Four Concert Ukulele Demos

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katysax

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https://app.box.com/s/6fd9jtdx69drq4gpmo54

This is a link to four concert ukuleles being demoed with less than perfect playing. Recorded using a Blue Snowball Mic into a Macbook Air

-- Howett Vita Uke. Strung with Southcoast Mediums, wound low C.
-- Kanilea K1C Deluxe - Strung with Worth Clears but the low G is a Classical guitar string wound low D.
-- Mya Moe Myrtle Cascade Series. Strung with Southcoast Mediums, wound low C.
-- Koalana Strung with Martin M600 strings.

I think these are all great ukes but each is very different. The Kanilea timbre is obviously affected by the low G. The Koalana which is the least expensive has the Koaloha jingle in the sound and is the brightest. The Mya Moe has the least volume and projection, but the tone is very sweet. The Howlett is the loudest and the most responsive.

I don't know how much you can really tell from a sound sample like this, but I was curious to hear it myself.
 
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katysax said:
https://app.box.com/s/6fd9jtdx69drq4gpmo54

This is a link to four concert ukuleles being demoed with less than perfect playing. Recorded using a Blue Snowball Mic into a Macbook Air

-- Howett Vita Uke. Strung with Southcoast Mediums, wound low C.
-- Kanilea K1C Deluxe - Strung with Worth Clears but the low G is a Classical guitar string wound low D.
-- Mya Moe Myrtle Cascade Series. Strung with Southcoast Mediums, wound low C.
-- Strung with Martin M600 strings.

I think these are all great ukes but each is very different. The Kanilea timbre is obviously affected by the low G. The Koalana which is the least expensive has the Koaloha jingle in the sound and is the brightest. The Mya Moe has the least volume and projection, but the tone is very sweet. The Howlett is the loudest and the most responsive.

I don't know how much you can really tell from a sound sample like this, but I was curious to hear it myself.
Click to expand...

Hi Sherry, you explained them well. I liked the Kanilea the best and the Koalana is a great uke for the price!!
 
The low G has a definite impact on the perception of the sound. I think if I put a Low G on the Howlett and and high G on the Kanilea you would think that the Howlett sounded the best. Almost any tenor or concert is going to sound better with a low G, but I keep most of them strung high G because I do a lot of fingerpicking and the majority of tabs are for high G. Also Campanella style or elements of it require a high G.

The Koalana has a phenomenal sound for the price. You can see the cheapness in the materials and the construction. However, I sold my Koaloha concert because I felt it was redundant. The Koalana is one of the most resonant ukes that I own.
 
katysax said:
The low G has a definite impact on the perception of the sound. I think if I put a Low G on the Howlett and and high G on the Kanilea you would think that the Howlett sounded the best. Almost any tenor or concert is going to sound better with a low G, but I keep most of them strung high G because I do a lot of fingerpicking and the majority of tabs are for high G. Also Campanella style or elements of it require a high G.

The Koalana has a phenomenal sound for the price. You can see the cheapness in the materials and the construction. However, I sold my Koaloha concert because I felt it was redundant. The Koalana is one of the most resonant ukes that I own.
Click to expand...

You are probably right as most my ukes are low G!! BTW, can you post pics of your Kawika Pineapple again...I think the uke said "honeybear" and that's my wife's and my term of endearment! Even if it doesn't say that, it'll be cool to look at old pics again as most pics were lost a few months ago. Thanks
 
Kanilea vs the Howlett.....would be a hard choice.
 
Sherry, Thanks for comparisons! What a wonderful group of concerts!
Your Howlett is the sweetest sounding to my ears.
 
Fun comparison, Sherry. Each is unique but nice in their own way. I was surprised how relatively quiet the Mya Moe is (not necessarily an issue unless one does a lot of group stuff). That KoAlana does sound like an amazing value.
 
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Yes the Mya Moe is not quite as loud. It has a pickup if I need volume. I had a soprano Mya Moe that was also not very loud. The tenor that I have is comparable in volume to similar tenors. The concert Mya Moe is very easy to play and the sound is quite sweet.
 
When I have done shows and people of all ages and abilities try out instruments the first consideration is volume, the next intonation and the last tone... that's why the volume is up front and centre as the first thing to be noticed about my instruments. It truly has to be the 'trick' you get right with these things if you want to get noticed in a crowd! Furthermore, the smaller you get the harder it is and as a result, the greater the differential when offering comparisons... Loudest soprano I ever came a cross was a 1926 mahogany Martin style 0. Huge does not begin to describe it. Those Vitas also have a way of delivering volume which I think is due to the shape.
 
I like the Howlett Vita best.

I've played a vintage and modern Martin soprano, but the Timms Style O I had blew both of those away in terms of volume. Still kicking myself for letting that one go.
 
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I seem to like the Howett best. I hear better balance between upper and lower strings, as well as more presence in it and a good, rich tone.
 
Thank you for choosing a familiar tune to sample these uku for us. Advance players like Corey can make even the cheapest uku sounds like a million buck. Your sound sample really show the different output in each uku and you explained it well.
For my ears , I think kanilea is the winner. Thank you again.
 
I liked the sound of the Kanilea just a tiny bit more than the others. The Howlett comes in 2nd. Maybe because of the lo G?
 
I just went back and listened to the sound samples and I think the relative volume of the Mya Moe is not accurately represented by my recording. I was juggling a uke, a microphone and a computer. I'm not a sound engineer. Of the three ukes the Howlett is the loudest, the Koalana second, the Kanilea third, and the Mya Moe fourth but there is not, when I am playing them that much difference between the Kanilea and the Mya Moe.

I think perhaps tomorrow I'll try doing a new recording of the Mya Moe.

Loudness will give an immediate impression of "good" tone but over time with an instrument it becomes less important. When I got the road show Blackbird Clara I was immediately blown away by the sound - which was quite loud. Sometimes I'll think a uke sounds great when what I am perceiving is loudness. Over time I'll start to find the sound less interesting when I realize it is just loud. The Howlett is more than just loud - the sound is very complex and balanced.
 
And there is the dilemma Sherry... How do you offer comparison in a completely fair and scientific way? I am not suggesting you have presented a biased review. However, when you do it will be subject to much interpretation both by you and those who hear it through the inadequate speakers attached to our computers! Let me clarify what I am saying with an anecdote from my past:
In 1994 the luthier Tony Revell built two 0018 guitars from 'rising sets' - effectively the same wood. For some unknown reason, one sounded great and the other was, to be kind, a dog! A client came in and tried them out but despite our urging him to buy, in our eyes, the better instrument he took the dog. He said, "It sounds like Eric Clapton's....) Now anyone with half a brain knows Eric plays an OM or 000 :)
Click to expand...
I have learnt that most of what we consider to be an auditory experience is coloured by our emotional experience. If you just spent $2000 on an instrument? you are gonna be practically willing it to be the better than the one you spent $500 on. This expectation has a way of causing us to often big up our purchases...

And then on the other hand, you just might have an instrument that despite you wanting it to be something less, it is actually something more and then some. This is what you generally get from a boutique maker, that undefined something that truly separates the prized beast from the herd.
 
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And when the boutique maker is someone you know (even if only by online correspondence) and respect, then having the instrument gives it more meaning and makes it more special.
 
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