What Ukulele have you upgraded to?

GKK

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I was just wondering what brand Ukelele members here have upgraded to?

When I get better, I would one day like to have a "Kamaka" Soprano. I think the craftsmanship and history of the family owned business is Awesome.

I was watching a video of the Kamaka factory and the owner said, all Ukulele's are sound checked by tapping the wood on the top/rear for the correct resonance before the placement of the strings so, they will be in the correct position. This technique was taught to one of the original workers by the company founder but, the most awesome part is, that employee is Deaf! He can tell by just the vibrations the wood makes.

After watching the video, I just had to have a Kamaka, they must sound Awesome.
 
My upgrade was from Kala to KoAloha.

I was very fortunate to acquire a vintage Kamaka baritone last summer, which was indeed Awesome sounding, but alas, it was too large and had to move on.
 
Aloha GKK,
I'm a Kamaka Man....can't go wrong there.....go for it, get one!!! Happy Strummings..MM Stan
 
I went from a Makala dolphin up to a Mainland mango concert. It seems like Kamaka and Koaloha get great reviews on the UU.
 
I went from a Kala concert to a couple of Mainland sopranos and a couple of vintage Martin sopranos. There are a few other things as well. I have a lot of ukes now, lol.
 
i started on a lanikai pinapple soprano, then a mahogany mele pineapple. i wanted to plug in, so i scored a lanikai ck-teq. then i saw eddie vedders telecaster looking one, said "i gotta have that", so scored an earnest intruments tululele concert in daphne blue (coolest thing i ever got). now i got a hardbody risa tenor sunburst cherry on the way. btw, my name is john and i am an addict. God bless my wife for putting up with me.
 
I'm currently upgraded to a Mainland and a Fluke, but now eyeing a Kamaka with interest
 
Excellent choice! My upgrade was a Kamaka soprano, followed shortly thereafter by a Kamaka concert, which has turned out to be my "perfect" uke.

I didn't even wait until I "got better" - I think having a really good quality instrument will make you better, in and of itself. You'll probably find you love playing it so much that you'll practice more :)
 
My first expensive uke was a Kanile'a. I also have a KoAloha, but the love of my life is my Kamaka tenor. It is my most prized possession, without a doubt.
 
Kamaka....my most favorite uke of the bunch!!!!! My most recent uke is a Kanile'a 6 string tenor.
 
I'm playing an un-setup Oscar Schmidt OU-5 Concert (koa laminate) and have just purchased a Kala Solid Acacia Concert from MGM.
 
aNueNue to Koaloha, love 'em both, but the Koaloha is definitely a big step up.
 
Soprano: Flea to a Kiwaya KTS-4 (kept the Flea for travel, camping, etc.)
 
I went from an Hawaiian Ukulele concert to a KoAloha concert. This fall I upgraded to a Moore Bettah super-concert. I'm done shopping for ukuleles.
 
I went from a Makala dolphin up to a Mainland mango concert. It seems like Kamaka and Koaloha get great reviews on the UU.


I went from Lanakai LU-21 soprano to a Mainland mango concert. Then I gave my Lanakai away so I could get a new soprano - Ohana SK35-G - seems a lot different than my old Lanakai, but maybe because I have been playing my Mainland exclusively for a couple weeks now
 
Lanikai LU-21C concert to KoAloha concert
Lanikai 8-string AE tenor to Mainland mango tenor

I guess technically the KoAloha concert was the "bigger" upgrade - but in terms of tone and playability over its predecessor the Mainland was the better upgrade. To be 100% clear - I'm not saying the Mainland is better than the KoAloha (though the action was a tad lower) - I'm saying that the Mainland mango was a bigger incremental change in tone and volume over the Lanikai 8-string AE than the KoAloha was over the LU-21C (I think I probably lucked into one of the better LU-21C ukes although I did have to do a setup on it).

I should really have liked the 8-string as it had the best setup I've seen on a "factory" uke - but it was very soft on volume and I was anything but thrilled with the unplugged tone (amplified it was great). Anyway, I disliked it enough that I couldn't bring myself to stick someone else with it via the marketplace here - and I had a friend who fell in love with it - so I gave it to him.

John
 
I went from an Hawaiian Ukulele concert to a KoAloha concert. This fall I upgraded to a Moore Bettah super-concert. I'm done shopping for ukuleles.

I think if I can find the right super soprano (concert, not tenor, scale) I'll be done buying ukes for a while, too. Well, maybe not. I'm seriously considering abandoning acoustic guitar, or at least steel strings, in which case I'll need a good baritone uke.
 
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