I personally wouldn't care if KoAloha put giant lumbering pink tuners with unicorn symbols etched into them on their ukes because at the end of the day they sound incredible. I've spent an absolute ridiculous amount of money on ukuleles the past two years, and the only thing I'm totally certain about is that I love everything about KoAloha. I will probably only buy KoAloha ukes in the future.
I've had the opportunity to play some customs, and an assorment of factory instruments over the course of this uking journey. With the exception of my Compass Rose, a single, meaty strum on the KoAlohas blew away full songs on the others I've had my hands on. I certainly do not have limitless funds to dispense on any more instruments, but having said that, I foresee more purchases in the future.
I've come to the realization that, for me, living where I live with pretty much no access to try out different ukes, it's just not worth the money anymore to either buy a factory instrument sight unseen, or even commission a custom, based on the mere fact that I just don't know what I'm gonna get in terms of quality/sound/playability. But I know what I'm gonna get with KoAloha: a instrument that sounds awesome, made by a fantastic group of people, with excellent customer service, and an insane lifetime warranty that no other manufacturer could even fathom matching.
So, anyway, that's what I've come to learn. I just don't see what all the fuss is about when KoAloha makes these minor changes. "The tuners are black! This is an outrage!" I suspect the people who complain about these changes never would have purchased a KoAloha anyway, and maybe haven't even ever tried one. But what the hell do I know? I know this much: if you've personally strummed a KoAloha and didn't think it sounded amazing, then I don't understand you at all. I wish I started out buying KoAlohas from the start. I would've saved myself A LOT of trouble and A LOT of money. Just my two cents...