Big Island brand ukes?

mthurman52

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 19, 2011
Messages
85
Reaction score
0
Location
Nashville, TN
Hey there! I am buying a uke from ukerepublic.com and the one I am breathing heavily over is the Big Island concert uke. Here is the link to the model I am looking at: http://cargo.ukerepublic.com/product/big-island-deluxe-mahogany-concert

If you have have played/owned any of Big Island's ukes or this model please tell me what you think about them! thanks!
 
I briefly owned a Big Island uke. I didn't care for the neck profile and the sound was weak. That being said, that is a good price.
 
I own a Big Island Honu and although I would never regret buying any uke, it is without a doubt my least favorite uke. The main issue is; to me the ukulele sounds quite dead. It is very pretty but unfortunately that is where my love for the uke ends.

If I were you I would seriously consider something else.

Kind regards
Snorky
 
I have a Big Island honu traditional solid koa tenor. Although it's been replaced as my main ukulele by a Kamaka, I like it a lot. It's louder than my Kala solid acacia tenor and I found the neck to be very comfortable (of course stuff like that is personal preference). I don't know what Big Island's mahogany ukes are like, but my koa uke is a good instrument. If you have doubts, maybe you could ask Mike at Uke Republic to post a sound sample on YouTube or something.
 
I have the tenor cutaway. I've been told mine sounds great. Bought it from Uke Republic and he is great.
 
I own the Concert Mahagony deluxe Big Island, I like it as it is my first real Ukulele, ( I have the owned the Kala Pineapple.) I don't have big bucks to spend and I wanted something a little different from Kala which is all we have around here in Calgary. It isn't really loud but loud enough for me right now. I find it a sweet sound, I personally like the sound more than the Acacia Kala which I briefly owned. So it goes down to how much money ya wanna spend and what Sound are you looking for.
 
I have played a deluxe Koa Big Island Honu concert ukulele and was impressed. Then again it was a higher end model.

John
 
I have the Rope Honu and besides being one of the nicest looking ukes around, it plays pretty dxmn good too. I think they need to open up a little and Aquila's aren't good on them. I have Alohi's. Sounds very sweet with amazing sustain. That being said, I may sell it because I am a fool...
 
I've played with RZR's Big Island a little and it was one of the most beautiful-sounding ukes I've heard.
 
I've had mine (a koa traditional concert with worths, though I might switch them out for Martins on the next string change) for more than a year and it's still my primary ukulele. It really just takes a bit of time for it to open up - like most ukuleles, really - and it sounds great. It's pretty loud too, though not as loud as a Koaloha.

I actually prefer the narrower neck myself. (small hands)

ETA: Also, Jake played on it...which means I will never sell it. Heh.
 
Last edited:
I have a Koa Concert model (KT-CTS) and absolutely LOVE it. It was half the price of the Kamaka and although it's not as nice, it's awesome for the price. The quality from the shop in Vietnam is very good in my opinion. I had mine professionally setup and it's a dream to play. That being said, I've never played any of the Mahogany models.
 
Top Bottom