Mango and spalted flame maple ukes?

Phatzo

Phatzo

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Living in florida its hard to find a music shop that has Ukes, there is on that cares some but they are either spruce top or mahagony. I have tired of my $49 Hilo, but my budget is limited. I saw some nice tenors on Musicmics ebay store that were mango and spalted flamed maple. How do they compare to koa, and does the spalted flamed maple tend to crack where the woods change? I rely on the lucky few who live in paradise and your expirence.
 
my gf has a kala spalted maple soprano. the construction seems pretty solid and it doesn't look like the dark veins that run through the grain will be cracking any time soon. if you decide to go with it, just make sure to store your uke correctly. get a humidifier (if necessary in your neck of the woods) and keep it in the case when you're not jamming away.

happy shopping!
 
I have a Kala Mango Tenor. I can't tell you how it compares to koa uke, but it is pretty nice. I haven't beem playing that long and am on the east coast so my experince with different woods and ukes is limited. From what i hear though musicguy is a good way to go. Good prices and service.
 
Those Kala mango and spalted maple ukes are laminated woods, so they shouldn't be too prone to cracking. The spalted maple one does feature a solid spruce top. I tried several of each in Oahu a couple of months ago and would recommend the solid spruce top ones over the laminated mango (or laminated anything) ones. The solid spruce top ukes have a pretty nice sound in my opinion.
 
to me it doesnt matter. not all koa ukes sounds good and some mango ukes are ugly but has a nice sound to me. it all depends on what you want your uke to look like and sound like.
 
ahh, I guess I should have payed more attention, I didnt realize they were laminated. I would perfer solid wood, and I want something the I can be proud to own. Kinda like a baby taylor, but a ukulele.

I just dont have a place with any real selection to pick and choose and play and inspect, and listen to like a guitar.
 
I am not sure, but i bought my uke at a shop and the guy told me it was solid mango. Its a Kala. Also I don't think the my mango is ugly. It doesn't look liek a koa, but the wood grain looks nice.
 
there is a decent size music shop south of West Palm Beach that has a pretty big selection
 
Hey....why don't you just email Mike. He's a friend of mine and definately will not steer you wrong. He's got 100% perfect feedback. He ships all over the world. He will definately answer any and all questions about the product he sells. He and his crew work on each and every uke before it gets shipped out.
 
The Kala Mango and Spalted ukuleles are laminated with the exception of the sprucetop models All kala Sprucetops are solid Sitka Spruce. There are advantages and disadvantages to laminate ukuleles. one of the biggest advantage is durability in drastic climates. Area with very little humidity (beow 40% RH) and large fluctuations of temp and humidity the laminates hold up much better due to wood stability. On the other hand some tonal subtleties are lost in laminate instruments although some brands such as Kiwayas laminates are so paper thin that they tend to sound solid like. I hope this helps,. If a salesman has told you that the Kala mangos are solid...well....they were lying...LOL...There are many newer not released yet kala models that will be solid in the works although....
 
modi said:
there is a decent size music shop south of West Palm Beach that has a pretty big selection
Click to expand...

Where is it, and what is it called? I live about 45 min North of West Palm.
I would be willing to drive to have the chance to hear the differences before I decide.

I live in south florida so I dont think humidity will be a problem. I think the the mango can look realy nice, but I just have a problem buying anything laminated.

I need Email mike and he recommended the PONO PTO, or KALA spructop. I think Im leaning toward the PONO, spruce is just to average in looks for me, unless its stained or sunburst like the archtop KALA put out.

The more I look the harder it is to choose.
 
MGM said:
There are many newer not released yet kala models that will be solid in the works although....
Click to expand...

Ooh! Cool! Give us the lowdown, please. What are they working on?
 
Ya whats the name of the place and where's it located. I haven't found any good shops in Central FL and plan to go to Ft Lauderdale this weekend. Would love to stop by and see what they have.
 
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