Kala KA-ASAC-T Solid Acacia Tenor Review

Hello, I have been playing on this ukulele for about 1 year or a bit longer. I purchased this Kala through MGM on ebay.

Features

Solid Acacia top, back (Arched back), and sides.
Mahogony neck
19 frets
Satin Finish
Tenor size
Bridge is rosewood
Tuners are are open geared Grovers
Fretboard is rosewood with vine inlays
Nut and Saddle are both ebony
Headstock is slotted, 4 multilayer, with Kala logo showing through lower layer.
Vine inlays (that I believe are fake/plastic mop)
Rosettee is herringbone
Binding is rosewood with herringbone purfling

Sound

It has a nice balanced sound with a loud punchy projection (probably partly due to the Arched back)
Intonation seems to be right on
No electronics

Action, Fit & Finish

The action was set up by MGM and I thought he did a really good job
The saddle and nut are ebony
Very nice book matched front and back Acacia that were properly joined
Bridge seems to be well made with a minor flaw here and there
Frets are your average factory made and fitted frets w/no big problems
The only real flaw I could find was a little scuff/ rough spot on the bridge.

Overall Rating

I have been playing ukulele for about a 1 1/2 years, guitar for 19 years.
I also have a Locals soprano ukulele, a vietnam acacia tenor ukulele, Taylor, Yairi, gibson, Paul Reed Smith, and fender guitars
I would buy this ukulele again

My favorite feature has to be the slotted headstock and the vine inlays are just really really cool. Sound wise I think the Arched back adds allot to the fullness and punch of this uke which I really like. The multi layer headstock was done very well being able to see all the layers (5 total counting the mahogony). The only real gripe I have is with the ebony nut and saddle. As a personal preference I would prefer bone nut and saddle on this ukulele but that is a very easy fix.

Final Thoughts

Great Tenor with a full loud sound. A very well thought out design (a real looker)! I would not hesitate to buy again.

Certainly seems to be the tenor to beat in it's price range. thanks.

Phil,
if you could only have one uke, which would you choose?
Nick

I've been interested in this one for a while now.
But nobody seems to have it in stock.
Anybody know when Kala is going to catch up with demand?

Little Island Nick said:

Phil,
if you could only have one uke, which would you choose?
Nick

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think I'd have to get together with Chuck Moore and pick/special order a very special Moore Bettah concert or tenor. Doubt that will happen unless I hit the lottery, but just sayin!!!

If you are talking about just from the ones I already have, it would be the Vintage Martin Soprano, it was my Dad's uke....he gave it to me on my 10th Birthday.

NotsoGoodyet said:

I've been interested in this one for a while now.
But nobody seems to have it in stock.
Anybody know when Kala is going to catch up with demand?

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I've contacted a few different reputable sellers and they were expecting shipments of them over the last few weeks, but apparently Kala has delayed them for another month or so.

I really want to pick one up, but I'd rather buy one from a good shop than a generic music shop that would ship me something still in the box.

I think Elderly has them.

Ohh-last time I checked, their site still said they were on back order.

Does Elderly set up their ukes? I've only ever bought strings from them. Anyone have experience buying an instrument from them?

imeggman said:

Ohh-last time I checked, their site still said they were on back order.

Does Elderly set up their ukes? I've only ever bought strings from them. Anyone have experience buying an instrument from them?

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Copied from the Elderly site:

KALA KA-ASAC-T SOLID ACACIA TENOR UKULELE
Beautiful, all-solid Striped Acacia uke turns heads and pleases ears. Vintage geared tuners on a slotted headstock, a rosewood bridge and fingerboard, and ebony nut and saddle. Decorative features include custom abalone fret marker inlays, rosewood binding and vintage-style herringbone purfling. Finely crafted in Asia, pro inspection and set-up in our shop. Acacia is also called Mimosa or Shower Tree; these tropical trees are cousins of the Hawaiian Koa Tree. They have gorgeous striped patterns of light and dark brown and have a deep colorful tone that match their beauty.

They must have just got this in. I was looking for one on there site the other day and they were "on order".

I've been dealing guitars with them for years. GREAT SHOP! They are the most Honest shop I've ever dealt with.

I contacted Elderly and it appears I bought up the last one of these they had in stock. They said the concerts were already sold out and that they had a couple acacia sopranos and 1 tenor left.

FedEx tracking says it's supposed to be here tomorrow. Can't wait to get my hands on it. I have some worth browns waiting to put on it (seems to be what a lot of people who have them change to), but I want to try out the Aquilas first. Now that school's winding down, I'll throw up some reviews including it, my mainland mahogany, my kala cedar top concert, and my stagg electric.

Anyone have a Kala acacia tenor they have put worth browns on? I have been considering changing from aquila but just wondered if anyone else has tried them yet?

When I saw them on Hawaiimusicsupply, I wondered if the Ko'olau Alohi low g's would improve the sound the way they do on that Lanikai solid monkeypod tenor demo (although the Kala sounds a lot better with factory strings than the Lanikai)

I am awaiting a shipment of Fremonts and Worth clears for my Kala KA-ASAC-T from Elderly. They should be in my mailbox in the next day or so. I am also quite curious to try out the Ko'olau Alohi low g's on my tenor as well.

For any one interested I just noticed Hawaii music supply has put one of these up on eBay for sale! It seems several people are interested in them.

I just got the Concert version of this. It is a beautiful uke. I like it ok... but I'm not fond of the concert's ebony nut and saddle. I wish I had had MGM replace those with synbone... or bone.

Gl8121 said:

Anyone have a Kala acacia tenor they have put worth browns on? I have been considering changing from aquila but just wondered if anyone else has tried them yet?

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I do, the worth browns are my favorite on this uke. also, they look really nice.

EDIT: also, is it just me, or have the prices gone way up on these? I bought mine a year and a half ago for 310, if I remember correctly, from MGM, although they now seem to be going for closer to 400.

austin1 said:

I do, the worth browns are my favorite on this uke. also, they look really nice.

EDIT: also, is it just me, or have the prices gone way up on these? I bought mine a year and a half ago for 310, if I remember correctly, from MGM, although they now seem to be going for closer to 400.

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Ones I've seen were $299

austin1 said:

I do, the worth browns are my favorite on this uke. also, they look really nice.

EDIT: also, is it just me, or have the prices gone way up on these? I bought mine a year and a half ago for 310, if I remember correctly, from MGM, although they now seem to be going for closer to 400.

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Hawaii Music Supply has it listed for 420 at their site. They did list one on ebay for 370, but even that seems pretty high.

Apparently, Kala has been really slow getting these out, which may be why some places are hiking up the price.

The reason this uke has been so desired is because it's been a relatively inexpensive uke for the quality. I love the sound of these ukes, but if the price is going to start pushing up around the $400 range everyone, I suspect people may EITHER spend a little less on something like a Mainland (which is a great uke for the money) or save up and spend a little more on a mid-upper range uke.

A year ago, the most common price was around $330 in the brick and mortar stores. I know because I shopped around and online. MGM was selling them for $309.

I got my KA-ASAC-T on Amazon for about $320.00 shipped to Guam. BTW, I put the Worth Clears on sometime last month and they really brightened the ukulele up a lot compared to the stock Aquila strings. They had nice crystal clear trebles but were somewhat lacking in the lower ranges. I have the Fremont Blacklines on my ukulele now and right off the bat, she now has the low range I was seeking while retaining the crystal highs. I would like to put Worth Browns on my tenor next, as I already have the Worth Browns on my Kala concert.