Fred Shields Ukuleles

While strolling around the San Diego Ukulele Festival I heard a voice call out, "Hey, aren't you a magician?" It was none other than San Diego uke maker Fred Shields. Fred is a one-of-a-kind ukulele craftsman. In addition to the standard soprano, concert, and tenor models he also makes Tahitian, oval, triangle, teardrop, paddle, backpacker, and banjo models. His banjo model is all wood instead of having a skin head. It reminds me of the old Gretsch Camp Ukes. He's also the guy who made the custom ukulele Boone plays. You can find his ukes at my favorite guitar shop, Moze Guitars over in La Mesa. Do yourself a favor and head over to Fred's facebook page and see the interesting ukuleles he's made. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fred-Shields-Ukuleles. You just might end up asking him to make a custom one for you!

Ukulele Busker Ukulele Boone

Here's another San Diego ukulele busker. You can find Boone all over town. I usually see him in Balboa Park sitting in the shade singing his favorite songs and playing his custom Fred Shields ukulele. He also plays outside of Petco Park when the Padres are in town. I once found him on the Pacific Beach boardwalk while I was out skateboarding. If you keep your eyes and ears open I'm sure you will find Ukulele Boone, too. If you don't want to wait you can friend him over at Facebook. In the mean time, as Boone likes to say, "Keep on smilin'!"