Anyone compare a Kamaka & Mya Moe?

PedalFreak

PedalFreak

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I'm thinking of having a spruce top, Koa back/sides Mya Moe built. The problem is like most I've never even been in the same room with one. So I've got to buy a custom uke that I can't play.

So anyone here play a koa Mya Moe and a Kamaka tenor? Wondering about the sound differences & feel?

Any help would be appreciated :)
 
Being landlocked in Illinois is hard for the ukulele shopper.

Before I ordered my Mya-Moe, I asked Char and Gordon if they had any instruments in my area. Turned out a guy I knew had two!! So, I got to try them out. I suggest you do the same thing. You may find one or two near you.

As for comparison, there almost isn't any. A good friend of mine is a Kamaka dealer right here in town, and I've played lots of them. They are very good instruments. But, remember the ones Jake Shimabukuro and Kalei Gameao play aren't like the one you have. The Mya-Moe is all hand made and is everything you could expect from such. A very full sound with a wide range of abilities. You can play it hard, or very gently and it will give you what you need. I use it for accompanying and for instrumental solo. It does a great job with jazz, baroque (Bach), Romantic (Liszt), Rock, ballads,.... It gives you crisp clear sound when you need, and melodic lines, but never loses its' robust timbre no matter how quietly you play it. And it will give you lots of sound when you ask it to. The intonation is the best I've experienced. The care taken in every detail from looks to playability is unmatched.

The other thing you get with the personal attention to the construction is the personal attention to your specific needs and wants. The Mya-Moe is truly an extension of its owner.

I'm in Oak Park, just west of Chicago. If you want to come play mine, although it's mango not koa, send me a PM and I'll give you my contact info. You can bring your Kamaka over and play them side by side. We could visit my friend's Kamaka dealership and try the new ones out, too. It would probably be worth the trip. I could even call my buddy from the club. I bet he'd bring his Mya-Moes over. I think one is koa. We'll have a ball!!!
 
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Tough to answer since Mya Moes are pretty much made from every wood imaginable while all non-custom Kamakas are all koa.

I can tell you that the body sizes are drastically different with the Kamaka being much larger. Between my cedar/koa MM versus my Kamaka, I'll go with the MM. Your mileage may vary...
 
Can't help you on the spruce top either, as my "on its way soon" Mya-Moe is an all Myrtle Pineapple, but... would like the opportunity to meet a couple of "locals" - since I'm working in the Schaumburg area every week for the next couple of months. Can't help you on the quest for that Koa/Spruce sound, but still sounds like you could probably play several Mya-Moe's in the mix & drop by whereever the Kamaka dealer is as well??

PM me for contact details if you'd like anytime.
 
I got both of them in koa..two different animals....I could tell you it on here..but I may just not want to divulge it
Not up for public discussion if I need to pick them apart..let me say, they both have positives and negatives...
 
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Have not had the pleasure of a Mya-Moe, but just the stock H3 Tenor of the Kamaka sounded so good to me. I am glad to hear such good things about the Mya-Moe and I hope to experience one for myself. Mike
 
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Ronnie Aloha said:
Tough to answer since Mya Moes are pretty much made from every wood imaginable while all non-custom Kamakas are all koa.

I can tell you that the body sizes are drastically different with the Kamaka being much larger. Between my cedar/koa MM versus my Kamaka, I'll go with the MM. Your mileage may vary...
Click to expand...
So even with the Kamaka being larger, does the MM project and have a deep sound as well. They sound great on the videos I've seen!
 
stevepetergal said:
Being landlocked in Illinois is hard for the ukulele shopper.

Before I ordered my Mya-Moe, I asked Char and Gordon if they had any instruments in my area. Turned out a guy I knew had two!! So, I got to try them out. I suggest you do the same thing. You may find one or two near you.

As for comparison, there almost isn't any. A good friend of mine is a Kamaka dealer right here in town, and I've played lots of them. They are very good instruments. But, remember the ones Jake Shimabukuro and Kalei Gameao play aren't like the one you have. The Mya-Moe is all hand made and is everything you could expect from such. A very full sound with a wide range of abilities. You can play it hard, or very gently and it will give you what you need. I use it for accompanying and for instrumental solo. It does a great job with jazz, baroque (Bach), Romantic (Liszt), Rock, ballads,.... It gives you crisp clear sound when you need, and melodic lines, but never loses its' robust timbre no matter how quietly you play it. And it will give you lots of sound when you ask it to. The intonation is the best I've experienced. The care taken in every detail from looks to playability is unmatched.

The other thing you get with the personal attention to the construction is the personal attention to your specific needs and wants. The Mya-Moe is truly an extension of its owner.

I'm in Oak Park, just west of Chicago. If you want to come play mine, although it's mango not koa, send me a PM and I'll give you my contact info. You can bring your Kamaka over and play them side by side. We could visit my friend's Kamaka dealership and try the new ones out, too. It would probably be worth the trip. I could even call my buddy from the club. I bet he'd bring his Mya-Moes over. I think one is koa. We'll have a ball!!!
Click to expand...

You make it sound like Kamakas aren't hand made. They use the same jigs, molds, bending equipment and jigs as the rest of us do. If you've ever had a "factory" tour, you'd be surprised at how old school they are. But they are built by hand, in an assembly line process, just as the rest of the builders I'm familiar with do. They are not like Taylor or Martin with their fancy hands-off robotics.
 
Ronnie Aloha said:
Tough to answer since Mya Moes are pretty much made from every wood imaginable while all non-custom Kamakas are all koa.Between my cedar/koa MM versus my Kamaka, I'll go with the MM. Your mileage may vary...
Click to expand...

Cedar will usually win out in the projection department any day over koa. But then again, if it's not all koa, it's not a real ukelele anyway is it?

OK, No soup for you!
 
Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:
You make it sound like Kamakas aren't hand made. They use the same jigs, molds, bending equipment and jigs as the rest of us do. If you've ever had a "factory" tour, you'd be surprised at how old school they are. But they are built by hand, in an assembly line process, just as the rest of the builders I'm familiar with do. They are not like Taylor or Martin with their fancy hands-off robotics.
Click to expand...

This is a good reminder for us all. It's not some big huge faceless factory with slave labor and robotics that are building the Hawaiian factory ukes. It's all hands-on. People have to know what they're doing. Yes, there is machining, but it's the kind that you'd want to have. This girl on facebook was having a go at a fellow uke-player, spouting stuff like that they were made with unskilled labor, they don't know what they're doing, and so on. She learned it not through her own homework, but from someone interested in selling her something.

This is NOT an argument as to which is better. Certainly the advantages of something built by one luthier should be apparent to us all. However, to make that next leap that the Hawaiian factory ukes are just facelessly processed products, isn't correct.

My husband collects pipes, and you see the same arguments on their forums, about what factory made really means. Like with us, you're dealing with wood, which means that someone has to step in and know what they're doing.
 
my own experience in simple terms...

mya moe: lighter and brighter, better note separation

kamaka: fuller and warmer, but a tad muddier

that said, both wonderful instruments in my view. just 2c
 
I did a tenor comparison video awhile back with a Mya Moe, MP, Kanile'a, and Kamaka. It wasn't a perfect video as all four ukes were made of different woods and they all had different strings.

Mya Moe - all myrtle, strung with Worth Clears
MP - spruce top, koa back & sides, strung with D'Addario T2s
Kanile'a - all maple, strung with Aquilas
Kamaka - all koa, strung with D'Addario J71s



Out of these 4, I kept the MP and sold off the rest. I then regretted selling the Kamaka and bought another.
 
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Nuprin said:
I did a tenor comparison video awhile back with a Mya Moe, MP, Kanile'a, and Kamaka. It wasn't a perfect video as all three ukes were made of different woods and they all had different strings.

Mya Moe - all myrtle, strung with Worth Clears
MP - spruce top, koa back & sides, strung with D'Addario T2s
Kanile'a - all maple, strung with Aquilas
Kamaka - all koa, strung with D'Addario J71s



Out of these 4, I kept the MP and sold off the rest. I then regretted selling the Kamaka and bought another.
Click to expand...


Nuprin,
this is one of my favorite uke vids. It played a large part in my purchase of my a mm myrtle. What is the song and are there tabs?

Thanks!
 
I've played them all and owned most, including a Compass Rose and Collings. I would go for a Satin Kanilea. They just cannot be beat, IMO

Concert size, goes to KoAloha
 
Nuprin said:
I did a tenor comparison video awhile back with a Mya Moe, MP, Kanile'a, and Kamaka. It wasn't a perfect video as all three ukes were made of different woods and they all had different strings.

Mya Moe - all myrtle, strung with Worth Clears
MP - spruce top, koa back & sides, strung with D'Addario T2s
Kanile'a - all maple, strung with Aquilas
Kamaka - all koa, strung with D'Addario J71s



Out of these 4, I kept the MP and sold off the rest. I then regretted selling the Kamaka and bought another.
Click to expand...


First of all, great playing! Great version of this song. Wonderful! Based on this video, given the different woods, I am partial to the sound of the Kamaka. It just seems to have the most depth, although it is probably a product of the woods - I obviously like the sound of koa. It sounds like it sounded when I played one - full bodied, rich, and kind of boxy, although I don;t know how to define that other than I can hear the box of the ukulele - I can hear the wood. Given that, they all sound great and I'd be pleased with any of them - it's all a matter of what sounds good to our ears and what we want to sound like.
 
Gotta say from Nuprin's video that the Mya-moe and the Kamaka both sounded best to me.
Either would be a great instrument. If you wanted a custom choice, the Mya-moe would be the logical choice.
I've had a Mya-moe supersoprano & had a Kamaka soprano. I still have the Mya-moe.

Nuprin, I really like your comparison videos. Your playing is great. Thank you.

Jon you said it well....

eugene ukulele said:
my own experience in simple terms...

mya moe: lighter and brighter, better note separation

kamaka: fuller and warmer, but a tad muddier

that said, both wonderful instruments in my view. just 2c
Click to expand...
 
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Partial to Kamakas and loved the sound of this one. Played a MM at NC Ukulele Academy awhile ago and it sounded great. Brought my Anakoneke koa concert in to NC Academy this week. Kent played it and really liked it!
I asked him to describe the sound compared to a Kamaka. He just said that they were very different. It is difficult to describe sound differences. That's why video comparisons are so nice and Nuprin's was especially good.
 
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Thanks to Nuprin for that video. This is probably a hard question, but I wonder how much of the sound differences are due to the woods vs construction.

More videos/sound clips comparing non-off-the-rack ukuleles (MM, MP, Moore Bettah, Donaldson, DaSilva, etc.) would be awesome.
 
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