Know anything about the Kala KA-K6E-C

ukuDaily

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So, I have been looking for a 6 string ukulele for a while after I played one before Christmas. Tonight when I came to work my Google Reader alerted me of a Kala K6E-C just listed on eBay. After doing way too little research, I decided to take shot in the dark and snatched it up for $249. According to the auction and a few prices around the internet, the list on it is $549.

I am wondering if anyone has any experience with the KA-K6E-C or its big brother, the KA-K8E-C or for that matter, anything in their koa line?

Everything I read indicates that this is "Koa" but that is it. No word anywhere which parts, if any, are solid and which are laminated. The typical dead giveaway that it is laminate is there...binding around the edges (to hide the edge of laminated top and bottom). I would think that if the list on it is $549, I would expect it to be solid, but if it isn't, no biggie. I am going to use it as a beater to play in the children's church class on Sundays.

And if it is really lousy, I will just return it within 7 days for a full refund. Can hardly go wrong in my book.

View attachment 19471View attachment 19472
 
Hmmm, lots of views, but no takers.

On a similar point, am I the only one who is tired of the questionable practices used by ukulele manufactures to hide the fact that some of their ukuleles are laminated instead of solid? I have done a ton of research on this uke and its siblings and I haven't found one place, other than UU, where people are completely candid about the fact that Kala's Koa line is laminated. If my suspicions are correct and it is laminated, I doubt they used two or three plies of koa to make up the top, but rather used something cheaper like that cheap mahogany. If that is the case, then in my opinion their product literature is bogus as it claims..."Made with Hand-Selected Hawaiian Koa harvested on the Big Island of Hawaii". I suppose the "with" is the legal loophole they use to sleep at night.

Of course, if I am wrong and it actually is solid koa, accept my apologies for this premature rant.
 
I'm relatively new to the Uke scene but have dabbled in guitars for
a couple of years.

If the description reads "solid" Koa then it's solid.
If the description reads Koa... it's laminated with a Koa top.

I like laminates and carbon fiber guitars for use in my office where I
can't control the humidity. They don't crack and hold up like tanks.

Stan
 
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