Big Island Ukes

Big Island

From what I have found out about these:

They're made in Vietnam from Hawai'ian wood ("The sound of Hawai'i is in the wood.")

My personal experience with high-end Pacific Rim musical instruments involves violins, which are SUPERB!!!

Never played a Big Island, but I know people who have and they agree that the workmanship is top notch.

John
 
I have tried some models of the Honu series at this year's Frankfurt music fair (and even met Jorma Winkler in the train on my way to the fair :)). The craftmanship is superior and the sound is very nice, though not as loud as the Pono tenor I also tested at the fair. The soprano looks a bit overloaded in my opinion with all the mother of perl purfling and fretboard inlays. Last weekend I played a rope concert and I really liked the sound.

I recommend them (but I play a Koaloha nevertheless ;))
 
I owned both a traditional concert and a traditional tenor. Sold them both towards my Kamaka tenor. Workmanship was really nice. They both were quiet but had a really nice tone.
 
I have the traditional concert. I agree that with the sentiments that the workmanship is superb. Besides the outside looking great, the inside is the cleanest I've seen on a uke.

I haven't found it to be very quiet. I did change out the Aquila's with Worth CD's with I felt improved the tone to my ears.

Here's some videos that I've done with mine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU8vJ4NAsA4 (w/ Aquila strings)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olil8IwNW2g (w/ Worth strings)

I don't regret buying this one at all.
 
I really love mine too! Worth every damn penny (and more), that's for sure.

I also don't find it too quiet either (I use Worth CMs), though I have yet to lay my hands on say a K brand to compare, so who knows? Maybe they are quiet for a solid koa. One thing I like about it is that they have a very small 'heel' at the bottom of the neck, so my hand can reach the really high notes easier. Not sure if there's a large variety of necks around, but overall I like the feel of this neck for my (small) hands better than other concerts I've tried.
 
The looks are very beautiful. The sound is sweet and I have played 2 of them. Both were quieter than my mele imo but not as quiet as my pono mango was. The quality on the two I played was phenomanal. I prefered the Mele brand as my top import but the honus would be a close 2nd just ahead of pono. Looks as good as most k brands.
 
I am interested in buying one too!

Any Honu owner's use Low G? I'm curious to see how it sounds like :drool:
 
I took Nuprin's tenor off his hands and strung it up with worth clear low g strings. I have to say, I'm a fan. the worths give it more volume than the daddarios that it came with, and a really sweet tone.
 
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My Honu

I bought a Honu concert a few weeks ago from ukes.com and am very, very happy with my new Big Island ukulele. Its sound is louder than the sound of my Mahalo LesPaul concert and my Lanikai tenor. Maybe the Mahalo and Lanikai are extremely quiet. I don't have much experience with different ukuleles, so I cannot really tell you how loud the Honu really is. But what I can tell you for sure is that the Honu sounds more defined and mellow compared to my other ukes. And it is simply a beauty with no flaws in the construction.

I wouldn't trade it for anything anymore!

If you would like to hear what my Honu sounds like, here a video where I play it finger-style: Wonderful Christmas Time.
 
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