Is Aldrine carrying his Kanile'a in it? I wonder how a Tenor Kamaka will fit? The only thing that concerns me right now (and I haven't seen one in person, so who knows), is it only having 2 latches, and little or no storage space. I like having room for my humidifier, extra strings and my Peterson StroboClip tuner.
Yep, he had his Kanile'a in it. I saw him at a show a couple of weeks ago and he let me look at the case. I emailed Sam about whether a Kamaka tenor will fit in it and he told me it would fit like it was made for it. So no worries there.
I have to tell you though...there is no way you are going to fit anything inside it. You can't even fit a tuner inside the "storage" part. So now way will you fit extra strings. A humidifer maybe, depending on how big it is. But it isn't a dealbreaker for me since I take a backpack to my music lessons that has plenty of room for that stuff. And I always carry a purse where that would fit as well. You could fit it under the headstock maybe though -- at least the strings for sure. When I saw Aldrine's case, his Kanile'a was backstage so it was empty, so I'm not sure with the uke in there how much room is under the headstock. I know I have one of the Kamaka cases and those had very little storage, and so I used to put strings under the headstock.
I already planned out an option, but don't know if it will work. I bought some pillowcases that came in a little velcro bag. I put my essential uke tools (tuner, extra strings, winder, nail clippers, file, etc.) in that bag and it fits under the headstock in my Kamaka case. I'm hoping it will do the same in this one.
I know it seems like a ton of drawbacks, and don't get me wrong, this case is not perfect. But it is gorgeous, and lightweight, and sturdy. So it is lighter and prettier than my Ameritage, and sturdier than my Kamaka case.
I plan on doing a thorough trial of it when I am in Kauai on 3/3 and if I buy it (probably will) I'll do an extensive review when I get home. I'll be sure to photograph and detail storage capacity and other issues. I'll also test both my Kamaka and Kanilea tenors in it to see how they fit. Even though I plan on only using it on my Kamaka, that should help anyone curious about a Kanile'a fit.
I will also photograph it closed so people can see the gap (if there is one) resulting from only having two latches on it.
Sigh. I'm way too obsessed with this case. I just want March 3rd to get here so I can try my uke out in it in person.