Pineapple Sundays from the team in Thailand?!

YogiTom

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I follow Mim on Instagram, and just saw her post about some incoming Pineapple Sundays that are built by the luthier team in Thailand, with final inspection by Pops, thus putting their price point closer to a “regular” Hawaiian built KoAloha koa ukulele.

If I was in the market for them, I’d be all over this. Cool design from Pops built by one of my favorite overseas shops? Heck yes!
 
Darn it. I need to figure out how to block your posts ;)

I absolutely fell in love with the Pineapple Sundays when I got to play a few in Hawaii last year, but they're comfortably enough out of budget that they're not a real temptation. Still out of budget, but not so far that I can't start thinking about math to make it work....

Amazon tells me that I ordered my first uke (a Fender Venice) a year ago today. This would certainly be a big step up!
 
Can't help but wonder if they will be acacia or koa?
 
I had heard rumors about these earlier this year, but it is neat to seem them actually happening.

More great ukes in the hands of more players is a good thing!

(I'm still happy I bought a Pop's made Pineapple Sunday last week, mind you. I have zero regrets on it!)
 
Here is the info that I know about the different ukes (KoAloha vs UkeSA):

The following are the differences in features for the KoAloha Pineapple Sunday and the UkeSA Pineapple Sunday.

Let's begin at the top:

KoAloha Headstock features the five point crown and the KoAloha logo.
UkeSA headstock has five sharp pointed tips that represent the leaves of a pineapple. The logo just below the five pointed leaves is a pineapple colored yellow for the body and green leaves at the top.


The difference with the fretboard is:

KoAloha's present fretboard is ebony with paua abalone dots for fret markers.
UkeSA's fretboard is a departure from utilizing fret dots and instead employs "fret bands" that covers the entire fret
surface. The hardwoods utilized are maple, koa and any other hardwood that would be appropriate.


The differences in the body are:

KoAloha's former debossed grid on the face has been discontinued. In it's place, a much simpler debossed grid makes it much easier for anyone to be able to see the beauty of the Koa grain on the face instead of having the grain muddled by the elaborate debossing texture.

UkeSA's body has no debossing at all. The choice was made to keep the face pure and simple but choosing the best
curly and and other figured textures that would stand out and be immediately recognized as a high quality ukulele.

In fact, besides this standard koa wood version, Pops is embarking on a new direction with the Pineapple Sunday. This new PIneapple Sunday series will be called Pops "One of a Pine" Pineapple Sundays. The Pineapple Sunday ukulele
by far is the most popular, the most sought after ukulele Pops has made and because of this, he is taking the bold step
of introducing as many variations of pineapple sunday shaped ukulele that his mind can conjure up.
 
Not to disagree with you @efiscella, but there are some differences in what Mim posted about and what you’re describing.

See the screenshot I took of Mim’s post:
7A4C01D0-C364-4B96-8259-51772321F76A.jpg
Edit: here’s a link to her post https://www.instagram.com/p/BzyrbpCnVqb/?igshid=qf68c3urcclw

This batch of UkeSA pineapples appear to have fret “dots” in the form of a trapezoidal shape, not the fret bands. And the faces are very clearly debossed(?) in the photo. (Assuming that’s the grid pattern)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the constant changes in design at KoAloha and with the ukes Pops makes are both neat and insanely infuriating for anyone who wants to be “in the know” about what they are doing.
 
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i fully understand what you are saying. The info I wrote above is directly from Pops. He ended his email to me with, "Hope I've explained it clear enough but it's getting hard to remember especially when I'm about to introduce so many other variations of the PIneapple Sunday." So, to your point, even Pops can't keep it straight. I guess every PS will be a one-off. Kinda cool.
 
I always thought the subtle debossed grid was a great touch. It was a classy look without being in your face or fighting with the rest of the design.

Every Pops uke will be unique. That is fantastic! I'm sure it will a lot more fun for him. And keep his creativity sharp.
 
Just curious is UkeSA what they call the factory that makes Rebel but also produces the solid wood KoAloha uke imports?

The MIM Instagram pics look great. These should be another great option for Uke players

Did I miss which woods these would be make in from UkeSA?

Thanks
 
I've always liked the kitschy look of the PS. I wonder what price point the UkeSA versions will come in at? Probably still 4 figures.
 
I've always liked the kitschy look of the PS. I wonder what price point the UkeSA versions will come in at? Probably still 4 figures.
From Mim's Facebook post: "Concert ($1055) and Long Neck Concert ($1173)."
 
Just curious is UkeSA what they call the factory that makes Rebel but also produces the solid wood KoAloha uke imports?

The MIM Instagram pics look great. These should be another great option for Uke players

Did I miss which woods these would be make in from UkeSA?

Thanks

No, from my understanding, UkeSA is just the brand name for Pops' new line, which is independent(?) from KoAloha. The team in Thailand now makes ukuleles for three different companies: Opio line for KoAloha, The Rebel (their own brand), and now UkeSA specifically for Pops.

For the woods, your guess is as good as mine. I would think either koa or acacia of some kind, but I could be totally wrong there.
 
Can't help but wonder if they will be acacia or koa?

They would have to ship the koa from Hawaii, and I don't see that happening. Koa is in the acacia family, so aside from "prestige," I doubt there would be much difference. There's probably a difference i appearance, though.
 
Not at all excited by this. I think I must be the only one to find these a bit silly.

Hopefully they will be independent of KoAloha.

By the way there is already a UKeSA

United Kingdom eSports Association

:D
 
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KoAloha Headstock features the five point crown and the KoAloha logo.
UkeSA headstock has five sharp pointed tips that represent the leaves of a pineapple. The logo just below the five pointed leaves is a pineapple colored yellow for the body and green leaves at the top.

Wow those pointed tips look scary and I wonder what will happen if someone/something collides with it. I think we will see some injuries and potential dents in other instruments, but also broken tips. This change in headstock is very surprising. When I was at the factory tour last fall they explained that ALL necks were outsourced to a CNC company on the mainland, and then shipped to either Hawaii or Thailand for further processing. This different headstock implies that they may have changed CNC programming for a rather small batch of instruments, which I understand is a rather costly and time consuming effort. It could also imply an overall change in process where necks are now produced in Thailand and they have capacity at the factory there to do this. If that was the case we will likely see a lot of new designs coming from there.
 
Pops Pineapple Sunday Acacia Tenor listed at HMS for $899. Already out of stock...
 
Pops Pineapple Sunday Acacia Tenor listed at HMS for $899. Already out of stock...

At roughly half price, I'm not surprised. They will go as fast as they're posted. Mim had two of the original style ($1,599) about a year ago, and they were gone within days.
 
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