Kanile'a GL6 - my highly strung Angel

Ken of York

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Hi, my beautiful GL6 arrived just 2 weeks ago and it is time to stop hugging it (for a moment) and introduce it to you all.

At the point of ordering it I knew it was going to take up to 3 months before it was mine. It may seem a bit absurd but I actually bought the Yamaha GL-1 just so I could 'get used' to playing such an instrument.

I already have a K2 Satin Tenor from Kanile'a so my expectations were high for their Guitarlele. Even so I was almost levitating in excitement when this turned up -
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It arrived early and I left it to acclimatize while I went to work. Imagine my restraint! So later in the evening I found this inside -
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So what do I think now? Well it has totally surpassed how I thought it might feel/play. The essence of this instrument is centred on that fantastic neck and fretboard combined with a body that sings with great clarity and surprising volume.

The neck has the feel of a classical style, some may think it a bit chunky but the space it presents on the fretboard is perfect for playing melodies. I prefer to play mostly classical so I couldn't be happier! Also because the body is so responsive across the whole range of strings old familiar tunes start to take on extra characteristics and subtle counter melodies come to the fore and take my breath away. This is a fun and fantastic instument (and I have to say painfully expensive).

It only took a few days before I went ahead and replaced the strings for some with higher tension. I used Pro Arte Composite EJ45C for string 3,4,5,6 - with string 3 being a special composite, then I used Worth Brown for strings 1 and 2 because they gave me a brighter tone for the upper ranges.

It stays in tune really well, sits easily in my lap and keeps on giving me amazing moments of "did I really just create that sound?"

Something this good can cure you of UAS!

For a quick sample here are a couple of tunes from Ethelbert Nevin, you may not know him but his compositions are very familiar: sorry the sound isn't so great but it is down to the camera



More pics below VVVVV
 
and another few

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and here is the whole family....
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Your new GL6 is a wonderful looking and sounding instrument. That wood is amazing and I think the body shape is intriguing compared to my Kanile'a concert. Congratulations!
 
Thanks for sharing! May it bring you years of enjoyment. It looks like it as a super tenor body.
 
Aloha Ken Of York,
Congratulations ..Wow it looks so sweet and sounds amazing...nice playing too...and you have a nice ukulele collection too..thanks for sharing and Happy pickings and Strummings..MM Stan
 
Beautiful instrument! And I'm sure the folks at Kanile'a are pleased to see it in the hands of someone whose playing does it justice.
P.S. If it were mine I'd set up the strings to wind down the post toward the headstock to increase the angle the strings break over the nut. Maybe even sound more bettah than it does.
 
Sounds great! Congratulations. Will you be doing a lot of transposing of guitar pieces to ADGCEA or were you able to tune it to EADGBE?
 
Great looking instrument. Congratulations. I really think the bracing does have a positive effect on the tone of these. It does have that lovely Super Tenor bottom, sure makes a difference. I would think even more so on a 6 string. I also would suggest the wind down the post for the headstock angle. Guess the yamaha can go on the block now.
 
Really glad to hear this is so great. I have a Kanilea coming tomorrow in the mail!!! Only getting more excited now.
 
Hi everyone, Many thanks for your kind comments. I do realise how lucky I am to be able to own a GL6. I absolutely love it but do understand also that it is a relatively luxury item. A top quality proper acoustic/classical guitar could be had for around the same price. As soon as I saw it though I knew it had to be mine - love at first sight?

To getee and johndwapa - yes I agree about strings 2 and 6 being a bit 'wound up', didn't realise at the time that it was happening but then I did worry a bit once I saw how high string 2 was. I'll have a look at putting them right, and yes John the Yamaha is all washed up in palookaville right now. I thought about doing a comparison video but there is no comparison! Poor thing, it still has potential though, I can span 7 or 8 frets easily on that but not on the Kanilea - but ultimately I would rather give it away if I thought someone would really benefit from playing it.

to Ronnie Aloha - yes it is a 'super tenor' body so wider at the butt (like a lot of people I know). It is also just a little deeper, around 1cm, than the Tenor body so over the whole surface area I guess that adds up to a fair chunk of extra volume - and volume - if you know what I mean.

to tozan - the tuning is ADGCEA which I consider correct. Others may tune down to G or even E but it wouldn't feel right to me and I'm guessing a whole lot of resonance and volume would disappear. So the transposition of any tune is simply just to play it exactly the same as E tuning as the relationship between strings is the same. If you really had to play the tune in its stated tuning it would be easier to tune down to E than try to transpose notes so they are correct. On a related matter, I have 5 self made books of transcribed classical tunes (from notation to Tab) that over the years must have taken hundreds of hours to produce. These are my goldmine and I slowly add to them. I taught myself to transcribe it all and many of the tunes I have never heard anyone else play so I have no idea if I'm even close to what the composer intended!

and Mouthy1 - congratulations mate, you're going to love your new Kanilea. Such instruments don't just sound better, they inspire the player to be better and help them progress to new levels. I wish you every success, my journey with the GL6 has just begun and we're already over the rainbow :)
 
Ken of York, you sound like a heckuva guy. You deserve you new beauty and I am looking forward to earning mine. Can't wait!!!!!
 
Someone asked if you can play "slack key" on the Guitarlele. What do you think? I guess you will have to make up equivalent slack key tunings to the normal guitar ones huh?
 
Damn you... now I have to add a GL6 to the list.

Congrats on the uke and more importantly, nice playing. It's obvious how much you enjoy the instrument. BTW, I've enjoyed your other vids of the Kanilea as well. Well done. Thanks for sharing.
 
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Nice axe.

Quick question: is this a normal sized Tenor bag, or do you need something special/larger, like a Baritone bag or a custom one?

Thanks in advance!

It arrived early and I left it to acclimatize while I went to work. Imagine my restraint! So later in the evening I found this inside -
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That is truly wonderful. I have been considering trying Guitarlele, but will be going down the Yamaha route at first - until I can be sure I can cope with The extra strings!
 
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