John S. Kinnard Kiku

The journey of the humble four string ukulele has taken it from its origins on the Portuguese island of Madeira, to the islands of Hawaii, the mainland of America and to points all over the world.  As it has grown in popularity, it has evolved from a small body soprano to larger body sizes like the concert, tenor and the baritone.  Each of these different sizes provided comfort, sound and playability upgrades for individual players and their musical preferences and requirements. 

Within these body sizes, luthiers also began experimenting with different string combinations and tunings by changing string sizes, the order they were strung up and also the number of strings.  This led to the 5, 6, 8 and 10 string ukuleles and probably other less familiar models.  Most of these were added string courses to provide a fuller sound by doubling up on the four basic string pitches or the addition of a string tuned to its octave.

As the popularity of the ukulele grew it naturally began to attract the attention of guitar players.  While the four strings of the uke made it similar to playing a guitar, it was different in its chord fingerings, chord structure, voicing and tonality.  A question presented itself....what if a six string guitar neck were attached to a uke body? It would give the portability and sound of a uke yet create more complex chords and voicing due to the additional two strings.  It would also allow a seamless transition for guitar players due to the familiarity of the guitar chord shapes…one thing lead to another and the six string uke was born.   

But what to call this new iteration?  Over the years this instrument was considered a “novelty” item and referred to as a Guitarlele, Guilele, Uketar or Guke- all “play on words”, used to describe this guitar/uke combination.  As such, most were not built to the level of quality that could capture the true essence of what this instrument was capable of until now.  

KinnardUkes was honored to be selected, along with another prominent builder, to develop and build a six string uke/guitar that was showcased by world-renowned players from the Uke community. We were proud to participate and build the first John S. Kinnard six string ukulele that from here on out, would be referred to as a “Kīkū”-a name coined by both Nara Cardenas, a noted Hawaiian artist and linguist, and the accomplished Hawaiian musician, Zanuck Kapala Lindsey. 

The name Kīkū (pronounced Kee Koo) means “independent” in Hawaiian and is often used to praise a precocious or headstrong child.  It’s a name that embodies the spirit of innovation yet captures the essence of its lineage as the word “Kika” is the Hawaiian word for guitar.

Our vision is to provide an instrument worthy of its name.  One that inspires bold visions of modern invention and traditional sounds.  An instrument that is beautiful to look at, plays like a dream and captures the love of “nahenahe” or soothing music.