Has anyone compared a koaloha tenor with bow tie bridge to the modern bridge?

davo17

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Has anyone compared a koaloha tenor with bow tie bridge to the modern bridge?I was just curious if it made much of a sound difference, anyone done a you tube comparison video (i couldn't find one)
 
since the tusq nut and scale length are the same, would there be a difference, audibly, to the human ear? i dont know, im asking.
 
i was just wondering if Koaloha changed to make ukulele's less expensive to manufacture or to improve the sound?
 
seams most koaloha's with the new bridge have outstanding volume but i have not layed ears on an older one
 
i was just wondering if Koaloha changed to make ukulele's less expensive to manufacture or to improve the sound?

i know they went to bow tie from the old crown bridge since the crown was harder to make plus it kept pulling off. then came generic-looking bowtie, which looked as pale as the underside of an orca next to the beloved but unstable crown, so next they got the current koaloha branded bridge, which some adore, and yet reminds others of a blacklighted velvet elvis poster, earth shoes, tie-dyed bucket hats, and ding-dong carts selling popsuckles in the summertime.
 
i was just wondering if Koaloha changed to make ukulele's less expensive to manufacture or to improve the sound?

Or perhaps to add durability. The crown bridge, while lovely, was not terribly robust.
 
i know they went to bow tie from the old crown bridge since the crown was harder to make plus it kept pulling off. Then came generic-looking bowtie, which looked as pale as the underside of an orca next to the beloved but unstable crown, so next they got the current koaloha branded bridge, which some adore, and yet reminds others of a blacklighted velvet elvis poster, earth shoes, tie-dyed bucket hats, and ding-dong carts selling popsuckles in the summertime.


u crack me up
 
There is still nothing that compares to an old crown bridge tenor. I know, I have one. It is my best sounding ukulele, and I have quite a few very nice ukes. No frills, just great sound. And never had a problem with the bridge. Knock on wood!
 
I know I'm going to take crap for saying this, but I mean it in the nicest possible way and with the utmost respect. The plural for ukulele is ukuleles, without an apostrophe.
 
From what I was told, the crown bridge was labor intensive.
I have a super concert with a crown bridge and it is my preference of all the KoAloha bridges.
To me it one of the many things that set a KoAloha aaprt from other ukuleles (no apostrophe, MDS)
 
I have had a tenor with the crown bridge, and I now have a newer tenor with the plain [think Kala] bridge. they both sound fantastic. it's actually my go to uke, and I have a few. I think the crown bridge looked awesome, and the new one looks like like every other plain bridge out there. While the Kanilea bridge now has it over the Koaloha in the looks department, pin bridges [IMHO] are a pain, and I have several. nothing like having the pin pop out during a string change and having to look all over the room for it. I'd rather just tie it on. or tie one on.
 
I thought the crown bridge was a bit too spiky looking when added to the pointy headstock, and the end of the fret board. Just too busy for me. I am happy with my Super Soprano modern tie on bridge, and I prefer it's appearance over the bow tie bridge. I would think that a smaller bridge would not interfere with the vibrations on the sound board as much as the larger bridges. I don't have any of the other ukes to do a proper side by side comparison.

–Lori
 
I have a tenor w bow tie bridge, it's plenty loud and have had no problems!

You could also go with nā ukulele
 
Have had 3 KoAlohas. All sounded great with the distinctive KoAloha sound. My present concert KoAloha is a 2013. It has the modern tie on bridge and is curly koa, a rarity for KoAloha ukes.

Edit: As others have stated, KoAlohas consistently have good tone. My present KoAloha concert sounds a little better than the last concert I had. Don't know what to attribute it to. Curly koa? different bridge? I ordered it from HMS mainly on looks so it was a win/win.:)
 
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Have had 3 KoAlohas. All sounded great with the distinctive KoAloha sound. My present concert KoAloha is a 2013. It has the modern tie on bridge and is curly koa, a rarity for KoAloha ukes.

ur bridge itself is curly koa? i thought koa to be a somewhat fragile, definitely crack-prone wood compared to hog, ebony, etc. i did not know koaloha made koa bridges i have learned something
 
I love these threads they go in all sorts of unintended directions , fun to follow, however i still have not got an answer to my original question
has anyone played a bow tie bridge koaloha tenor side by side with a modern koaloha bridge ?
and how much of a volume and or tone difference did they notice?
 
I love these threads they go in all sorts of unintended directions , fun to follow, however i still have not got an answer to my original question
has anyone played a bow tie bridge koaloha tenor side by side with a modern koaloha bridge ?
and how much of a volume and or tone difference did they notice?

You might need a somewhat large sample of side-by-side comparisons to make any general conclusions about the effect of the type of bridge on sound or volume. There are variations from one ukulele to the next attributable to other things, mostly the particular pieces of wood woth which each uke is built. In any given side-by-side test, it could be that one uke is louder than the other because of the pice of wood used for the soundboard, or how thin it was sanded to, etc.
 
I agree completely with mds75. There are so many variables, even if we had three of each type of bridge (crown, bow-tie and modern) on 9 tenors, there is no method to say what variable influenced any sound difference one might hear.

I love the tangents, too. It keeps posts that long ago would have fallen off the main forum board to still be seen by more eyeballs.

There's your answer (x2), davo17. Let us know if you buy anything. Fun!
 
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I like the older bridges. KoAloha has done a ton of work on their bridges and gone through many iterations. There was a "spiky" bridge way back, that I have on a Pineapple Sunday. The crown bridge was used and pretty popular. I have one on a Sceptre and it is awesome. When they switched to the bow tie, there was a lot of disappointment. However, tonally many people think this is their best bridge ever. In fact, if you buy a custom KoAloha, they use the bow tie bridge. They then moved on to variations of the current bridge. People who have played them, myself included, think the new bridges aren't as nice tonally or aesthetically. The differences are not that drastic, though. If you heard them all, I'm not sure one could tell for sure which bridge is which. For better or worse, a KoAloha sounds like a KoAloha. They are remarkably consistent with their tone.

Hope that helps.
 
I like the older bridges. KoAloha has done a ton of work on their bridges and gone through many iterations. There was a "spiky" bridge way back, that I have on a Pineapple Sunday. The crown bridge was used and pretty popular. I have one on a Sceptre and it is awesome. When they switched to the bow tie, there was a lot of disappointment. However, tonally many people think this is their best bridge ever. In fact, if you buy a custom KoAloha, they use the bow tie bridge. They then moved on to variations of the current bridge. People who have played them, myself included, think the new bridges aren't as nice tonally or aesthetically. The differences are not that drastic, though. If you heard them all, I'm not sure one could tell for sure which bridge is which. For better or worse, a KoAloha sounds like a KoAloha. They are remarkably consistent with their tone.

Hope that helps.

yes i am sure that is all true , i guess it would have to have made a major difference to be noticeable beyond wood variation ,
Still strummin the Bettah?
 
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