Tigeralum2001
Well-known member
I was off today, so I made down to Ukulele Source. It is a nice ukulele shop. Smiley is a great guy and let me play anything in the store. I am not intending on starting a flame war. An article like this would have helped me before today, so it is in that spirit I write this.
For the first time in my ukulele life, there in front of me were many different KoAloha, Kamaka, and Kanile'a models. I have never been in a store that was focused on ukuleles. I have only played the mass produced models in guitar stores. I bought my Pineapple Sunday online (then traded Pineapple Sundays with our own WickedWahine), and my Sceptre was purchased directly from KoAloha. I bought both solely on their looks (though they do sound great). My Martin was purchased at a guitar show.
Anyhow, I found the differences between these three brands to be very distinctive. I was surprised how different they were, because so many people have talked about the subtle differences between them all.
I was very disappointed with the Kamakas. I played 3 different models, including a pineapple. They all looked decent (not cheap), but not as nice wood as the KoAlohas or Kanile'as. The sound was good, but not great. As this was my first encounter with a Kamaka, I guess I expected too much. Don't get me wrong; they were good but not great. With price points being the same, they were 3rd.
I also played 4 KoAlohas. They all had great projection. The soprano was nice and barky, while the tenor was more mellow. Even though I own 2 KoAlohas, I had never played a "normal" one. They sounded a lot different than the Signature series ukes.
The surprise of the day was Kanile'a. Every one of the models on display were gorgeous. I played 3 of them. My favorite was a koa tenor that had so much curl that it looked 3 dimensional. The sound was also much different than the other 2 Ks. There was a ton of sustain and the tones all blended nicely. To top it all of, the neck played like butter. Even the frets, something I usually don't notice, were wonderful. I played a few chords that I slid and it felt "normal" on the other 2 brands, but on the Kanile'a it felt great and I seemed to have more control and precision over doing that than normal. I was totally blown away. The finish on the Kanile'as is high gloss UV coating. It might turn some people off, but I liked it.
I think I have a new favorite brand. To be fair, there are other high end makers that I have not played yet, so I may change my opinion.
The question I anticipate is "did you buy the Kanile'a?" No... Maybe I should have. However, I am "thisclose" to having enough to buy a Moore Bettah, and I didn't want to steal from that fund. (Getting on the waiting list may prove to be impossible, but at least I will approach him with the money it takes to buy one.)
These are my opinions, based on what I played today. I also was turned on to PhD Strings by Ukulele Creations. I bought some and will post about them once I have experienced them for a while. I also played 3 different Guitarleles. I'm not sure anyone is interested in my thoughts on those, but if so let me know. In summary all of these brands are great ukuleles that anyone would love to own, but if I had about 1K to spend and could pick just one non-special series from these, it would be Kanile'a.
For the first time in my ukulele life, there in front of me were many different KoAloha, Kamaka, and Kanile'a models. I have never been in a store that was focused on ukuleles. I have only played the mass produced models in guitar stores. I bought my Pineapple Sunday online (then traded Pineapple Sundays with our own WickedWahine), and my Sceptre was purchased directly from KoAloha. I bought both solely on their looks (though they do sound great). My Martin was purchased at a guitar show.
Anyhow, I found the differences between these three brands to be very distinctive. I was surprised how different they were, because so many people have talked about the subtle differences between them all.
I was very disappointed with the Kamakas. I played 3 different models, including a pineapple. They all looked decent (not cheap), but not as nice wood as the KoAlohas or Kanile'as. The sound was good, but not great. As this was my first encounter with a Kamaka, I guess I expected too much. Don't get me wrong; they were good but not great. With price points being the same, they were 3rd.
I also played 4 KoAlohas. They all had great projection. The soprano was nice and barky, while the tenor was more mellow. Even though I own 2 KoAlohas, I had never played a "normal" one. They sounded a lot different than the Signature series ukes.
The surprise of the day was Kanile'a. Every one of the models on display were gorgeous. I played 3 of them. My favorite was a koa tenor that had so much curl that it looked 3 dimensional. The sound was also much different than the other 2 Ks. There was a ton of sustain and the tones all blended nicely. To top it all of, the neck played like butter. Even the frets, something I usually don't notice, were wonderful. I played a few chords that I slid and it felt "normal" on the other 2 brands, but on the Kanile'a it felt great and I seemed to have more control and precision over doing that than normal. I was totally blown away. The finish on the Kanile'as is high gloss UV coating. It might turn some people off, but I liked it.
I think I have a new favorite brand. To be fair, there are other high end makers that I have not played yet, so I may change my opinion.
The question I anticipate is "did you buy the Kanile'a?" No... Maybe I should have. However, I am "thisclose" to having enough to buy a Moore Bettah, and I didn't want to steal from that fund. (Getting on the waiting list may prove to be impossible, but at least I will approach him with the money it takes to buy one.)
These are my opinions, based on what I played today. I also was turned on to PhD Strings by Ukulele Creations. I bought some and will post about them once I have experienced them for a while. I also played 3 different Guitarleles. I'm not sure anyone is interested in my thoughts on those, but if so let me know. In summary all of these brands are great ukuleles that anyone would love to own, but if I had about 1K to spend and could pick just one non-special series from these, it would be Kanile'a.