NUD: Kanile'a K-1T

wadleysf

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Woo hoo! New uke day! And all the family love it too which is a bonus. Sounds gorgeous. And it isn't bad looking either!

9637 K-1T SF.jpg 9639 K-1T SF front.jpg 9641 K-1T SF body 2.jpg 9643 K-1T SF body 1.jpg 9645 K-1T SF headstock.jpg


Well it's been a long wait but eventually I made the call and chose this Kanile'a tenor that I'd first tried out before NAMM in January. Thank you to Edgar (at Aloha Warehouse in San Franciso) for all the time he let me spend trying out different ukes. It was the only Kanile'a tenor in stock at the time I played it, but more were promised "soon" and they would be gloss finish. And I was persuaded that the gloss finish was stunning and worth checking out. So I waited. Well "soon" turned into a couple of months as Kanile'a were very busy with NAMM, another festival, and getting many orders out.

Well this was the week that the gloss K-1T Deluxe arrived. It was as lovely as promised. I road-tested both side by side and still very clearly preferred the satin. I admit that was much to my surprise. I didn't think the gloss finish, being so thin, would make that much difference to the sound (and maybe it didn't, it could just be instrument to instrument variation). The K-1T deluxe certainly looked great, but it's really about the sound and this one had the edge. Also mds725 was in the store to see what I bought! To help me decide he did a blind playing session of both. I couldn't see which one he'd picked up. It was very clear which of the two I liked by the sound alone, and it was the satin one I fell in love with in January. So glad it hadn't sold! (I might be in trouble next week if I go back in and the other gloss tenors shipping soon sound nicer - two regular K-1 and one 'premium' wood!)

I must admit knowing that this week the gloss was really coming in to the store I was getting a bit UAS symptomatic. Very nearly pulled the trigger on one of the two light brown/orange Kamoa 700T ex demo models with the full Kamoa case that HMS had ex demo for $439. But I was slow and they were gone in a flash. Might have been a nice 2nd tenor. But I did email Andrew and he let me know of another fiberglass case that wasn't yet on the website and so I picked that up for a song (well $70). Nice to have a good case like that to travel with.

Anyway, I'm loving the K-1T so far. Only had it just over 24 hours but first impressions are it has great sustain, and it just sounds so clear. It's the sound that got me in the first place, and it still does. Beautiful. And I think the pictures do it justice, nice that it's pretty wood!

(ps there might be another NUD post in 10 days - perhaps an Islander blem from HMS, who knows?)


K-1T SF by amwadley, on Flickr

K-1T SF front by amwadley, on Flickr

K-1T SF body by amwadley, on Flickr

K-1T SF body by amwadley, on Flickr
 
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Oooh, congratulations! That looks like a beauty! Great that you also scored a nice case to carry it in.

I prefer the satin finish myself, and my K1 has lovely sustain also. As my teach says; play it every day and it'll be even better in a year.
 
Aloha Wadley,
Congrats...have fun and enjoy..Happy strummings..it is a stunner... did you go to the Sf uke meet ?
 
I have a K-1 also and have directly played it with Collings, May-Moe, and Compass Rose. In each case the Kanile'a was the clear winner. You should try a few sets of strings form Southcoast strings and you can dial the sound into your liking. Although Aquila did fit the uke well, and I may give them another go.

Anyway, congrats on the uke and you made a really goos choice.
 
Oooh, congratulations! That looks like a beauty! Great that you also scored a nice case to carry it in.

I prefer the satin finish myself, and my K1 has lovely sustain also. As my teach says; play it every day and it'll be even better in a year.

.. and not only will the uke be better too, but so will I! :)

I have a K-1 also and have directly played it with Collings, May-Moe, and Compass Rose. In each case the Kanile'a was the clear winner. You should try a few sets of strings form Southcoast strings and you can dial the sound into your liking. Although Aquila did fit the uke well, and I may give them another go.

Wow. That's quite a panel of ukes to stack the K-1 up against! Glad yours stood the test. It gives me confidence my journey to find this one was the right road. I must admit some of the high end custom or near custom ukes have the drool-worthy looks too (DaSilva, Compass Rose especially) and one day I might get to do the side-by-side test.

My next string choice will be D'Addario Titanium as I've heard these on another Kanile'a tenor and they sound superb.

Congrats...have fun and enjoy..Happy strummings..it is a stunner... did you go to the Sf uke meet ?

Thanks Stan! It is fun! Didn't unfortunately make the UU jam - had a family outing to Filoli in Woodside to see the spring flowers (pic attached)
1-DSC_3027.jpg
 
Woo hoo! New uke day! And all the family love it too which is a bonus. Sounds gorgeous. And it isn't bad looking either!



Well it's been a long wait but eventually I made the call and chose this Kanile'a tenor that I'd first tried out before NAMM in January. Thank you to Edgar (at Aloha Warehouse in San Franciso) for all the time he let me spend trying out different ukes. It was the only Kanile'a tenor in stock at the time I played it, but more were promised "soon" and they would be gloss finish. And I was persuaded that the gloss finish was stunning and worth checking out. So I waited. Well "soon" turned into a couple of months as Kanile'a were very busy with NAMM, another festival, and getting many orders out.

Well this was the week that the gloss K-1T Deluxe arrived. It was as lovely as promised. I road-tested both side by side and still very clearly preferred the satin. I admit that was much to my surprise. I didn't think the gloss finish, being so thin, would make that much difference to the sound (and maybe it didn't, it could just be instrument to instrument variation). The K-1T deluxe certainly looked great, but it's really about the sound and this one had the edge. Also mds725 was in the store to see what I bought! To help me decide he did a blind playing session of both. I couldn't see which one he'd picked up. It was very clear which of the two I liked by the sound alone, and it was the satin one I fell in love with in January. So glad it hadn't sold! (I might be in trouble next week if I go back in and the other gloss tenors shipping soon sound nicer - two regular K-1 and one 'premium' wood!)

I must admit knowing that this week the gloss was really coming in to the store I was getting a bit UAS symptomatic. Very nearly pulled the trigger on one of the two light brown/orange Kamoa 700T ex demo models with the full Kamoa case that HMS had ex demo for $439. But I was slow and they were gone in a flash. Might have been a nice 2nd tenor. But I did email Andrew and he let me know of another fiberglass case that wasn't yet on the website and so I picked that up for a song (well $70). Nice to have a good case like that to travel with.

Anyway, I'm loving the K-1T so far. Only had it just over 24 hours but first impressions are it has great sustain, and it just sounds so clear. It's the sound that got me in the first place, and it still does. Beautiful. And I think the pictures do it justice, nice that it's pretty wood!

(ps there might be another NUD post in 10 days - perhaps an Islander blem from HMS, who knows?)

K-1T SF by amwadley, on Flickr

K-1T SF front by amwadley, on Flickr

K-1T SF body by amwadley, on Flickr

K-1T SF body by amwadley, on Flickr
 
Well my original post, which I was editing to add better photos just went into moderation mode... I hope it will be back soon!
 
Stunning ukes. I adore mine
 
Congratulations!

All of you Kanile'a tenor owners are giving me a serious case of UAS.

And thanks for posting the photo of those spring flowers. Beautiful!
 
ORIGINAL POST (first one disappeared!):
(and now it's back... sorry for the dupes and bandwidth!)

Woo hoo! New uke day! And all the family love it too which is a bonus. Sounds gorgeous. And it isn't bad looking either!

9637 K-1T SF.jpg9639 K-1T SF front.jpg9643 K-1T SF body 1.jpg9645 K-1T SF headstock.jpg9641 K-1T SF body 2.jpg

Well it's been a long wait but eventually I made the call and chose this Kanile'a tenor that I'd first tried out before NAMM in January. Thank you to Edgar (at Aloha Warehouse in San Franciso) for all the time he let me spend trying out different ukes. It was the only Kanile'a tenor in stock at the time I played it, but more were promised "soon" and they would be gloss finish. And I was persuaded that the gloss finish was stunning and worth checking out. So I waited. Well "soon" turned into a couple of months as Kanile'a were very busy with NAMM, another festival, and getting many orders out.

Well this was the week that the gloss K-1T Deluxe arrived. It was as lovely as promised. I road-tested both side by side and still very clearly preferred the satin. I admit that was much to my surprise. I didn't think the gloss finish, being so thin, would make that much difference to the sound (and maybe it didn't, it could just be instrument to instrument variation). The K-1T deluxe certainly looked great, but it's really about the sound and this one had the edge. Also mds725 was in the store to see what I bought! To help me decide he did a blind playing session of both. I couldn't see which one he'd picked up. It was very clear which of the two I liked by the sound alone, and it was the satin one I fell in love with in January. So glad it hadn't sold! (I might be in trouble next week if I go back in and the other gloss tenors shipping soon sound nicer - two regular K-1 and one 'premium' wood!)

I must admit knowing that this week the gloss was really coming in to the store I was getting a bit UAS symptomatic. Very nearly pulled the trigger on one of the two light brown/orange Kamoa 700T ex demo models with the full Kamoa case that HMS had ex demo for $439. But I was slow and they were gone in a flash. Might have been a nice 2nd tenor. But I did email Andrew and he let me know of another fiberglass case that wasn't yet on the website and so I picked that up for a song (well $70). Nice to have a good case like that to travel with.

Anyway, I'm loving the K-1T so far. Only had it just over 24 hours but first impressions are it has great sustain, and it just sounds so clear. It's the sound that got me in the first place, and it still does. Beautiful. And I think the pictures do it justice, nice that it's pretty wood!

(ps there might be another NUD post in 10 days - perhaps an Islander blem from HMS, who knows?)
 
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Congratulations again! It was great fun accompanying you on some of your shopping trips to Aloha Warehouse, and I think you ended up with a stellar ukulele. You may even be surprised at how much faster your playing skills develop with a wonderful ukulele that you love to play!
 
Very pretty...I like it!
 
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