bynapkinart
Well-known member
My Koa Pili Koko Deluxe Soprano got here this morning and I'm thrilled with it. Kind of taken aback by how nice it is for the money I bought it for (Jason is selling these for $180 these days). It has a really awesome voice, very similar to the KoAloha I used to have but a tad mellower. Sounds kind of like a cross between Kamaka and KoAloha.
This fact really surprises me because I paid over $500 for the KoAloha and Kamakas go for over $800. This thing is very close.
Couple of notes after playing it for a few hours:
The fretwork is unbelievable. This might be the nicest finished neck I've ever played in a ukulele. Jason clearly knows what he's doing, because it just feels like butter with no high frets and no sharp ends. I can't say enough about the finishing.
The nitro finish really shines and is very awesome to look at. Less modern and shiny looking than my Pono, it has a very cool vintage look and tone.
The rosewood saddle had a good sound to it, but I switched it out with a bone saddle I have within the first hour. I think wood saddles are great, and it had a nice mellow tone, but really think that ebony is just about as soft as you should go with a saddle to maximize sustain. The bone, predictably, sounds awesome.
The tuners are horrible. Switched those out first thing with friction tuners from Mike at Mainland...I only like sopranos with friction tuners. Problem is that the headstock is pretty narrow towards the top, so it'll take some finesse to tune the C and E strings without the tuners getting in the way of each other.
I'll take some pictures later, but for right now I'm just enjoying this very surprising "budget" soprano!
This fact really surprises me because I paid over $500 for the KoAloha and Kamakas go for over $800. This thing is very close.
Couple of notes after playing it for a few hours:
The fretwork is unbelievable. This might be the nicest finished neck I've ever played in a ukulele. Jason clearly knows what he's doing, because it just feels like butter with no high frets and no sharp ends. I can't say enough about the finishing.
The nitro finish really shines and is very awesome to look at. Less modern and shiny looking than my Pono, it has a very cool vintage look and tone.
The rosewood saddle had a good sound to it, but I switched it out with a bone saddle I have within the first hour. I think wood saddles are great, and it had a nice mellow tone, but really think that ebony is just about as soft as you should go with a saddle to maximize sustain. The bone, predictably, sounds awesome.
The tuners are horrible. Switched those out first thing with friction tuners from Mike at Mainland...I only like sopranos with friction tuners. Problem is that the headstock is pretty narrow towards the top, so it'll take some finesse to tune the C and E strings without the tuners getting in the way of each other.
I'll take some pictures later, but for right now I'm just enjoying this very surprising "budget" soprano!
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