One other time in my life, for a short time, I was the only person in the world to own what would later become a production "semi custom" ukulele. That was when Joe Souza sold me the prototype Kanile'a 2019 Platinum Pineapple, right off the shelf in the setup room on the 1st Kanile'a Factory Tour of 2019 (1/2/19). But today, I get to be that guy again, if only for a little while, today my Pop's UkeSA tenor WOW arrived! Let me start by saying because of my soprano WOW, I was worried that my mind had conjured up a uke that was to good to be true. My soprano WOW has an "off the charts sound" (see my NUD) even when compared to my nearest soprano, a KoAloha pineapple soprano, and the WOW is the uke I use regularly when leading Uke Jams. So when I asked Pops to build me a tenor version of the WOW, I wondered how would the tenor version compare to my soprano, was it possible to bump up that sound? You can see how I was struggling not set myself up for disappointment, but in fact this tenor WOW is better than I had imagined. I had a hard time stopping playing it long enough to write this review. It’s full, it’s clean, and it’s LOUD! And it plays like a dream! I am blown away by Pops amazing design and craftsmanship. Ok, so my new tenor WOW isn't quite a "bare boned" build. I asked Pop's to design a cool side sound port for it, something out of the ordinary. And he sure did a great job! Plus I got ebony bindings to highlight the light woods, and the 5 point crown bridge that ties in so nice with the headstock! And I think the layered headstock is beautiful. The PS logo is for "Pop's Specialties". And speaking of the 5 point crown (another of Pop's creations for KoAloha), check out the Gotoh turners with 5 point buttons (another upgrade)! Finally I opted for abalone fret "bars" (something Pop's started doing for some variety from the typical fret dots), and Pop's carried that abalone theme down to the bridge. When Pop's, Ed and I discussed the build, Pop's was torn between the pine back and sides and the "prettier" maple back. I told him I'd leave that decision up to his experience but this was to be a uke that could be heard when setting the tempo and strum pattern for Uke Jams, and that's what I liked about my soprano WOW. Sound was the key factor! With that he said that we needed to do all pine with the spruce top. All I could say was you are the expert! Like the day I tuned up and strummed my soprano WOW, today reinforced that Pop's has picked the perfect name for this family of ukes. I wanted to do a side by side recording with a nice, high end tenor and this WOW but I’m afraid it will make the "other tenor" look bad. So I'll just say if you compared a decent laminate tenor to a KoAloha (known for it's consistent sound and volume), the WOW is almost the same step up from the KoAloha (and I love my KoAlohas!). And the more you "dig in" to this uke, the more it gives back! Pop's has designed a winner in the WOW line! I shouldn't be so surprised, coming from a master luthier like "Pop's" Alvin Okami, but I was! So my many Mahalo's go out to Pop's for creating this masterpiece for me, and to Ed Fiscella for helping me to get the details worked out and the uke order put in! Feel free to contact me with any questions you might have. Now, back to strumming!
