NUD: Custom Kanile'a

It's here! I posted a few months back about placing an order for a custom Kanile'a. Joe Souza was fantastic to work with and helped me design the uke of my dreams. Without further ado, here is my tenor.

There are so many things about this uke that make it special to me. I just love the honu turtle on the fretboard, as turtles are a big part of my life. The radiused fretboard is even more comfortable than I imagined. And the thick abalone rosette just glows. In the dark it looks like it has light emanating from behind it-- it's purple and blue and electric. Speaking of electric, I also got a pickup but haven't yet tried it amplified. Acoustically, it's the best tenor I've played. The tone is bell-like, balanced, loud... just what I was looking for.

More pics:

A dark shot to show what I mean about the rosette glowing:

Love the honu!

Congratulations! That's probably the most beautiful uke I've ever seen! I would love to hear a sound sample, or a video.

Natalie, it's fantastic! Many congratulations!

Very handsome looking, congrats.

Lovely! What a beauty!

Beautiful! Congrats

Quite impressive

It looks great, congratulations. I really like the honu.

Beautiful! Congratulations!

Congrats Natalie! Looks gorgeous and with lots of cool features. Good call on the slotted head with Stealth tuners!

Kanile'a ukes have very comfortable necks and fretboards for me. But, I've never played a Kanile'a with a radiused fretboard.
That must be the Cat's Pajamas!

Now that's something special! Besides the honu and rosette, I also like the light stripe of sapwood going down the top and back.

Wow, fantastic, Natalie. Love the personal touches!

Congratulations, Natalie! That soundboard wood is amazing, and the sapwood accent in the center is wonderful. The honu is a nice touch, and the rosette is amazingly radiant. I love the sound of Kanile'as, and I've had the chance to meet Joe and I really like him. I'm glad to hear that you love it.

Very nice, congratultions! This must be the first Kanilea with a radius fretboard, right?

A very nice looking instrument Natalie. You sound so thrilled.

Thank you all for such nice comments! This instrument is exactly what I've dreamed of for a long time. It feels amazing for it to be mine now.

Kanile'a does offer a 16" radiused fretboard for custom instruments. It's so subtle that you can't even see it, but I can definitely feel the difference when playing barre chords. They're effortless now, with much less finger pressure needed.

Another feature I forgot to mention is, I got a satin finish on the neck. Holy wow, it's *incredible*. Kanile'a offers this on the Aldrine and Diamond/Kaimana models. I watched a ton of videos of Kanile'as before I made my order-- everything from HMS's Vimeo channel, as well as every video I could find on YouTube. People seemed unanimously thrilled with the satin neck. When I saw Kimo Hussey rave about it, I knew I had to go for it, and I'm so glad I did. I'm also pleased with the thin headstock and Stealth tuners. At first glance they look rather fragile, but I love the sleek design.

I actually dreamed about my uke last night, and the first thing I did when I woke up this morning was play it again. My fingers are sore, as I've already played this thing so much more than I normally play on a regular basis.

I will definitely make some videos. I filmed when I opened it, but I am a bit self-conscious about putting that video up because all I did was sit there dumbstruck saying, "Oh wow" over and over again, haha. I'll try to do the uke justice in some real videos.

Also... the uke came just in time for today:

That is absolutely gorgeous. The personal touches are what really makes it your's. I can see why you are so thrilled, congratulations.

It is nice to have sore fingers because you love a ukulele so much you just cannot put it down.

I agree, absolutely gorgeous! Congrats, Natalie!