KoAloha Concert

Seriously thinking of pulling the trigger on one of these. I was close to getting two lesser priced ukes, but I figure once I pay for shipping and two cases I could have gotten a K-brand.

For those of you the have a KoAloha and "moved up" to one, what did you notice about them.

Sound?

Feel?

Build?

any links you have would be most appreciated

and I did use the search for info, but I wanted a new dedicated thread

peace,

david

Went through some of the same for a few months experimenting with different ukes to determine preference for size etc.
Decided to pull the trigger on a KoAloha concert in November 2009 after 5 months of playing.
The first thing I noticed when receiving it was the sound. Just great! Very loud and responsive. Good playability, very lightweight.

All sounds good to me. I have a Mainland Tenor and a Ohana soprano and both are fine instruments, but seems a concert is the size for me. I had another thread looking for a loud uke to cope with my LOUD voice and KoAloha came up a bit.

Did you get the satin or gloss model?

Is the fretboard Koa?

I've got two. It's not an accident.

If you've done the site search, then there really isn't much to say here that hasn't already been said. They're great instruments and owners seem to develop a pretty fierce bond with them. Bright, good volume, very light and as time goes on I notice the tone seeming to deepen with play and in comparison to other instruments. They do have a somewhat slimmer neck profile than a lot of other makers which works quite well for me, but may be to everybody's tastes. I got both of mine used and I haven't had to really futz with the set up on either beyond changing strings.

YMMV but for the most part it seems that people are usually quite happy with their Koalohas.

I was also looking for a slim neck, so that is a positive

What strings do you use on yours?

iDavid said:

All sounds good to me. I have a Mainland Tenor and a Ohana soprano and both are fine instruments, but seems a concert is the size for me. I had another thread looking for a loud uke to cope with my LOUD voice and KoAloha came up a bit.

Did you get the satin or gloss model?

Is the fretboard Koa?

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Got the gloss model. Don't believe there would be much if any difference in sound between the satin and gloss. I like them both but fell in love with the curly Koa top of the gloss and chose on that basis.

iDavid said:

I was also looking for a slim neck, so that is a positive

What strings do you use on yours?

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The consensus seems to be Worth Clears. I use the higher tension ones since I do a lot of fingerstyle playing. Sukie's got the mediums, I think, on hers. (And I seem to remember some folks preferring the Worth Browns, but I'm not a fan myself.)

I think a slimmer neck is kind of a faster one, I do like that. It's nicely shaped. I also lucked out by getting a couple of older ones (both 2000) so I've got koa necks on mine.

is the fretboard koa?

iDavid said:

Seriously thinking of pulling the trigger on one of these. I was close to getting two lesser priced ukes, but I figure once I pay for shipping and two cases I could have gotten a K-brand.

For those of you the have a KoAloha and "moved up" to one, what did you notice about them.

Sound?

Feel?

Build?

any links you have would be most appreciated

and I did use the search for info, but I wanted a new dedicated thread

peace,

david

Click to expand...

David,
Do it. DOn't even think twice about it. I have a video up of me playing my concert with my wife on my YT. I am in the process of making a video with all of my koalohas and as soon as I get that up, I'll let you know. As much as I love my Meles, KoAlohas blow them away. Everything about it is nice. The sound is superb. The feel is exotic (for lack of a better word).

iDavid said:

is the fretboard koa?

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Mine is. I have one of the all koa ones. At least it looks like koa.

iDavid said:

I was also looking for a slim neck, so that is a positive

What strings do you use on yours?

Click to expand...

I use the koaloha strings on two of mine and the other two have worth clears. I'm thinking of placing some kala reds low g on the sceptre but I can't decide.

is it satin?

how do you like the friction tuners?

iDavid said:

how do you like the friction tuners?

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Two months ago I would have told you that I hated them. But now, after switching between ukes more often, I love them. Now I dislike geared tuners.

I also have a KoAloha concert. I love everything about it (except I wish it was a super concert) Run, don't walk, to the phone and give MGM a call.

Here's one thing to consider -- a super concert. Same size with a longer fretboard. As I am learning my way up the neck, I wish I had the longer one.

Yes, as Lanark said, I use Worth clears on mine. They are my favorite strings.

My turn, my turn! I've forgotten your original question so I'll just share my thoughts about KoAlohas. If you're used to a high gloss dead smooth all the wood pores filled thick looking finish like I have on my Pono's, Kala and Ohana you probably might not like the finish when you first see it. The gloss is not really a high-gloss, more of a semi-gloss and no wood filler is used that I can see. Just a thin coat of finish to protect the wood. When my wife first saw my first one she said "that looks like the finish you put on the harp you made me". The harp has fifteen coats of hand applied tung-oil varnish and looks quite well. I like the finish, it's just different than what I was used to seeing on a ukulele. Having said that let me say that Koalohas do not look mass produced. Each of mine looks like it was made by a little old craftsman setting at his kitchen table building ukuleles one step at a time. Kitchen table lutherie at it's finest. Of course we know they're not made like that but I like the thought. BTW, my wife's harp was made at the kitchen table on step at a time. From a kit of course.

About the strings- first off, Worth CL and the KoAloha strings that came on my ukes are one and the same. Sound great but are too thin for my liking. The don't feel right under my fingers. Right now I've got concert size Aquillas on my KoAloha standard soprano, Ko'olau Gold on my KoAloha Pineapple standard soprano, Aquillas on my KoAloha long-neck (concert scale) Pineapple, D'Addario Pro Arte on my KoAloha concert, and the original KoAloha strings are still on my KoAloha Super Concert but will be replaced with the Pro Artes when I change strings.

My oldest is an oval sound hole soprano made in August 2000 and the newest one, the Super Concert was made in December 2009. Two of them I bought new from MGM and the other three were bought used on ebay. I'm trying to win a KoAloha tenor on ebay now and when I get the tenor my KoAloha stable will be complete. I don't care for the boutique KoAlohas like the Scepture (sp) or Pineapple Sunday. Sour grapes perhaps as I did bid $1500 for a PS on ebay and lost to "she who will not be named".

Oh, I almost forgot, BUY THE CONCERT, you won't be disappointed. But, be forwarned, I only intended to buy one when I bought my long neck Pineapple on December 22, 2009. That's right, five KoAlohas in less than three months and bidding on the sixth one. The good news is I was able to claim Papa KoAloha and his family as dependents when I filed my taxes.

Take care, mahalo, namaste, and I'm outa here,

Jude

Buy it now you won't regret it.

HUGE difference in moving up to a K-brand uke. In terms of concerts, i've moved up from my fluke concert and paradise concert to a Koaloha "Pikake" concert. Difference is night and day. When we kanikapila, the Koaloha is clearly the loudest of ALL the ukes there. With that said, all the braddahs like jam on em. Kinda hard to pry their fingas off my uke. The sound is fantastic with very long and bright sounding resonance. Intonation is dead on. The craftsmanship is primo with no defects to report. The customer support is barr none the best I've ever dealt with as well *Brian is the MAN @ koaloha for your repair needs. Over-all the best uke investment I've purchased so far. I'm now in the market for a koaloha super concert! Oh lord give me the strong to over come my UAS..

Cheers
-RG

Do it! I have three K brand ukuleles, and the KoAloha is my favorite (it barely beats out my Kamaka, but it does edge it out as the winner). They have incredible customer service, a great warranty, they look good and they sound wonderful. You won't regret it. Case in point, I've got KoAloha fever now and I'm dying for another one. While I love my Kanile'a and Kamaka, one was always enough for me. That doesn't seem to be the case with my KoAloha.

heyjude said:

But, be forwarned, I only intended to buy one when I bought my long neck Pineapple on December 22, 2009. That's right, five KoAlohas in less than three months and bidding on the sixth one. The good news is I was able to claim Papa KoAloha and his family as dependents when I filed my taxes.

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And Jude, you are the patron saint of my KoAloha Acquisition Syndrome that I am fighting.:worship:

sukie said:

I love everything about it (except I wish it was a super concert) Run, don't walk, to the phone and give MGM a call.
Here's one thing to consider -- a super concert. Same size with a longer fretboard. As I am learning my way up the neck, I wish I had the longer one.

Click to expand...

Ditto on the super concert, I love mine. I use Aquilas low G. It came with flourocarbon of some kind, but I prefer the Aquilas.
I bought mine used (it's an 2007), it was barely used and has opened up a lot since I got it. I don't think you can go wrong with a KoAloha, I doubt they let any duds out of the factory.
One of my uke pals has been playing many years and is an excellent player. She has probably owned and/or played every brand of uke ever made.
She played and heard mine and now has one, as she thought it was the perfect ukulele.

They seem to have perfected the concert-sized ukulele. I have never played a KoAloha concert that didn't impress me at some level. I can't even say that about their concert Sceptre (the most recent one I played just last week was a little disappointing). Go for the KoAloha concert!