Stones to distribute Kiwaya ukes
Stones Music has been appointed UK distributors for Kiwaya ukes.
Kiwaya is Japan’s oldest ukulele manufacturer, beginning as a gramophone repair business in 1919 and moving into musical instruments in the 1940s, Stones explains: ‘…remaining at the forefront of the massive Japanese ukulele industry through the boom times, and also through tougher times when rock ‘n roll, and the guitar, knocked the ukulele off its perch. Under the direction of the founder’s son Ryouji Okamoto, Kiwaya continued to make superb instruments. That determination paid off and, in the last twenty years, the ukulele has seen another resurgence, with Kiwaya earning praise from players across the globe’.
Stones adds that Kiwaya’s ECO range of super-lightweight laminate instruments ‘…have set a new benchmark, giving the lie to the belief that solid instruments are inherently better than laminates, and their ARTIST and STRUMMER ranges are among the finest instruments in the world, using a mix of laminate and solid timbers in both traditional and contemporary designs’.
This year sees the launch of the STUDENT range of Chinese-made instruments from Kiwaya. According to Stones: ‘Initial response from dealers and reviewers alike has been encouraging and confirms that Kiwaya have managed to maintain their incredibly high quality control standards, rather than rebadging generic instruments from Chinese factories’.
Stones Music’s Mark Pugh is pleased with this addition to his catalogue: ‘I first spoke to Kiwaya about five years ago but their view at the time was that the UK wasn’t a big enough market to warrant a dedicated distributor. I felt this was changing and kept plugging away until, this year, they came to see me at the NAMM Show and offered to supply me as their UK distributor. We just received our second shipment this week, the first having been 100% pre-sold!’
Kiwaya finds its place in the new Stones Music catalogue, alongside ukulele brands such as Baton Rouge, Magic Fluke, RISA and newcomers Kai, the Pub Prop, LogJam stompboxes, Timber Tones and Jumping Cow ukulele accessories.
The catalogue can be viewed at: https://issuu.com/ompughy/docs/stones_music_catalogue_2018
Info: www.stonesmusic.co.uk
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Source: musicinstrumentnews.co.uk
