LoMa
Well-known member
Yep, there was a clear winner amongst all thses ukes - I played Mahalo electric/acoustic les paul and tele style ukes, a K-wave tele style concert uke, a Hamano mahogany concert, an Ohana spruce and flamed mahog soprano, an Ohana cedar and flamed mahog soprano, an Ohana cedar and rosewood concert, a Kala cedar and rosewood concert, a Makai all solid maple soprano, a new Martin 5K, a Martin model 3, a flea, and a fluke. I also tried out 2 Compass Rose tenors, a Kiwaya tenor, an Ohana tenor, and a Martin tenor guitar tune to dGBE made of formica (they call it HPL plastic - but it looks and feels just like formica), and a no-name baritone uke.
r
Didn't like any of the tenors or the bari uke. The formica tenor guitar was almost cool, but not quite cool enough. The Compass Rose's were very disappointing.
And well the Martin's - couldn't really hear why they were priced between $1650 and $5000. They were nice enough, but not that nice.
Didn't dig the Kala - it had playability issues, primarily poor intonation and fretboard roll-off when playing the A string.
The Hamano had no dynamics - there was no change in volume when playing softly or hard. It was quiet and quite dead sounding. No sustain. No punch either.
The Mahalo's were surprisingly good. There were a half dozen at the store and I tried them all. The intonation ranges from excellent to appalling! The action was fine on all of them and they had great playability. Surprisingly full tone and great dynamics when played acoustially. But wow, what a bummer when play electric... Not much sustain.
The K-wave tele was a much better amp'd than the Mahalo's. Inotnation was good. Good dynamics played acoustically. Slightly less full sounding than the Mahalo's played acoustically. But it lacked the sustain I wanted.
The Ohana's all had great playability, good to great dynamics, and good to great sustain. Factory strung with Aquila's. Pretty ringing tone with good overtones. Very resonant and responsive. Good to excellent intonation. Real pretty to look at and very nice workmanship - better than some customs I've seen and played! All in all, I liked the spruce and flamed mahog soprano the best - it had the most sustain, the phattest tone, and spot-on intonation. The tonal palette is somewhat limited, but I like the range I can get out of it. Defintely on the bright end of the tonal spectrum, as were all of the Ohana's I tried. Anyway, I liked it so much I bought it for a great out-the-door price - $200 with a very nice locking hardshell case. It's my new beater for the office...
I know there can be some variability with these cheap Chinese ukes, so it was nice to be able to try out so many of them!!!! All in all, I'd say the Ohana's have pretty good consistency, and the outstanding specimens really are outstanding! I like my little Ohana better than the $5000 Martin for dynamics, rich overtones, and note separation. Weird...
Just a note: Mike DaSilva (ukemaker.com) is the Ohana Distributer for my local music stores - maybe that's why all the Ohana's were awfully good instruments! I don;t know, but maybe he sends back the bummers and doesn't distribute them to the music stores? Or Ohana has surprisingly good quality control? Like I said, I dunno...
r
Didn't like any of the tenors or the bari uke. The formica tenor guitar was almost cool, but not quite cool enough. The Compass Rose's were very disappointing.
And well the Martin's - couldn't really hear why they were priced between $1650 and $5000. They were nice enough, but not that nice.
Didn't dig the Kala - it had playability issues, primarily poor intonation and fretboard roll-off when playing the A string.
The Hamano had no dynamics - there was no change in volume when playing softly or hard. It was quiet and quite dead sounding. No sustain. No punch either.
The Mahalo's were surprisingly good. There were a half dozen at the store and I tried them all. The intonation ranges from excellent to appalling! The action was fine on all of them and they had great playability. Surprisingly full tone and great dynamics when played acoustially. But wow, what a bummer when play electric... Not much sustain.
The K-wave tele was a much better amp'd than the Mahalo's. Inotnation was good. Good dynamics played acoustically. Slightly less full sounding than the Mahalo's played acoustically. But it lacked the sustain I wanted.
The Ohana's all had great playability, good to great dynamics, and good to great sustain. Factory strung with Aquila's. Pretty ringing tone with good overtones. Very resonant and responsive. Good to excellent intonation. Real pretty to look at and very nice workmanship - better than some customs I've seen and played! All in all, I liked the spruce and flamed mahog soprano the best - it had the most sustain, the phattest tone, and spot-on intonation. The tonal palette is somewhat limited, but I like the range I can get out of it. Defintely on the bright end of the tonal spectrum, as were all of the Ohana's I tried. Anyway, I liked it so much I bought it for a great out-the-door price - $200 with a very nice locking hardshell case. It's my new beater for the office...
I know there can be some variability with these cheap Chinese ukes, so it was nice to be able to try out so many of them!!!! All in all, I'd say the Ohana's have pretty good consistency, and the outstanding specimens really are outstanding! I like my little Ohana better than the $5000 Martin for dynamics, rich overtones, and note separation. Weird...
Just a note: Mike DaSilva (ukemaker.com) is the Ohana Distributer for my local music stores - maybe that's why all the Ohana's were awfully good instruments! I don;t know, but maybe he sends back the bummers and doesn't distribute them to the music stores? Or Ohana has surprisingly good quality control? Like I said, I dunno...
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