Amahi

Yesterday I drove down to check out some stores an hour or so south of me to see what they have for ukuleles. Our local music store doesn't have much. But I have not been out looking at ukuleles in stores for a long time. So anyway, I just saw a lot of Amahi ukuleles. They are everywhere. A couple of the stores that used to have a pretty good selection seemed to have mostly Amahis now, with just a few of the other manufacturers. I saw hardly any Kalas. One store that is supposed to be a Kala dealer had maybe two or three. I will say that they all had Watermans and Dolphins though. But also I did not know that Snail brand ukuleles were Amahi. Anyway, I was just looking around, not really in the market to buy anything. It is an observation on my part that Amahi has seemed to have taken over the market around here.

Rllink said:

Yesterday I drove down to check out some stores an hour or so south of me to see what they have for ukuleles. Our local music store doesn't have much. But I have not been out looking at ukuleles in stores for a long time. So anyway, I just saw a lot of Amahi ukuleles. They are everywhere. A couple of the stores that used to have a pretty good selection seemed to have mostly Amahis now, with just a few of the other manufacturers. I saw hardly any Kalas. One store that is supposed to be a Kala dealer had maybe two or three. I will say that they all had Watermans and Dolphins though. But also I did not know that Snail brand ukuleles were Amahi. Anyway, I was just looking around, not really in the market to buy anything. It is an observation on my part that Amahi has seemed to have taken over the market around here.

Click to expand...

Our best local music store is heavily into Amahis. I talked to the store owner about it and he says that they are the currently doing the best job of quality control for any of the Asian ukes and he stocks them because they sound good for the price and he doesn't have to send many back. We wound up getting a bunch for our school program and the basic satin finished soprano has a very nice sound.

PTOEguy said:

Our best local music store is heavily into Amahis. I talked to the store owner about it and he says that they are the currently doing the best job of quality control for any of the Asian ukes and he stocks them because they sound good for the price and he doesn't have to send many back. We wound up getting a bunch for our school program and the basic satin finished soprano has a very nice sound.

Click to expand...

Three years ago when I was looking for my first ukulele, Amahi wasn't even on the radar. Lots of competition out there, I just hope that it is competition in the right direction.

I was curious enough to take a look at their website. One thing they have on there is map showing the location of all their U.S. dealers. I guess they've been busy in the last couple of years...

PTOEguy said:

Our best local music store is heavily into Amahis. I talked to the store owner about it and he says that they are the currently doing the best job of quality control for any of the Asian ukes and he stocks them because they sound good for the price and he doesn't have to send many back. We wound up getting a bunch for our school program and the basic satin finished soprano has a very nice sound.

Click to expand...

The cynic in me says the real reason is that there is a larger profit margin for the business. There is nothing wrong with that if the product is good and the value is acceptable to the consumer. Most of the Anahi models I've seen are all laminate. If that is what I was looking for and, I had a good relationship with my local store, and the instrument played and sounded good to me, I would not hesitate to buy it.

KanePono said:

The cynic in me says the real reason is that there is a larger profit margin for the business.

Click to expand...

I think there's truth to this as well.

Amahi's arent bad. The ones I've tried have all been quite heavy, and overbuilt though. Especially in the head. They are routed nicely, but they're thick and heavy making it feel off balance. Also.. the soundboards seemed extra thick, so volume was kinda mute.

I mean.. on the super cheap side, I think that's not something you can complain about. But they make more expensive ones too, and those are also overbuilt and have projection issues.

It's not that I think amahi's are bad... but they seem to be designed by engineers that are working from a feature list, instead of a luthier that is listening to what they are building.

On the other hand.. building thicker means wider tolerances... so probably less cracking/warping/returns.

Rllink said:

Yesterday I drove down to check out some stores an hour or so south of me to see what they have for ukuleles. Our local music store doesn't have much. But I have not been out looking at ukuleles in stores for a long time. So anyway, I just saw a lot of Amahi ukuleles. They are everywhere. A couple of the stores that used to have a pretty good selection seemed to have mostly Amahis now, with just a few of the other manufacturers. I saw hardly any Kalas. One store that is supposed to be a Kala dealer had maybe two or three. I will say that they all had Watermans and Dolphins though. But also I did not know that Snail brand ukuleles were Amahi. Anyway, I was just looking around, not really in the market to buy anything. It is an observation on my part that Amahi has seemed to have taken over the market around here.

Click to expand...

Same here! I did end up buying one 2 years ago, a snail zebra wood, and I do like it, so...But it seems like all my store has to offer though are Amahi, not much selection for higher end brands anymore AT ALL! That being said, the manager there said she can't keep them on the shelves!

Bill1 said:

And who would be surprised to find out that Kala and Amahi actually come out of the same factory or group of factories? Even though they are sold by different companies in the USA. Who would be surprised to find out that the Chinese Govt Musical Instrument Making Department Corporation has a 50 year plan, which set up Kala to achieve some market development goals and is now moving into the next phase which does not include Kala?

Click to expand...

Actually it's all a plot by our reptilian overlords. Kala was only the beginning... Beware Phase II !!!

I've played several Amahi ukes. I'd rather have my Kala.

There are a lot of new brands popping up in stores. I saw a number of Dean ukuleles at a recent music education conference in Wisconsin, and my local dealer has a number of Grace Harbor Ukuleles in addition to Kala, Lanikai, Outdoor Ukulele, Martin, Pono, Ko'alau, Fender, Aqua, Malala, and Outdoor Ukulele. Another vendor not too far away carries Magic Fluke, and there is one dealer that carries Kamaka and Blackbird. Interestingly, I don't know any vendors locally who sell Ohana or KoAloha. I also like the Alvarez ukuleles that I have seen, and some of the Cordobas.

So many options. I'd still direct a beginner to a Caramel and then coach them to the next intermediate purchase, which for me would be a Mainland, Pono, or Opio--although there are plenty of Kalas that are wonderful, and I love my Outdoor Ukulele, too. Plus there are Bonanza Ukuleles--another vendor I like and want to see succeed in the market.

My guess is that quality will weed out the offerings in the future.

I didn't know Amahi made Snail ukes, but I wouldn't buy a uke called Snail, with a picture of that pest on it, only makes me go look elsewhere. :nana:

What I do not understand is why they list Maestro Ukuleles on their Website.