Kala Long Neck Soprano KA-SSLN

Hey all...thought I would share my new uke with ya. I played this uke about one month ago at my local music store. I loved it and could not stop thinking about it. This is not the first time this has happened to me...I went back the day after Christmas and bought it (trading my Ohana Sopranino and $$ toward it).

I was shocked at how loud this uke is! It is a soprano body (spruce top, mahgoany sides and back), tenor size neck with rosewood fingerboard (21 frets) and gloss finish. It has fret inlay markers as well as side markers. It is very comfortable to play. This is my second Kala uke and I am very happy with both purchases.

My camera really brings out the color miss match on the uke face
In person it is hardly noticable.

Have just bought one too.
Very nice volume and tone. I love it !

Thanks, as I said, didn't know they existed. I waited too long to get the solid lacewood tenor travel uke. Will have to find someone really hard up before they'd part with one.

Is that a radiused fretboard?

I have not seen the tenor length neck yet, but am I correct that the KA-SLNG is a concert scale neck on the soprano body?

New Year, New Uke!

I've mentioned (numerous times!) before on this forum, I got one of these as a Christmas present (I didn't even know I wanted another ukulele til I played this in the shop!)

Here's my tuppence worth and attempt at sounding knowledgeable and opinionated:

SOUND:
This was the first thing that really made the uke stand out- the sound is bright and brash and bold as brass if you attack it in the right way and it kicks out a terrific volume for such a tiny bodied instrument. Obviously if you use a gentler approach you'll get different results but 'bright' is the order of the day here, which is my sort of tone (long time Telecaster player). The only other instrument I found in the shop that sounded better was a £230 Lanikai tenor uke, at was twice the price tag on this.

LOOKS:
Slightly oddball, granted. If the neck were any longer or the body any smaller it might look like a giant matchstick. It has some particularly nice binding around the side and on the back and I do like the look of the angled body. One gripe: the fretboard widens as it joins the body, about half an inch either side- I don't really like that, but it's purely cosmetic (I didn't notice it until I played it on Christmas Day). Oh, and the little 'button' tuning pegs are cool.

FINISH:
Nice gloss and the frets are bound (is that the right word?) so the side of the neck is nice and smooth. The fret markers are slightly misaligned either side of the centre of the fret board, but I had to look pretty close to spot that. And: 'that's nitpicking, isn't it?' (N. Tufnel)

PLAYING:
Sounds good up and down the neck (and in the ears too). The note at the 12th fret sounds slightly sharp compared to the harmonic but I don't notice it when I'm playing chords. (Lowering the bridge slightly might help this??). It's slightly top heavy and with a tenor neck so the small body doesn't quite sit on my knee in the same way as, say, a concert but instead nestles quite nicely on the inside of my thigh, classical style.

OVERALL:
I've spoke a lot about a few minor niggles, but compared to the quality and volume of the sound they're insignificant in my humble o. Great sounding little instrument!

Bigdog: yeah, the SLNG has a Concert neck. I got them mixed up when I saw this.

stevepetergal:
Not sure what constitutes a radiused fretboard, but it seems pretty standard to me. I barely notice a fret board unless it's flat

just ordered one for niece

Based on the positive reviews, I just ordered one for a niece from HMS. I'll let you know how she likes it.

I replaced the saddle with a bone and it sound better than my loprinzi, i have fremont strings as well

Anyone know where I can get one? HMS only has the soprano/concert longneck.