I visited Ukulele Source in San Jose today - Smiley was as friendly and gracious as everyone has ever said. I was invited to play anything in the store.
I spent most of my time with Concert size, mostly because I have 3 tenor size already. Prior to today, I'd only played one K-brand - Gillian's Kamaka 6-string tenor, which I really do love.
Today, I tried Kamaka, Ko'Aloha, Kanilea, Nalu, and low-end Ohana, as well as a Mainland and an AveNue (sp?) banjo uke.
The two nbanjo ukes are very nice, but I'd forgotten how loud a resonator uke is - I'll stick with my Firefly.
Didn't like the sound of the Nalus- they just sounded dead.
The Kanileas didn't really do anything for me, other than the two super concert models. Very nice sound, but no real improvement of my Kala.
I liked the sound of the Kamaka HF2, but hate the tuners. (Smiley said he doesn't like them either.) The Ko'Alohas were overall the best - the concert acoustic was nice, but the one with the MiSi had a significantly better sound - my wife even commented on it.
The best of the instruments I played were the Pineapple Sunday and the Sceptre. Loved them both, but...
The Sceptre took my breath away. Tone, resonance, feel... It was just tremendous. My wife agreed, sitting and listening.
It is also more than twice what I have saved for a new instrument.
So, no New Uke Day today. Maybe soon.
-Kurt
I spent most of my time with Concert size, mostly because I have 3 tenor size already. Prior to today, I'd only played one K-brand - Gillian's Kamaka 6-string tenor, which I really do love.
Today, I tried Kamaka, Ko'Aloha, Kanilea, Nalu, and low-end Ohana, as well as a Mainland and an AveNue (sp?) banjo uke.
The two nbanjo ukes are very nice, but I'd forgotten how loud a resonator uke is - I'll stick with my Firefly.
Didn't like the sound of the Nalus- they just sounded dead.
The Kanileas didn't really do anything for me, other than the two super concert models. Very nice sound, but no real improvement of my Kala.
I liked the sound of the Kamaka HF2, but hate the tuners. (Smiley said he doesn't like them either.) The Ko'Alohas were overall the best - the concert acoustic was nice, but the one with the MiSi had a significantly better sound - my wife even commented on it.
The best of the instruments I played were the Pineapple Sunday and the Sceptre. Loved them both, but...
The Sceptre took my breath away. Tone, resonance, feel... It was just tremendous. My wife agreed, sitting and listening.
It is also more than twice what I have saved for a new instrument.
So, no New Uke Day today. Maybe soon.
-Kurt