existence
Well-known member
Hey everybody, even though I just bought a second hand Koaloha concert, which is obviously a great ukulele, I wanted to once again sing the praises of the 200 dollar Kiwaya KS-1 soprano. Yes, the one with the laminate body. I wrote a few things about it when I got it, but the other night I finally replaced the stock Fremont Blacklines, which had intonation problems, with some Worth clear mediums. It sounds even better now, and all intonation issues have disappeared...as a matter of fact, the intonation is now as close to perfect as anyone could expect. The intonation is slightly better than my Koaloha actually, which goes just a little sharp on the E string, though not enough that anyone without a chromatic tuner would notice.
This is a punchy-as-hell miniature cannon, with real resonance and real tone. I visited a local uke shop over the weekend, and had the opportunity to try out many sopranos I had only read about previously. Mostly Kalas and Ohanas, many of them solid wood instruments. Not one of those ukuleles sounded as good as the KS-1 IMO, which probably sounds like owner's bias, but I am more interested in which uke sounds better than in verifying any preconceived notions. To reiterate, I believe this unpretentious looking, no frills laminate sounds better than any of the solid wood ukuleles in its price range (that I have tried.)
And I swear I'm not a Kiwaya shill! Just an increasingly pleased owner, who will one day be purchasing a KTS-4!
This is a punchy-as-hell miniature cannon, with real resonance and real tone. I visited a local uke shop over the weekend, and had the opportunity to try out many sopranos I had only read about previously. Mostly Kalas and Ohanas, many of them solid wood instruments. Not one of those ukuleles sounded as good as the KS-1 IMO, which probably sounds like owner's bias, but I am more interested in which uke sounds better than in verifying any preconceived notions. To reiterate, I believe this unpretentious looking, no frills laminate sounds better than any of the solid wood ukuleles in its price range (that I have tried.)
And I swear I'm not a Kiwaya shill! Just an increasingly pleased owner, who will one day be purchasing a KTS-4!
