experimentjon
Well-known member
The following is a true story. I am NOT on the KoAloha payroll, and am NOT a sponsored artist (I suspect it is because I have no skill at the uke.)
The first time I played a KoAloha uke was in my senior year of high school. It was a KoAloha soprano that my friend bought on eBay. He brought it to school every day, and I’d play it occasionally during my free period. Great uke, but it didn’t have enough frets to play “Gently Weeps,” which was the hot song among the uke players at our school at the time.
Later, after I learned songs that weren’t “Surf,” I purchased a used KoAloha SuperConcert that I saw on Craigslist. It was the first KoAloha that I actually owned, and it was awesome. Action was just a tad high, but that just made it even louder. The sound was good, but it was the crown bridge and crown headstock that really pushed all the right buttons for me.
Eventually, I would jump on another used uke deal for a SuperSoprano KoAloha from the early 2000’s, with a one piece back, and one piece front. And that is by far, the loudest soprano bodied ukulele that I own. Action is also a tad bit high on that one, but man, it can play as loud as concerts and some tenors by other companies.
Meanwhile, squandering much of the money I made from my jobs, I will admit that I was pandering around with all the other ukulele companies (Kanilea, Kamaka, Koolau/Pono, Fluke, Tangi, Ovation/Applause, Mele, KoaPiliKoko, Leolani). In fact, my go-to ukulele was actually a Kanilea K1 Tenor. It was the first “real” ukulele that I spent my own money on (then we all know how it’s a slippery slope into UAS.) And the K1-T is a great instrument, with probably the most beautiful finish on the entire ukulele market, and I’m probably going to keep mine forever, even long after Jake’s autograph rubs off it, just because it has so much sentimental value.
But over the past few months, I have truly come to love the KoAloha company. Their philosophy behind instrument building is inspiring, and their customer service is truly exceptional.
It started here on UU when a member who purchased a used KoAloha instrument found a few problems with it, and publicly announced the faults of the uke without disclosing that it was purchased on the secondhand market (voiding the lifetime factory warranty). But even though KoAloha was absolutely not at fault and was not obligated in any way to uphold the voided warranty, Paul and Brian still took very good care of the customer, and sent him a handpicked crème-de-la-crème uke from the newest batch as a replacement. I later asked Paul why he did it, and he told me that he just couldn’t let a customer go away dissatisfied with one of their instruments, and wanted to rectify the problem
Then the other week, while hanging out at the mall with Aldrine, and a few other members of the forum, we ran into Papa KoAloha and his wife who were doing some Christmas shopping. For the most part, we were just strangers in a mall, and all of us except Aldrine had left our ukuleles in our cars. (I guess that’s a precaution you need to take when you’re playing a priceless custom.) They both came over to say hi, because they recognized Dustin who works at the shop. But they didn’t just say hi and leave. No. Mr. Alvin Okami himself actually stopped to talk story with us for an hour or more! Honestly, how often do you get the founder of a company, take time out of his busy schedule, to come over and wholeheartedly talk story with a bunch of strangers that he sees at the mall? Insane.
The deal was sealed today, when I went to visit the KoAloha factory, to finally meet Alan in person for the first time and purchase a KoAloha Sceptre that had been picked out of the latest batch for me. If you want to follow Alan on Twitter, he is @KoAlohaUke, but here’s a warning: currently, he doesn’t tweet much about uke-building, and most of it is his day to day, occasionally including his bowel movements.
Now an aside: for your safety, I would recommend NOT trying to rob the KoAloha factory. I swear, almost everyone there carries a knife. Today, Brian had a Benchmade Tanto Griptillian, Alan had a medium sized promo blade from SnapOn, Paul had a Kershaw Scallion in a cool red finish, and who knows what else everyone else in the shop had. Their uke stash is well defended. And who knew, Alan is a big knife collector. I’ve got a few blades myself, but nowhere near what he has: one for every day of the week…for over two months. So don’t steal from them.
Anyway, I also took my SuperConcert in for an action adjustment, to fix the aforementioned high action, which Brian helped me with immediately. It plays like a dream now. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get to my SuperSoprano because he is very busy, so I left it with him, and he said that I could come pick it up the next time I visit the factory.
Then I got to see what I had come for: a KoAloha Tenor Sceptre. The scepter was a uke that I had wanted since I started playing ukulele, when I saw it in the background of a guitar shop picture; I was totally stoked to be getting one. When Alan handed me the one he had saved for me, my mind was blown. It was gorgeous, featuring a nice pattern in the wood—not quite full fledged flame/curl or quilting—but it definitely was not straight grained. A gorgeous dark koa instrument and it truly exceeded my expectations. Oh and the sound! Just wow. It offered a very wide range of dynamics, and sweet, but crisp tones. The stock KoAloha fluorocarbon strings have more of a percussive sound, which I do like, but when the time comes, I will probably end up swapping them out for Worth Clears to get a sweeter and rounder sound.
I also designed a laser engraving for the Sceptre, of my Chinese name in angular block characters, and Paul helped me to vector it, and had it engraved right in front of my eyes. The engraving machine is really cool, and works like an inkjet printer when engraving. But instead of using ink, it uses a laser and unlike inkjet ink, the engraving will last forever.
While there, I was treated like family, or as if I were a guest in their home. At one point, when I was working on the engraving, Alan even offered me coffee/tea/water. And Papa Okami even took time out of his very busy workday to talk to me personally, divulging a few sweet details about the rest of his Masterpiece line, which will eventually number 7 ukes. And I got to play both the original Jukebox prototype (which has a stunning figured koa fretboard), and a concert Sceptre which had been made for a money manager in Kuwait.
Papa KoAloha also told me about his personal philosophy in ukulele building. He tries to build his ukes to be able to have a full dynamic range from pianissimo to triple-forte. While I personally never play anything above forte, he feels that it is restrictive when you reach an expressive passage and want to use a subito dynamic change, but are limited by the instrument. So he builds his ukes to let players play at higher volumes. And he showed me how he tests each of the sopranos that he builds. Basically, he strummed it so vigorously that I was afraid it would break. It was very loud. And he said that the sound-to-pound (weight) ratio for the KoAloha soprano is the greatest in the entire KoAloha lineup—yes, even more than the Sceptre according to Pops himself.
But most importantly, he builds ukes so that people will enjoy them. He does not discriminate based on skill level, all that matters is that players enjoy the ukes that he builds. He builds so that people can play one and say “Hey, this KoAloha is really an awesome uke.” And that is the exact reaction that I got every single time I played one.
Also, after purchasing the Sceptre, Brian handed me a KoAloha Pineapple Sunday. It was beautiful: made of a blonde koa, with stunning white sap streaks. Long story short, I fell in love, and ended up running to the closest bank and taking her home with too.
Paul said that he had the dream to build KoAloha into an amazingly successful ukulele empire, with multimillion dollar annual sales. And after seeing what their company is about, and after purchasing two of the coolest ukes in the world, a Sceptre and Pineapple Sunday (which, by the way, are only made by KoAloha,) I think that he can do it. They truly build a great uke, and I would recommend KoAlohas to anyone. So I apologize in advance, if I sound like the proverbial broken record in the future when someone on the forums asks for a purchase recommendation, and I say that KoAloha is the way to go for the ten-millionth time. But believe me, every time I say it, I mean it.
Viva KoAloha.
And here are the requisite pictures.
My Pineapple Sunday and Tenor Sceptre, with my Chuck Season 1 DVD. I love that show, and can’t wait for season 3 in Spring 2010.
Tenor Sceptre with the best financial economics textbook I have ever read. How good? Good enough for me to keep it and not sell it back to the bookstore.
Pineapple Sunday with my intro financial accounting textbook from my first semester in college…this I still have this one just because I couldn’t sell back to the bookstore.
My current KoAloha collection, less the SuperSoprano which is at the shop.
The first time I played a KoAloha uke was in my senior year of high school. It was a KoAloha soprano that my friend bought on eBay. He brought it to school every day, and I’d play it occasionally during my free period. Great uke, but it didn’t have enough frets to play “Gently Weeps,” which was the hot song among the uke players at our school at the time.
Later, after I learned songs that weren’t “Surf,” I purchased a used KoAloha SuperConcert that I saw on Craigslist. It was the first KoAloha that I actually owned, and it was awesome. Action was just a tad high, but that just made it even louder. The sound was good, but it was the crown bridge and crown headstock that really pushed all the right buttons for me.
Eventually, I would jump on another used uke deal for a SuperSoprano KoAloha from the early 2000’s, with a one piece back, and one piece front. And that is by far, the loudest soprano bodied ukulele that I own. Action is also a tad bit high on that one, but man, it can play as loud as concerts and some tenors by other companies.
Meanwhile, squandering much of the money I made from my jobs, I will admit that I was pandering around with all the other ukulele companies (Kanilea, Kamaka, Koolau/Pono, Fluke, Tangi, Ovation/Applause, Mele, KoaPiliKoko, Leolani). In fact, my go-to ukulele was actually a Kanilea K1 Tenor. It was the first “real” ukulele that I spent my own money on (then we all know how it’s a slippery slope into UAS.) And the K1-T is a great instrument, with probably the most beautiful finish on the entire ukulele market, and I’m probably going to keep mine forever, even long after Jake’s autograph rubs off it, just because it has so much sentimental value.
But over the past few months, I have truly come to love the KoAloha company. Their philosophy behind instrument building is inspiring, and their customer service is truly exceptional.
It started here on UU when a member who purchased a used KoAloha instrument found a few problems with it, and publicly announced the faults of the uke without disclosing that it was purchased on the secondhand market (voiding the lifetime factory warranty). But even though KoAloha was absolutely not at fault and was not obligated in any way to uphold the voided warranty, Paul and Brian still took very good care of the customer, and sent him a handpicked crème-de-la-crème uke from the newest batch as a replacement. I later asked Paul why he did it, and he told me that he just couldn’t let a customer go away dissatisfied with one of their instruments, and wanted to rectify the problem
Then the other week, while hanging out at the mall with Aldrine, and a few other members of the forum, we ran into Papa KoAloha and his wife who were doing some Christmas shopping. For the most part, we were just strangers in a mall, and all of us except Aldrine had left our ukuleles in our cars. (I guess that’s a precaution you need to take when you’re playing a priceless custom.) They both came over to say hi, because they recognized Dustin who works at the shop. But they didn’t just say hi and leave. No. Mr. Alvin Okami himself actually stopped to talk story with us for an hour or more! Honestly, how often do you get the founder of a company, take time out of his busy schedule, to come over and wholeheartedly talk story with a bunch of strangers that he sees at the mall? Insane.
The deal was sealed today, when I went to visit the KoAloha factory, to finally meet Alan in person for the first time and purchase a KoAloha Sceptre that had been picked out of the latest batch for me. If you want to follow Alan on Twitter, he is @KoAlohaUke, but here’s a warning: currently, he doesn’t tweet much about uke-building, and most of it is his day to day, occasionally including his bowel movements.
Now an aside: for your safety, I would recommend NOT trying to rob the KoAloha factory. I swear, almost everyone there carries a knife. Today, Brian had a Benchmade Tanto Griptillian, Alan had a medium sized promo blade from SnapOn, Paul had a Kershaw Scallion in a cool red finish, and who knows what else everyone else in the shop had. Their uke stash is well defended. And who knew, Alan is a big knife collector. I’ve got a few blades myself, but nowhere near what he has: one for every day of the week…for over two months. So don’t steal from them.
Anyway, I also took my SuperConcert in for an action adjustment, to fix the aforementioned high action, which Brian helped me with immediately. It plays like a dream now. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get to my SuperSoprano because he is very busy, so I left it with him, and he said that I could come pick it up the next time I visit the factory.
Then I got to see what I had come for: a KoAloha Tenor Sceptre. The scepter was a uke that I had wanted since I started playing ukulele, when I saw it in the background of a guitar shop picture; I was totally stoked to be getting one. When Alan handed me the one he had saved for me, my mind was blown. It was gorgeous, featuring a nice pattern in the wood—not quite full fledged flame/curl or quilting—but it definitely was not straight grained. A gorgeous dark koa instrument and it truly exceeded my expectations. Oh and the sound! Just wow. It offered a very wide range of dynamics, and sweet, but crisp tones. The stock KoAloha fluorocarbon strings have more of a percussive sound, which I do like, but when the time comes, I will probably end up swapping them out for Worth Clears to get a sweeter and rounder sound.
I also designed a laser engraving for the Sceptre, of my Chinese name in angular block characters, and Paul helped me to vector it, and had it engraved right in front of my eyes. The engraving machine is really cool, and works like an inkjet printer when engraving. But instead of using ink, it uses a laser and unlike inkjet ink, the engraving will last forever.
While there, I was treated like family, or as if I were a guest in their home. At one point, when I was working on the engraving, Alan even offered me coffee/tea/water. And Papa Okami even took time out of his very busy workday to talk to me personally, divulging a few sweet details about the rest of his Masterpiece line, which will eventually number 7 ukes. And I got to play both the original Jukebox prototype (which has a stunning figured koa fretboard), and a concert Sceptre which had been made for a money manager in Kuwait.
Papa KoAloha also told me about his personal philosophy in ukulele building. He tries to build his ukes to be able to have a full dynamic range from pianissimo to triple-forte. While I personally never play anything above forte, he feels that it is restrictive when you reach an expressive passage and want to use a subito dynamic change, but are limited by the instrument. So he builds his ukes to let players play at higher volumes. And he showed me how he tests each of the sopranos that he builds. Basically, he strummed it so vigorously that I was afraid it would break. It was very loud. And he said that the sound-to-pound (weight) ratio for the KoAloha soprano is the greatest in the entire KoAloha lineup—yes, even more than the Sceptre according to Pops himself.
But most importantly, he builds ukes so that people will enjoy them. He does not discriminate based on skill level, all that matters is that players enjoy the ukes that he builds. He builds so that people can play one and say “Hey, this KoAloha is really an awesome uke.” And that is the exact reaction that I got every single time I played one.
Also, after purchasing the Sceptre, Brian handed me a KoAloha Pineapple Sunday. It was beautiful: made of a blonde koa, with stunning white sap streaks. Long story short, I fell in love, and ended up running to the closest bank and taking her home with too.
Paul said that he had the dream to build KoAloha into an amazingly successful ukulele empire, with multimillion dollar annual sales. And after seeing what their company is about, and after purchasing two of the coolest ukes in the world, a Sceptre and Pineapple Sunday (which, by the way, are only made by KoAloha,) I think that he can do it. They truly build a great uke, and I would recommend KoAlohas to anyone. So I apologize in advance, if I sound like the proverbial broken record in the future when someone on the forums asks for a purchase recommendation, and I say that KoAloha is the way to go for the ten-millionth time. But believe me, every time I say it, I mean it.
Viva KoAloha.
And here are the requisite pictures.
My Pineapple Sunday and Tenor Sceptre, with my Chuck Season 1 DVD. I love that show, and can’t wait for season 3 in Spring 2010.
Tenor Sceptre with the best financial economics textbook I have ever read. How good? Good enough for me to keep it and not sell it back to the bookstore.
Pineapple Sunday with my intro financial accounting textbook from my first semester in college…this I still have this one just because I couldn’t sell back to the bookstore.
My current KoAloha collection, less the SuperSoprano which is at the shop.