Honu or Kanilea?

scooterguitar · Mar 2, 2009

I have it naoored down to the Kanilea K1 super concert or Honu concert (the fancy one).
I've read until I'm hurting

Heard over the phone and a few clips, still undecided.
If that Honu wasn't so puuuurdy I'd alreayd ordered the Kanilea.
My first good uke, this will be. If all goes well, be buying plenty more in the future.

Fanciness away, would the Honu just be like the other $300-$400 made elsewhere solid woods, or better?
I know the Kanilea is top notch.

Thanks and help me place my order today!

russ_buss · Mar 2, 2009

scooterguitar said:
I have it naoored down to the Kanilea K1 super concert or Honu concert (the fancy one).
I've read until I'm hurting
Heard over the phone and a few clips, still undecided.
If that Honu wasn't so puuuurdy I'd alreayd ordered the Kanilea.
My first good uke, this will be. If all goes well, be buying plenty more in the future.

Fanciness away, would the Honu just be like the other $300-$400 made elsewhere solid woods, or better?
I know the Kanilea is top notch.

Thanks and help me place my order today!

sounds like you want the Kanilea. go for it.

cpatch · Mar 2, 2009

Honu looks better, Kanile`a sounds better. Do you want looks or sound?

bbycrts · Mar 2, 2009

I can't get over that goofy turtle-shaped bridge...and my Kanile'a sings soooo sweetly!

Go Kanile'a!

wearymicrobe · Mar 2, 2009

cpatch said:
Honu looks better, Kanile`a sounds better. Do you want looks or sound?

+1e10 ...

taropatch · Mar 2, 2009

MGM has a Kanilea K1 Super Concert for $619 listed.

GX9901 · Mar 2, 2009

cpatch said:
Honu looks better, Kanile`a sounds better. Do you want looks or sound?

I don't know if I agree with that statement completely. I have the top of the line Honu concert and I actually slightly prefer its sound over my Kanile'a super soprano due to greater note clarity and sustain. The Honu is not the loudest ukulele but does have great tone.

Now I love Kanile'a ukes as much as the next guy, but I think it's unfair to paint the Honu as inferior sounding when in fact it is as good or better than some models of Kanile'a. At least in my admittedly limited experience with them.

Lanark · Mar 2, 2009

Shouldn't a concert have some extra sustain just based on the slightly larger soundboard anyway? It is the difference between a concert body and a soprano after all.

But otherwise, I can't argue GX's point.

In a lot of ways it's like arguing about which apple is better Honeycrisp or Fuji.

I don't have any experience with Honus personally, but I'd tend to trust GX9901's assessments on such things.

(And it's an established fact that Honeycrisp is the best apple. So don't even think about it...

)

dnewton2 · Mar 2, 2009

cpatch said:
Honu looks better, Kanile`a sounds better. Do you want looks or sound?

I agree with GX about the sound point, and I might argue beauty is in the eye of the beholder?

I see you have a Kanile'a and I am just curious if you have compared the sound of a Honu side by side? I haven't played a Honu but have played a Kanile'a and the playability was unreal compared to what I have played, I was suprised the volume was a little lacking of my expectations, considering it was a Soundmonster. At last weeks live lesson Aldrine used a Honu to teach the lesson and besides the strings he seemed to like it. (might be the sponser thing but I doubt it)

I personally would get a Kanile'a and almost did but decided to have a Moore Bettah uke built instead.

scooterguitar · Mar 3, 2009

Excellent replies everyone! GX has been helping me along a little as well, he's about the only one that has solid reviews on the Honu. His video on them are really helpful at this point.

MY concern is take away the fancy of the Honu and is it comprable to the mid priced ukes or still a step above those?
I gotta decide or I'll never get one:>)

Yep, MGM is where I'm getting one from.

deach · Mar 3, 2009

Lanark said:
....
(And it's an established fact that Honeycrisp is the best apple. So don't even think about it...)

Ten years a go I would have argued with you but the quality of Fujis have really gone down.

haolejohn · Mar 3, 2009

scooterguitar said:
Excellent replies everyone! GX has been helping me along a little as well, he's about the only one that has solid reviews on the Honu. His video on them are really helpful at this point.

MY concern is take away the fancy of the Honu and is it comprable to the mid priced ukes or still a step above those?
I gotta decide or I'll never get one:>)

Yep, MGM is where I'm getting one from.

I have played the honu and the only downside of the Honu is that it is made overseas (vietnam I think) the koa that is used in the Honus is the same koa that is used in everyone elses solid koa ukes. Some say that the Honu has better wood b/c the owner is also the owner of the koa tree harvesting company and he gets first pick of the wood. As far as being a mid priced uke you must remember that price isn't always everything. I own a mele and I would put it up against anyone's uke. I might get beat down but i think it is that good. The Honus aren't bad.

scooterguitar · Mar 3, 2009

Thank you for the honesty haolejohn.
I know exactly what you mean. I've had super high $ guitars that were "good", then mid priced ones that just had a certain magic.

From GX's vids and what I've been able to decipher eveyrwhere...the Kanilea is warmer and the Honu brighter, the warmer will get my $. Now I'm thinking of throwing a Koaloha in the mix, but better not!

haolejohn · Mar 3, 2009

scooterguitar said:
Thank you for the honesty haolejohn.
I know exactly what you mean. I've had super high $ guitars that were "good", then mid priced ones that just had a certain magic.

From GX's vids and what I've been able to decipher eveyrwhere...the Kanilea is warmer and the Honu brighter, the warmer will get my $. Now I'm thinking of throwing a Koaloha in the mix, but better not!

Now your talking. I have only heard a KoAloha over the phone and I am saving my pennies to buy one. I have thought about Kanilea but not sure. I also prefer the warmer sound and that is what intrigues me about the Kanileas. I also read on here that they are loud which I like as well since I play with a guitar player, but I am biased and a KoAloha will trump all my decisions until I get one. You could offer me one of those 20k plus ukes that MGM or Shawn has and I would turn it down for a KoAloha.

scooterguitar · Mar 3, 2009

Ha, too good! :>)
I could swing the Koalhoa in the regualr concert or get the Kanilea super concert.
G strings are a birghter uke, correct?

haolejohn · Mar 3, 2009

scooterguitar said:
Ha, too good! :>)
I could swing the Koalhoa in the regualr concert or get the Kanilea super concert.
G strings are a birghter uke, correct?

I played a G-string once, not impressed at all sound wise. Aesthetically it was great...But I still want one.

Uke Republic · Mar 3, 2009

Honu, high quality wood great Q.C. and oh yeah I can give you a great deal on one.

bigwaves_us · Mar 9, 2009

Custom Kanilea - with curly wood.

I went down the same road about a year ago. I ended up a with a custom Kanilea super concert. The wood is some of the best Koa i have every seen and the sound in stunning. The fit and finish is perfect and its made in the HI. Check out music mike he is good person to discuss this topic with.

cpatch · Mar 9, 2009

dnewton2 said:
I agree with GX about the sound point, and I might argue beauty is in the eye of the beholder?

I see you have a Kanile'a and I am just curious if you have compared the sound of a Honu side by side? I haven't played a Honu but have played a Kanile'a and the playability was unreal compared to what I have played, I was suprised the volume was a little lacking of my expectations, considering it was a Soundmonster.

I admit that I haven't played the two side-by-side but when I was deciding which uke to buy I narrowed it down to the Honu (which I thought was better looking for the price) and the Kanile`a. Extensive online research kept pointing to the Kanile`a as the better sounding of the two and that was what I went by and what I based my previous post on. I know, I know...research doesn't hold a candle to listening and playing but that's what I had to go by. When it came down to making a decision (looks ARE important to me), the fact that Kanile`as are made on Oahu (vs. somewhere overseas for Honu) pushed me over the edge, plus the fact that I found a really good-looking one at a great price.

BTW, mine is plenty loud!

scooterguitar · Mar 9, 2009

I ended up ordering a Koaloha!
IF it sticks, then I'll be finding a nice tenor down the not too distant road, imagine Kanilea will be the first I look at.

Honu or Kanilea?

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