If you get an IMUA, just be sure to tell them you saw the offer on the UU Forum and they'll take care of you!
I’ve been looking at the various ukulele makers in Hawaii and have discovered one of the smaller shops, only two builders, Mark and Ben, and owner Jorma running all the rest of it, that I think so many are overlooking them just because they don’t start with a “K”.
I was at IMUA's factory in 2015, and I met Ben, he gave me a VIP tour of the place I will not forget.
Imua Ukuleles are going on 6 years now, but Mark alone has been building for more than 10 years, and they have an incredible stock of killer Hawaiian koa and other exotic wood ukuleles. Some of the woods are of the rarest, including some crazy rare Makassar Ebony, Japanese Persimmon, Hawaiian Kamani, Mediterranean Cypress, and some of the best curly koa I’ve seen in a while.
They re-branded their site and put current stock up there for sale at https://www.imuabrand.com/
Because they are such a small shop they are selling more and more of their exotics directly online at incredibly good prices. Ukuleles you’d expect to pay $2500 or more from some of the bigger names, you can buy from Imua under $1500, and some amazing specials that put a Tenor for well under $1,000.
I also found a coupon that you can use for an additional 10% off that went out to all the Ukulele Magazine readers in their Friday email blast. UKENEWS is the coupon and can be added to any of their products.
I’ve played so many of the various makers over the years and I really would love to see more people playing an Imua, given how wonderful they are.
It’s always hard to compare, but one of the most important things to remember is that you should always compare instruments in the same price range. So if you are going to spend say $1,000 be sure to compare ukuleles from each factory. I’ve found that Imua’s build style is the same high-quality build and components in their $1,000 ukuleles as you would get in their top of the line ukuleles. Not all makers use the same build style for the various price points. Some of the key points I found is that Imua uses all high grade components for all their ukuleles, such as a single piece Honduras Mahogany Neck, or the high grade rosewood (CITES certified!) and ebony.
One interesting thing to point out is the fact they do a radius on the TOP and BOTTOM of their ukuleles. Take a look at most of the custom builders out there, you’ll see small radius on the upper and lower part of the body of the ukulele whereas many of the production factories do a flat top or bottom or sometimes both. While that is not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just considered easier and therefore should be a cheaper instrument. The radius gives two major advantages, aesthetics, prettier to look at, and stronger, makes a tighter bond between the neck and the body. But that all comes at a price because it is much harder to make.
Imagine trying to bond three components together without any gap between the pieces whatsoever. That means they all have to have the exact radius or they don’t fit properly. It’s much more difficult to make wood an exact radius on three components. Whereas a flat piece of wood is just that, flat. Very easy to make flat and even fix if there is an issue in the joint, not so with a radius. The next time you are looking at ukuleles, see if you can point out the makers who do a radius and those who don’t. I think you’ll surprise yourself to see what you find.
Sound, of course an ukulele can be built to never fall apart, but will it actually sound good? That’s where Imua really does shine. Over the past few years they have been tweaking a few things, bracing wood, top thickness, different finish techniques, etc., and I think they've really nailed it. While I didn’t go to the guild show in Honolulu last month, I heard that the Imua’s on display at the show were the best sounding and looking they have ever put out!
After talking with Imua myself I learned that this came after years of trying to perfect it. The market seems to agree as I’ve heard a little more buzz about them than before. So be sure you give them a chance and if you don’t have an Imua, you better get them before their prices go up, as I’ve heard they will as they become more popular since they are relatively under-priced for the quality you get. And with limited production capacity they are sure to have a backlog of orders very soon.
Besides the 10% off coupon, everything on the site is on sale already.
I'm saving my pennies, hopefully I'll have them saved soon enough before they get more expensive, and I can't afford one.
For anyone looking for an amazing Hawaii made uke, or those with the UAS, wanting another uke to add to the collection, you all don't want to miss out on Imua!
ALOHA & Happy Holidays! :shaka:
P.S. After making the post I forgot about mentioning that the owner of IMUA has been supplying wood to many big name Uke makers for 15 years now.
Jorma Winkler the owner, his father was one of the first to supply koa to Kamaka, Martin, Taylor Guitars and a bunch of other well known luthiers.
In the past they've supplied to Kamaka as well and G-string, KoAloha, almost every company in Japan, Korea and China.
IMUA does all the value-adding of salvaging, replanting, drying, grading and selling as sets rather than just shipping off logs which they have been asked to do many times especially from Chinese buyers. A lot of the profits that go into the wood manufacturing component of the processing stays in Hawaii.
All the koa IMUA uses is salvage, dead, and or dying, nice to know, for the preservation aspects...
You can check out the wood side of the business at this link; http://www.winklerwoods.com/
I’ve been looking at the various ukulele makers in Hawaii and have discovered one of the smaller shops, only two builders, Mark and Ben, and owner Jorma running all the rest of it, that I think so many are overlooking them just because they don’t start with a “K”.
I was at IMUA's factory in 2015, and I met Ben, he gave me a VIP tour of the place I will not forget.
Imua Ukuleles are going on 6 years now, but Mark alone has been building for more than 10 years, and they have an incredible stock of killer Hawaiian koa and other exotic wood ukuleles. Some of the woods are of the rarest, including some crazy rare Makassar Ebony, Japanese Persimmon, Hawaiian Kamani, Mediterranean Cypress, and some of the best curly koa I’ve seen in a while.
They re-branded their site and put current stock up there for sale at https://www.imuabrand.com/
Because they are such a small shop they are selling more and more of their exotics directly online at incredibly good prices. Ukuleles you’d expect to pay $2500 or more from some of the bigger names, you can buy from Imua under $1500, and some amazing specials that put a Tenor for well under $1,000.
I also found a coupon that you can use for an additional 10% off that went out to all the Ukulele Magazine readers in their Friday email blast. UKENEWS is the coupon and can be added to any of their products.
I’ve played so many of the various makers over the years and I really would love to see more people playing an Imua, given how wonderful they are.
It’s always hard to compare, but one of the most important things to remember is that you should always compare instruments in the same price range. So if you are going to spend say $1,000 be sure to compare ukuleles from each factory. I’ve found that Imua’s build style is the same high-quality build and components in their $1,000 ukuleles as you would get in their top of the line ukuleles. Not all makers use the same build style for the various price points. Some of the key points I found is that Imua uses all high grade components for all their ukuleles, such as a single piece Honduras Mahogany Neck, or the high grade rosewood (CITES certified!) and ebony.
One interesting thing to point out is the fact they do a radius on the TOP and BOTTOM of their ukuleles. Take a look at most of the custom builders out there, you’ll see small radius on the upper and lower part of the body of the ukulele whereas many of the production factories do a flat top or bottom or sometimes both. While that is not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just considered easier and therefore should be a cheaper instrument. The radius gives two major advantages, aesthetics, prettier to look at, and stronger, makes a tighter bond between the neck and the body. But that all comes at a price because it is much harder to make.
Imagine trying to bond three components together without any gap between the pieces whatsoever. That means they all have to have the exact radius or they don’t fit properly. It’s much more difficult to make wood an exact radius on three components. Whereas a flat piece of wood is just that, flat. Very easy to make flat and even fix if there is an issue in the joint, not so with a radius. The next time you are looking at ukuleles, see if you can point out the makers who do a radius and those who don’t. I think you’ll surprise yourself to see what you find.
Sound, of course an ukulele can be built to never fall apart, but will it actually sound good? That’s where Imua really does shine. Over the past few years they have been tweaking a few things, bracing wood, top thickness, different finish techniques, etc., and I think they've really nailed it. While I didn’t go to the guild show in Honolulu last month, I heard that the Imua’s on display at the show were the best sounding and looking they have ever put out!
After talking with Imua myself I learned that this came after years of trying to perfect it. The market seems to agree as I’ve heard a little more buzz about them than before. So be sure you give them a chance and if you don’t have an Imua, you better get them before their prices go up, as I’ve heard they will as they become more popular since they are relatively under-priced for the quality you get. And with limited production capacity they are sure to have a backlog of orders very soon.
Besides the 10% off coupon, everything on the site is on sale already.
I'm saving my pennies, hopefully I'll have them saved soon enough before they get more expensive, and I can't afford one.
For anyone looking for an amazing Hawaii made uke, or those with the UAS, wanting another uke to add to the collection, you all don't want to miss out on Imua!
ALOHA & Happy Holidays! :shaka:
P.S. After making the post I forgot about mentioning that the owner of IMUA has been supplying wood to many big name Uke makers for 15 years now.
Jorma Winkler the owner, his father was one of the first to supply koa to Kamaka, Martin, Taylor Guitars and a bunch of other well known luthiers.
In the past they've supplied to Kamaka as well and G-string, KoAloha, almost every company in Japan, Korea and China.
IMUA does all the value-adding of salvaging, replanting, drying, grading and selling as sets rather than just shipping off logs which they have been asked to do many times especially from Chinese buyers. A lot of the profits that go into the wood manufacturing component of the processing stays in Hawaii.
All the koa IMUA uses is salvage, dead, and or dying, nice to know, for the preservation aspects...
You can check out the wood side of the business at this link; http://www.winklerwoods.com/
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