I love KoAloha!

MartinLil

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I love KoAloha more and more all the time! First, their ukes are a-m-a-z-i-n-g! There is not doubt about that. Second, you can find quite a few great stories on this forum about their customer service. I had spoken to Brain a couple weeks ago to inquire about when KoAloha strings. He was very nice!

Skipping to the important part:
Last night I was admiring the beauty of my concert Sceptre. :drool: But! I noticed a crack of some sort. I thought: "Is it through the finish? Is it the wood? Has the glue failed?! What could have happened?" I keep all of my instruments humidity and temp controlled. So, I knew that wasn't the problem. I decided to inspect her a bit more but I have no expert eye on cracks. So, I kept playing away. I called KoAloha this afternoon and spoke with Brain. This uke is not under warranty as the original owner bought her this past October and I traded it for a classical guitar I had. I've had her for three weeks and two days now. Becuase it is so new and because it is on the seam, Brian said that they will cover it as though it is under warranty! (Thank you so much Brian!!!) So, I will be sending the Sceptre, aka Lady Lucy Leif, to Honolulu tomorrow. I pay shipping there but all other charges, including shipping it back to me, will be covered by KoAloha!!!

The bad news:
I will be without my uke for one to two months!!! I do have a little Hilo soprano that I will be able to play, but it is going to be horrible! This uke has spoiled me!

Anyway, I just wanted to share this story and how incredibly amazing KoAloha is!!

Below are pitctures of the Sceptre before the crack gets fixed and she potentially gets a new finish :eek:

-Lil
 

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Can't see the crack. Is it on the back?

I would never expect less from KoAloha. You may notice that there are many "KoAloha for Life" peeps on this forum. I know a few of us own more than one KoAloha for the very reason that you are stoked by them.
 
I cant see nay crack either??
 
That is a pretty grain pattern on that sceptre. You know KoAloha broke me from my Mele addiction (except for the need for a mahaghany one). Where is the crack at?
 
I couldn't get any pictures of the crack. It's on the seam above the bridge and just below the soundhole. I woke up this morning and looked her over again just to make sure it was really there. I couldn't see it at first but then I turned on a brighter light. It's still there and I can still feel it. The uke still sounds better than ever!

Thanks for the compliments! It really is a beautiful grain pattern! I posted some pictures because I had yet to do so when I posted on the forum about getting this uke and I wanted to share! :)
 
Spectacular sceptre. That is my dream uke right now. Concert size with nice grain and the crown bridge. I hope that Koaloha will continue to make that combination. I have read some threads here recently that said they aren't making that bridge any more. I hope that isn't true. In the meantime, I'll keep an eye on musicguymic's site with hope that one will show up.
 
Spectacular sceptre. That is my dream uke right now. Concert size with nice grain and the crown bridge. I hope that Koaloha will continue to make that combination. I have read some threads here recently that said they aren't making that bridge any more. I hope that isn't true. In the meantime, I'll keep an eye on musicguymic's site with hope that one will show up.

The crown bridge is really cool, but I think there's a sort of simplistic beauty to the plain bridge too.

http://www.koaloha.com/Signature_Line/SceptreConcert.html

I've got that plain bridge on my Pineapple Sunday, and I actually prefer it to the funky PS bridge pictured on their site. I think the crown bridge matches the personality of the tenor sceptre well, but I think the plain bridge looks great on the Concert too.

And boy, both the Tenor and Concert sceptres sound wonderful and are a joy to play.
 
I love KoAloha more and more all the time! First, their ukes are a-m-a-z-i-n-g! There is not doubt about that. Second, you can find quite a few great stories on this forum about their customer service. I had spoken to Brain a couple weeks ago to inquire about when KoAloha strings. He was very nice!

Below are pitctures of the Sceptre before the crack gets fixed and she potentially gets a new finish :eek:

-Lil

Yes, their service is excellent, the best of any ukulele company I have dealt with.

Also while your KoAloha is down in the factory, since you and you've already paid the shipping costs, you should consider getting it engraved too. They can do it on prebuilt ukes (as they did with my Sceptre) I think it's worth the money (in the neighborhood of $100) especially if you've got something special you want to engrave (like a vectored personal logo), even if it's just your name (like I did). It makes your uke truly one of a kind.
 
The crown bridge is really cool, but I think there's a sort of simplistic beauty to the plain bridge too.

http://www.koaloha.com/Signature_Line/SceptreConcert.html

I've got that plain bridge on my Pineapple Sunday, and I actually prefer it to the funky PS bridge pictured on their site. I think the crown bridge matches the personality of the tenor sceptre well, but I think the plain bridge looks great on the Concert too.

And boy, both the Tenor and Concert sceptres sound wonderful and are a joy to play.

Jon,
I agree that the plain bridge looks better on the PS, but I love the look of the crown bridge and how it relates to the scalloping on the base of the sceptre. BTW, your sceptre tenor looks amazing!

Hopefully I will get to enjoy playing and hearing that beautiful sound from these gorgeous instruments at sometime in the future.
 
That's one of the prettiest Sceptres I've ever seen! :eek: And KoAloha is awesome for taking care of you even though you bought the uke second-hand. Extra props to you for not automatically expecting them to cover it under warranty; I'm glad that people aren't abusing the system after the last case. ;)

As far as bridges go, I thought the crown was cool but a little over-the-top for my tastes. Thought about going for a newer super-concert with the bowtie, but then MGM digs up an older tenor with some kind of freakish KoAloha-and-Kanile'a-have-a-one-night-stand bridge. Had to jump on that right away!
http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=288&pictureid=4284
I wonder why they stopped making this one. It would look sweet on the Pineapple Sunday.
 
I just sent the Sceptre to Honolulu USPS Express. It will be there on Saturday by three Hawai'i time. Now back to playing my almost toy Hilo for at least a month :(
 
As far as bridges go, I thought the crown was cool but a little over-the-top for my tastes. Thought about going for a newer super-concert with the bowtie, but then MGM digs up an older tenor with some kind of freakish KoAloha-and-Kanile'a-have-a-one-night-stand bridge. Had to jump on that right away!
http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=288&pictureid=4284
I wonder why they stopped making this one. It would look sweet on the Pineapple Sunday.

I really like that bridge! And it does look like a cross between the two. I really like the bowtie bridges too! That's what's on the pineapple sunday on KoAloha's site. I think all of their bridge designs are really awesome! Except for the plain bridge, but that's because it's exactly that: plain.
 
That's one of the prettiest Sceptres I've ever seen! :eek: And KoAloha is awesome for taking care of you even though you bought the uke second-hand. Extra props to you for not automatically expecting them to cover it under warranty; I'm glad that people aren't abusing the system after the last case. ;)

As far as bridges go, I thought the crown was cool but a little over-the-top for my tastes. Thought about going for a newer super-concert with the bowtie, but then MGM digs up an older tenor with some kind of freakish KoAloha-and-Kanile'a-have-a-one-night-stand bridge. Had to jump on that right away!
http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=288&pictureid=4284
I wonder why they stopped making this one. It would look sweet on the Pineapple Sunday.


I remember your bridge. It was very distinct and cool looking.
 
I really like that bridge! And it does look like a cross between the two. I really like the bowtie bridges too! That's what's on the pineapple sunday on KoAloha's site. I think all of their bridge designs are really awesome! Except for the plain bridge, but that's because it's exactly that: plain.

Martin, the PS on KoAloha's site actually has the old six pointed bridge. They use the plain bridge (like on their sopranos) now. The new bowtie bridge is on the Imaikalani 6-string uke on their website. The pointed crown bridge is only on their Sceptres now. The good thing is that the pointed crown bridge is showing up on the concert Sceptres too. The concert Sceptre used to have the plain bridge before.
 
Martin, the PS on KoAloha's site actually has the old six pointed bridge. They use the plain bridge (like on their sopranos) now. The new bowtie bridge is on the Imaikalani 6-string uke on their website. The pointed crown bridge is only on their Sceptres now. The good thing is that the pointed crown bridge is showing up on the concert Sceptres too. The concert Sceptre used to have the plain bridge before.

Thanks for clearing that up! I think that bowtie bridge is quite classy. The pointed crown bridge is definitely my favorite, though!
 
Update

Hey everyone. I have an update and I wanted to share it with you. I've been talking to Brian about the sceptre that I sent in for repair. The glue joint had failed but KoAloha is sure they could fix it. After telling me this, Brian said that they had one concert sceptre in the factory right now and that he could offer this to me in exchange. I asked him for pictures and spent the night thinking about it. It took two days to get the pics, so I had plenty of time to think about it. I had decided that I did want a new sceptre rather than having the old one repaired.

I got the pics and this one is a beeeeaaaauuuutttyyyyyyy!!!

Anyway, my NEW concert sceptre was sent out Thursday and will be arriving very soon! Also, Brian told me that this one sounds better than the one I sent in!!!!!!!!!! :D I cannot wait to get this new sceptre in my hands and try it out! I'm absolutely psyched! And it sounds better than the one I previously had?!?! :drool: :drool: :drool:

Here are the pics Brian sent me.
 

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