NUD: Koolau Custom

I had the great good fortune of buying locally this beautiful Koolau custom made in 2006 by Andrew Kitakis and Noah Bonk. It is a flaming mahogany back and sides with a spruce top, rope binding. It was custom made for a local musician who was friends with Lyle Ritz. It feels and sounds fantastic. Cosmetically it is almost perfect.

Here is a sound sample:

https://app.box.com/s/6mj6nbb12j57d66dmh2c

Pictures:

The grain in that spruce top is incredible. A lot of folks talk about using premium grade wood. This instrument gives meaning to the term.

Nice find.

What a lovely uke with a beautiful sound! Congratulations!

Very nice. You'll surely enjoy that beauty for a lifetime!

Congratulations! That's a great addition.

It's a beautiful looker and a beautiful player. Would you happen to know what strings are on it?

No idea what the strings are. I can tell you they are fluorocarbon with a wound low G and they are probably 8 years old. I'll probably change them out for Southcoat Heavy Medium with the two low wound strings. These sound quite good though. The guy it was made for passed away some time ago and his family had his ukes and guitars in a storage locker. Maybe these are the strings that came with it and Andrew would know.

S, you got your KoOlau! Love that fancy spruce. Mahogany...the best!

Looking firwRd to your knowledgeable review once you've had it for a bit. Sweet!

congrats! you really have a nice collection!

Wow, that's a honey. Congrats.

Beautiful Tone, nice playing and congrats S.....wow the it the katz meow

Beautiful sounding! Congrats and what a nice follow-up to your Howlett Concert Vita.

Don

Congratulations, great looking and sounding ukulele. You are very fortunate.

Congratulations! That is one sweet uke....

Now we know why you are selling off some of your herd ... Gorgeous. Wonderful instrument. Enjoy!

Yes, I am selling some really nice stuff because I have found some new nice stuff.

Congrats on the beautiful new to you uke! You have been busy, a new Ibanez tg and now a Ko'olau.

I was hoping you had kept some nice stuff after selling your Collings and Martin tenors.

Wow, that's so cool. For years Noa would give me a neck and body and I would fret, finish, assemble and final setup. I miss it. But I've been working with our setup team all month and there's really something rewarding in what we do for inexpensive instruments.

Curious...
Don't you have newer CS model Ko'olau? How would you compare?

Congratulations - enjoy it!

AndrewKuker said:

Curious...
Don't you have newer CS model Ko'olau? How would you compare?

Click to expand...

Edited to clarify based on question asked later: The newer CS was built this year believe. The older Custom was built in 2006 and is "new" to me but not new.

Yes I do have a newer CS. The comparison is interesting. They are very different in look and feel. The bodies are the same size but for some reason the older one feels smaller in my hands. The older one does not have a radius neck, but it is set up so well it plays very easily. The CS (current model) is a lot shinier - the finish is thicker. The CS has a pin bridge, the older one has a tie bridge. The CS has a much fancier headstock. The new one is perfect in its build. The older one has some imperfections that look like they are not damage but part of the build.

They both have pickups. The CS one is heavier. The older one feels more resonant, but it has a low G and I haven't tried it with a high G. The newer one is strung high G. I think an instrument will feel more resonant with a low G so its hard to compare. The CS has premium Waverly tuners that are fantastically smooth. The old one has open Gotoh tuners that are not as smooth. They are both fantastic instruments. The newer one is more of a "Wow!" when you look at it - visually. The older one is more understated - you have to know more about ukes to appreciate its beauty. At the moment I think the older one is a better player.

The CS is Rosewood and Cedar, the older one is Mahogany and Spruce.

hammer40 said:

Congrats on the beautiful new to you uke! You have been busy, a new Ibanez tg and now a Ko'olau.

Click to expand...

The Ibanez is a guitar.