A Kamaka Christmas tree, a tour, and a Shimabukuro Christmas gift?

wickedwahine11

wickedwahine11

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I toured the Kamaka factory last week, and while I was there, I saw that they had a lot of cute Christmas decorations up. I thought it would be fun to share a photo of how they decorated the Hawaiian Christmas palm trees...the ornaments are the koa wood circles from cutting out the soundholes in the ukulele. I can't think of a better, more Hawaiian way to decorate a Christmas tree...with koa. :D
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Hmm, wonder who's tree these Jake ukuleles will be for? These boxes each held three Jake ukes ready to be sent out? I wonder if ke leo's is among them.
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A Jake ukulele close up, in progress...
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More Kamaka tour photos...

This is Fred Kamaka, our tour guide, with his dad's creation, Kamaka Pineapple #1.
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Pretty koa Kamakas all ready for their new owners...
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My Kamaka tenor, Pele, poses with me, my Mom and Fred Kamaka.
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Hey Wicked, mahalo for sharing those pics. I missed getting to the Kamaka Factory in September due to very limited time. :( Maybe next time, when I go to get myself a real Hawaiian Pineapple!!! :)
 
I always like pictures of people at ukulele factory tours, always happy. Congrats on the new uke.

Jack
 
Awesome that you got to visit the Kamaka factory! I've only been there once, but it is quite a historic place.

I don't know what it is about Kamakas, but they seem to have consistently more slightly more figure in their wood than other companies, when there isn't supposed be curl. Even in their mostly straight grained ukes, like Aldrine's Mika, or another one that I handled today, there's light curl when you hold it in the light the right way, even though it's not obvious from looking at it straight on. Or once in a while, they'll throw in a curly headplate cover. I've got an old Kamaka concert that I got used at a steal of a price with a flame koa neck, and flame back that the original owner said he paid regular kamaka price for. (Granted that the bridge on that one has gone to crap now, and the instrument is unplayable until I get around to fixing it, or pay the factory to do it.) But still, pretty cool.

WW, you just need to go and get yourself another tenor from another of the K brands! Did you tour any of the other factories while you were down here?
 
wickedwahine11 said:
I'll post my Kanile'a tour pictures next....

Not a new uke though, wish I could buy a new one. I've had Pele since July. :D
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I hope it won't be to long. At least you have a couple of great ukes to get you through.

Jack
 
experimentjon said:
WW, you just need to go and get yourself another tenor from another of the K brands! Did you tour any of the other factories while you were down here?
Click to expand...

I did also tour the Kanile'a factory in May, when Joe Souza installed a strap button on my Kanile'a tenor ukulele. Here are some photos from that trip:
http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23333

I don't have a Ko'olau or KoAloha -- and had to promise I'll never get another ukulele, but you never say never, right? I won't tour another factory because I don't want to get myself obsessed with another ukulele yet, which I'm sure to do if I tour Ko'olau, KoAloha or G String. :)
 
wickedwahine11 said:
This is Fred Kamaka, our tour guide, with his dad's creation, Kamaka Pineapple #1.
picture.php
Click to expand...

Congratulations on the new Kamaka. Thanks for posting all of these wonderful pics. This one is my favorite. What a marvelous photo! Pineapple #1, WOW!
Regards,
Ray
 
experimentjon said:
Awesome that you got to visit the Kamaka factory! I've only been there once, but it is quite a historic place.

I don't know what it is about Kamakas, but they seem to have consistently more slightly more figure in their wood than other companies, when there isn't supposed be curl. Even in their mostly straight grained ukes, like Aldrine's Mika, or another one that I handled today, there's light curl when you hold it in the light the right way, even though it's not obvious from looking at it straight on. Or once in a while, they'll throw in a curly headplate cover. I've got an old Kamaka concert that I got used at a steal of a price with a flame koa neck, and flame back that the original owner said he paid regular kamaka price for. (Granted that the bridge on that one has gone to crap now, and the instrument is unplayable until I get around to fixing it, or pay the factory to do it.) But still, pretty cool.

WW, you just need to go and get yourself another tenor from another of the K brands! Did you tour any of the other factories while you were down here?
Click to expand...

Jon,

I've also noticed that. That's what I love about mine. I love heavy curls but the subtle ones in mine just do it for me. I don't know how they get such great wood for all their tenors.

Wicked, great photos! Were the Jakes for the 100 lucky lottery winners? Lets see $5,500 x 100 = $550,000 worth of ukes!
 
Ronnie Aloha said:
Wicked, great photos! Were the Jakes for the 100 lucky lottery winners? Lets see $5,500 x 100 = $550,000 worth of ukes!
Click to expand...

Yep, Fred Kamaka explained the lottery and that they were making the Jake models in a very select number. He pulled out the unfinished one to show us, and I happened to notice the boxed up versions behind Chris Kamaka's chair. Looks like ke leo, and all the other lucky winners, will be getting new JS ukuleles very soon.
 
Although I'm not thrilled about the spam, I'm glad to see this thread again. I'm hoping to get to Hawaii sometime soon and I'd love to tour each of the ukulele factories that permit tours and, I hope, to buy my first Hawaiian-made uke. The photos were great!
 
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