etc..he’s an awesome guy. These are the first of his to introduce the side sound port, even on the soprano! Look and listen to these 2014 Maui Music masterpieces. They will soon be listed at our website but contact me if you see something you want. Each picture opens to a gallery. Enjoy, and let us know if you have any questions.

View available at TheUkuleleSite

Mahalo and Aloha from your friends at HMS. Share your thoughts/ questions/ & opinions in the comments below~