Going 'all in' on KoAloha

After owning a fair number of pretty good ukes I have realized that I truly love the sound and feel of KoAlohas ( and KoAlanas ). My other past and current ukes include a couple Kalas, a Pono Pro Classic, and Ono custom, a Timms soprano, and a vintage Martin. The Timms and the Ono I am especially fond of but my KoAloha soprano still is always my go to. It sounds great, has great volume, and very importantly it is so easy to play.
I have played a lot of ukes at stores and always like the KoAlohas they best there too. So I have considered selling my other ukes and picking up a KoAloha concert. Then I would have a KoAloha low G concert and a high G KoAloha soprano and no other ukes (except my baritone). I like the variety of owning different types of ukes made of different types of woods but I also dislike the idea of owning multiple beautiful and expensive ukes but only playing one of them.

This is one of those rhetorical posts where I kind of already know what i want to hear. But I am still asking the question. Has anyone else gone solely to one make of ukulele? Has anyone gone 'all in' on KoAlohas? How did it work out for you?

I look forward to hearing what you all think. And thanks in advance for humoring me.

dirtiestkidever said:

After owning a fair number of pretty good ukes I have realized that I truly love the sound and feel of KoAlohas ( and KoAlanas ). My other past and current ukes include a couple Kalas, a Pono Pro Classic, and Ono custom, a Timms soprano, and a vintage Martin. The Timms and the Ono I am especially fond of but my KoAloha soprano still is always my go to. It sounds great, has great volume, and very importantly it is so easy to play.
I have played a lot of ukes at stores and always like the KoAlohas they best there too. So I have considered selling my other ukes and picking up a KoAloha concert. Then I would have a KoAloha low G concert and a high G KoAloha soprano and no other ukes (except my baritone). I like the variety of owning different types of ukes made of different types of woods but I also dislike the idea of owning multiple beautiful and expensive ukes but only playing one of them.

This is one of those rhetorical posts where I kind of already know what i want to hear. But I am still asking the question. Has anyone else gone solely to one make of ukulele? Has anyone gone 'all in' on KoAlohas? How did it work out for you?

I look forward to hearing what you all think. And thanks in advance for humoring me.

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I've never been all in on one brand. But I have been all in on one brand when it comes to first options. Koaloha is my all in brand. However I still play my Meles and Mainlands as well. Main reason is my budget doesn't allow me to buy nothing but koaloha. My ultimate goal though is to only have a few Ukes (tenor low g, concert, six string, 8 string, and a spruce top tenor and a beater travel concert).

Keep the Timms so you'll have one mahogany uke. On a mahogany day, you'll want that sound.

I don't think I could be monogamous to any of the ukes I currently own (or their builders). If I had a custom Moore Bettah, Devine, or K brand I would. But I know I am too fickle with the ukes I currently own. I like Kamaka's history, Kanilea's looks, KoAloha's volume, tone and customer service. But yes, if I had to pick one brand to espouse loyalty and monogamy with among those, it would be KoAloha.

They have outstanding volume, a great tone, great warranty and terrific customer service. Plus, the Okamis make you feel like ohana. Add to that the lineup of ukes includes the Signature Collection ukes like the Pineapple Sunday and Sceptre and it is a great brand to stick with.

dirtiestkidever said:

Has anyone else gone solely to one make of ukulele?

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I'm pretty much almost there, except with Kamaka rather than Koaloha. I've written a detailed post about the various makes and models of ukes I've owned here, if you're interested; as of now, I own 4 ukes (3 Kamakas and a custom) and for me the Kamakas are easier to play than just about anything else I've tried. For a long time I only had two ukes - both Kamaka concerts, one low G, one reentrant - and those did the job just fine.

Oddly enough, while I love the sound of Koalohas (my first "good" uke was a Pikake soprano), I don't care for the feel of the fretboard or the headstock; the fretboards on Koalohas seem sort of... resistant to me, and the headstock seems top-heavy. It's interesting how what works for one person sometimes does not work for another person!

Like others have mentioned, I think it's worthwhile to keep one mahogany uke (in my case, the custom) in case you want that sound. But I've definitely come to prefer the sound of koa more often than not.

As someone who has recently realized all of this personal-preference stuff herself, it sounds to me as if you've come to a similar conclusion: you know what you like. Nothin' wrong with that, and nothing wrong with only having a few ukes. Like yourself, I just can't get behind the idea of having multiple high-quality ukes but only playing one or two - ukes that don't get played depress me!

I'm probably not going to say what you want to hear, so feel free to disregard (I never have been much of a "Yes-man" ;-).

I have two ukes and play both pretty much every time I sit down to play, which is usually several times a day for 15-20 minutes or so each time. I could easily imagine having a couple more in that mix. For me personally at this point in my uke experience (still early), I cannot imagine sticking with one brand. There are way too many wonderful options out there, from mid-priced to extravagant. And while I dearly love the janglie-warm sound KoAlohas make, there are times when I want a completely different sound. Were I ever to settle on one brand, it would be either a production brand or luthier who makes different sizes and uses different woods so that I could have distinctly different sounds.

I see your point. If I could have only one uke it would be my KoAloha. In fact, some day I just might sell my others and be a KoAloha only gal.

Like the variety and choice of more than one nice uke. Could probably be happy with just one of any of my present ukes.

If I can ever settle on what size I like best, I think it's very likely I will get a Koaloha in that size. But even if I do, I'll still want the variety of sizes and options that the mid-range ukes have to offer. I like having several decent ukes of assorted sizes and characteristics to travel with, that can satisfy me musically, yet still be passed around in uke groups and among friends, without having to worry too much about dings and scratches. I like switching sizes, and feeling and hearing the changes in sound. When my hands get tired from playing tenor for hours, I can get a lot of relief by switching to a concert or soprano. That being said, I can understand wanting to collect ukes of a certain brand too. (I seem to have developed a case of Mainland Acquisition Syndrome lately! LOL)

BTW, wish you could hear my Mainland cedar/rosewood soprano. It's a killer.

Jamie

i once loved koalohas enough to own a few and consider going all in.

now i own none.

ymmv

Thanks for all of your responses. Sagely advice indeed. Sure enough as soon as I declare something publicly on the internet my opinion changes. Now I am all about my Ono mango with a set of linear PhD strings on it. “A fickle heart is the only constant in this world”.

dirtiestkidever said:

Thanks for all of your responses. Sagely advice indeed. Sure enough as soon as I declare something publicly on the internet my opinion changes. Now I am all about my Ono mango with a set of linear PhD strings on it. “A fickle heart is the only constant in this world”.

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Yep, my feelings about ukes change all the time. For what it is worth, my Koaloha soprano to me has the quintessential hawaiian uke sound. If you listen closely you can hear the ocean breeze in it. It's not my most played uke, but it has a sound and feel like no other.

I like your thinking. I've gotten rid of all the ukuleles I don't play. The ones I have do everything I want them to do. I applaud you doing the same.

If you're going to go all in on a brand, KoAloha is a good brand on which to do it.

Have a Kanilea tenor and just bought a used KoAloha concert. Both are great uke's. My advice - if it's within your budget, go for a K brand. You will be a "happy camper". Good luck.

The best thing I ever did for my ukulele playing was stick pretty much to one brand (see my signature.) I know that many people in here play many different brands and sizes and don't have a problem but I can only speak for myself. I can play other sizes etc fine, but I find by sticking to one type I can play much much better.

As the Martins all have the same string spacing (which I love) and are all soprano my fingers naturally find the right sweet spots at each fret without me thinking. Muscle memory I guess. It means I can be much more skillfull and I don't need to look at the fretboard when playing.

I wouldn't call myself an amazing player but I think I've got much better since I stuck to Martins.

Having said all that, I DID recently order another ukulele of a different brand (and guess which one?! KoAloha!!) I just wanted an Hawaiian ukulele for Hawaiian style songs.

Matt

If KoAloha would release a baritone I could see replacing my entire collection with one KoAloha of each size.

JonThysell said:

If KoAloha would release a baritone I could see replacing my entire collection with one KoAloha of each size.

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Ooh but that 19 inch scale black bear bari looks great.