KoAloha soprano sound, but more frets?

I'd highly recommend you check out that longneck pineapple at the local vendor if you can. I think you'll be happily surprised at how truly soprano-like it is, both in sound and size.

Can't believe I'm actually considering a longneck model now! I've been watching a few videos for the KSM-03 (KoAloha's LN Pineapple) and it looks better to me than the regular figure-8 sopranos with concert necks. I'm curious how it sounds past the 10th or 12th fret, but none of the videos I've watched so far show that (everything sounds good in the first seven frets, I feel). I do like the slightly fuller sound, it's more boom-y than I expected. HMS' video makes it sound delicious.

I'll have to decide this tomorrow or on Saturday, as the pineapple otherwise goes in the store. Ah, the pressure! ;)

(Tried to send you a related PM, Jane, by the way, but it wouldn't let me.)
 
Can't believe I'm actually considering a longneck model now! I've been watching a few videos for the KSM-03 (KoAloha's LN Pineapple) and it looks better to me than the regular figure-8 sopranos with concert necks. I'm curious how it sounds past the 10th or 12th fret, but none of the videos I've watched so far show that (everything sounds good in the first seven frets, I feel). I do like the slightly fuller sound, it's more boom-y than I expected. HMS' video makes it sound delicious.

I'll have to decide this tomorrow or on Saturday, as the pineapple otherwise goes in the store. Ah, the pressure! ;)

(Tried to send you a related PM, Jane, by the way, but it wouldn't let me.)

Yeah, sorry about that; due to some past... weirdness I have PMs turned off. My thinking is that there's nothing anyone on UU needs to say to me that they can't say in public :)

I agree, the KSM-03 looks much better than its figure-8 counterpart. I play up the neck quite frequently and I found that past the 10th fret, it had noticeably more ring and sustain than a regular soprano would - comparable to a concert, and then also had the added "oomph" of a pineapple. It really is the best of all worlds - just my personal preference that the Kamaka sound won out for me when one finally came my way. In an ideal world, I would have kept both!
 
I wasn't going to send you nudes! ;) (Seriously, though, I understand. Sorry to hear that even this otherwise fantastic community has some black sheep.)

Well, I could probably agonize over this decision for several more days and weeks, and just continue to go in circles with my thoughts, unable to really tell whether it's for me without giving it a whirl. I'll just cut myself short and buy the KSM-03 (need to inquire about the price still). Very unexpected turn of events, but traditionally your views match mine closely, if not identically, so odds are that it'll make me happy.

Thanks, too, to the other posters who had mentioned the longnecks in spite of my stubbornness to consider them (I still feel the figure-8 LNs look "wrong", but the pineapple LN does look classy to me). It's fairly risk-free since I could return it within two weeks if it's an obvious mismatch with me, but that's unlikely -- and being a KoAloha, it should be resellable if after half a year I find myself not using it. In any event, it'll broaden my horizon. :)

(So much for not buying another ukulele this year!)
 
I wasn't going to send you nudes! ;) (Seriously, though, I understand. Sorry to hear that even this otherwise fantastic community has some black sheep.)

Definitely much tamer when compared to other communities, but yeah - stuff happens. I'd rather avoid it entirely, since that's not what I'm here for.

Well, I could probably agonize over this decision for several more days and weeks, and just continue to go in circles with my thoughts, unable to really tell whether it's for me without giving it a whirl. I'll just cut myself short and buy the KSM-03

...

It's fairly risk-free since I could return it within two weeks if it's an obvious mismatch with me, but that's unlikely -- and being a KoAloha, it should be resellable if after half a year I find myself not using it. In any event, it'll broaden my horizon. :)

(So much for not buying another ukulele this year!)

Please update when you've spent some time with it! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised (and I hope I haven't steered you wrong!).
 
Please update when you've spent some time with it! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised (and I hope I haven't steered you wrong!).

If I order it tomorrow, I should have it early next week, provided he has a fitting hard shell case in stock, and I'll post an early NUD as soon as it gets here (it's in the same country for a change!). I'll need to spend time with it for a proper impression, though, especially with how fluctuating my ukulele preferences seem to be. So volatile still -- I hope that settles as the years goes by! I still would prefer to only have one ukulele. Minimalist approach and all that. (So hard to realize with ukuleles, somehow.)
 
... paid for, and I have a tracking number. It'll arrive tomorrow or on Monday. :)
 
... it arrived this morning. I'll post a NUD later today or later this week, but I'll say this: I'll never let it go, it's a dream.
 
... it arrived this morning. I'll post a NUD later today or later this week, but I'll say this: I'll never let it go, it's a dream.

Yay! So glad you love it, I had a feeling it would be just what you needed.
 
Yay! So glad you love it, I had a feeling it would be just what you needed.

I do love it! Still haven't written a NUD or a review yet, because I wanted to spend more time with it first, and because it's hard to not spend time with it when I'm not at the computer.

It's odd, really, and I can't entirely put my finger on why it resonates so well with me. It sounds much brighter (in the happy way, not the shrill or percussive way) than my other ukuleles, kind of "unencumbered" and playful, and yet it also has a full sound to it. I don't know whether that's the koa or the pineapple shape, or just the way KoAloha build their instruments, but it feels "right" to me. Even chords that sometimes can sound a little less resonant than others (Em, for example) are harmonic. The sound just has a lightness to it that I didn't know from my other small ukuleles (all of which are mahogany, now that I think about it). Also fantastic sustain for the small body even in the higher frets.

Then there is the playability. Aside from realizing that the concert scale seems to be a happy compromise of "reachability" and comfort for me, the way it is built requires extremely little pressure on the strings, which gives me this "it plays by itself" impression. That doesn't make much sense, but there is just a sense of effortlessness in playing it. The Barron River tenor is similar in how it allows for the fingers to slide and "dance" (my fingers definitely don't actually dance yet, more like stumble around and step on toes, but it feels as if they did), but my other ukuleles aren't like those two at all. (Hmm, both have Worth strings; CT for the pineapple, browns on the tenor.) Great setup, really.

Then there is string tension. I like higher tension on strings, that just feels better, more responsive to me, which has been a bit of an issue with my other small ukes, where the tension is a little wobbly. Not really wobbly, just like ... kind of like slightly, but not too much, overcooked noodles. On the pineapple, the string tension is "al dente". Not callous inducing, but also not like a bubble gum when it's stretched out. Not "washboard"-like when strumming, but still tight when picking.

Oh, and it's loud. Not always, but it can be. It's easy to make real noise with it (it's almost as loud as my tenor, if not just as loud -- I mean to test this with a recording so I can compare the waveforms and volume levels visually), but it can also be played quietly. I love that about it, it responds really well to how you play it, and it doesn't force you into a specific way of playing just to sound great.

And finally, my concerns about a concert neck on a soprano body looking off were unfounded, at least with the pineapple shape. It looks well balanced to me and doesn't remind me of a crane, and it's also not stubby looking.

I don't know if all KoAlohas are like this one, or if I just got a really nice one, but this little pineapple feels like a really lucky find to me. Okay, I'm gushing, but hey, it's been three days and I'm still extremely fond of it! (It also makes me curious about KoAloha's other sizes and forms, but not in a "looking for a better fit" sort of way, more like a "I love that restaurant's spaghetti, I wonder what their raviolis are like." kind of happy curiosity.

Anyway! This isn't a review yet. Sure sounds like one, but I'll do a proper write up, with some pics. Soon. Eventually! The best I can say about it is that it makes me want to play and improve -- it's the best compliment I can give it.
 
As others above said, there is only one way to get the KoAloha soprano sound...get the KoAloha.

You will rarely if ever need more than 12 frets for the typical soprano music. If you need more pick up a concert.
Agree, agree, agree.
 
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