What uke choose

janroz

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Hello people,

I have really noob question.

I am amateur player. Last year I bought Mainland concert size mahagony uke and now I need soprano.

I need help with choice. I know it is personal thing and it depends, but...

I have two favorites.

Ohana SK-38 and Kiwaya KTS-4.

Kiwaya is twice more expensive than Ohana. Both are full solid wood, bone on saddle and nut.

I can not compare them because there are no shop here and I am lefthanded.

Is Kiwaya so more better than Ohana?

I love vintage look of Ohana. Both should have similar sound, I listened on soundcloud and youtube, boht are similar to Martin soprano, I love this sound.

Should I wait to collect some more money for kiwaya or get ohana now ...? Is there for me (amateur player just for joy) any difference?
 
I have owned both of these instruments. I really regret selling the Kiwaya years ago, which should tell you something. It is a wonderful instrument with great workmanship, feel, intonation, balance, sound. The Ohana is quite good, but to me, nowhere near the same level. In my opinion, it would be worth saving for the KTS-4.
 
I bought an SK-38 as my first decent uke after starting with a very basic laminate. It was on my shortlist, but the model I really wanted was a Mainland. However, when I tried the Mainland and several others at Eagle Music in Yorkshire I kept returning to the Ohana, purely based on the sound. It has a terrific soprano "bark," quite old-fashioned and exactly what attracted me to ukuleles in the first place. Overall quality is very good (the rosette around the sound hole is a bit cheap and it would be nice if the pegs were a similar colour to the binding, but generally it's fine) and it really is remarkably thin and light. Definitely worth serious consideration for the price.

As for the Kiwaya, I'm afraid that I have not played that exact model. The one I tried was noticeably more meticulously constructed than the Ohana and had a beautiful, complex tone, so you would probably find any Kiwaya to be the superior instrument. Whether that makes it worth the extra to you is another matter.
 
Thank for your opinion, this tell me something.

I can have Kiwaya for really good price, local seller here is very nice person and offer me a discount.
 
Can you tell me something about sound of these ukes? If you close eyes, can you recognize it? Is ohana really worse?

I don't need super professional instrument, but I need nice sound, I want to vintage sound. My concert mainland is imho very good but maybe too bright, I can not explain. I love sound of old martins ukes, this is what I looking for.
 
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I find the Kiwayas easier to play: the frets are smaller, and the nuts are about 1mm wider than most, which I like for extra room while playing. Playability on Kiwaya will almost always be better, IMO, and their craftmanship is impeccable. If you like the sound of the local Kiwaya, I'd go for that one.
 
I find the Kiwayas easier to play: the frets are smaller, and the nuts are about 1mm wider than most, which I like for extra room while playing. Playability on Kiwaya will almost always be better, IMO, and their craftmanship is impeccable. If you like the sound of the local Kiwaya, I'd go for that one.

Probably I will take kiwaya.

Thank you
 
Hello,

sure, I have read many reviews :)

I am not interested in KS-5 because my local seller do not have any (no ks-5 in my country)

You'll like the Gotoh planetary tuners on the KS-4. I have a KS-1 with friction tuners, and I'm replacing them with Gotoh UPTs.
 
You'll like the Gotoh planetary tuners on the KS-4. I have a KS-1 with friction tuners, and I'm replacing them with Gotoh UPTs.

Is there difference? :) I have gear tuners on my mainland.
 
Is there difference? :) I have gear tuners on my mainland.

Compared to Mainland's geared tuners, not much difference, except for looks, no more rabbit ears. Big difference on KTS-4 with frictions, UPTs are much smoother and more accurate. Try the frictions first, they may be just fine, but the UPTs are supreme, if you can't deal with the frictions.
 
Thank you. I am almost decided. A few bucks more, much better instrument I can get, am I right?

:agree: I think you will be very happy with it!
 
If you can get the Kiwaya, do. Otherwise you'll end up getting it anyway. There might be an instrument that plays easier, but I haven't seen it. And the sound is pure soprano. And it's beautiful.
 
Thank you all.

Today morning I got Kiwaya KTS-4. I am happy, it is really nice instrument! Very nice and special sound, I bought Worth strings, really nice sound.
 
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