Anyone own a Kala SMHT Tenor? Tell me about it.

Preacher

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I finally had the opportunity yesterday to check out a lot of different uke brands. I was at a store in Milwaukee that had many different kinds, including a couple of Mainlands and several I'd never heard of before.

Of all the ones I tried, the sound of the Kala solid mahogany tenor jumped out at me. It was deep and rich. I don't think it was as loud as some of the others, but the tone was really nice. It was wider than the other tenors on the top of the body (the top of the figure 8). Perhaps that accounts for its deeper sound. (Is this what people mean when they say "mellow?")

I came back home (to Central Wisconsin) and found out that my local music store had the same exact model! But this time, it didn't sound nearly as impressive.

So if you have a Kala SMHT, how does it sound compared to your other tenors? About the same tone or deeper? Where would you "rank" it among your ukes? I was pretty well set on getting a Mainland, but that Kala in Milwaukee really impressed me. But maybe they're not all like that one.
 
I've always been impressed with Kala. I'm not sure what they do differently to Lanikai and Ohana but I find myself going for Kala over the others.
 
I"ll check back on this thread; i'm planning to add an all hog Kala concert in the spring.
 
I have the cutaway/pickup version of this (SMHTE-C). Your description of the tone matches what I hear and what I love about it. I had a Mainland that I also liked very much (and had a better/stronger pickup), but I kept the Kala due to the tone (no complaints about the Mainland's tone, just different, more bright and "plinky" [in a non-disparaging sense!]).

As for the difference you heard between the two stores, I imagine there is some variation within any production model, or possibly there were different strings on each. The acoustics of the room and background noise (if any) may be other factors.
 
I have the same one seonachan has. It has a nice woody ring to it. About "average" volume. I bought it to be one of my "blues" ukes. It's light and I like the way it looks except the tortoise binding is much lighter in color than most of Kala's past models. I wanted the darker binding. I got it for a steal at a clearance sale and I wonder if that's why the binding is lighter ($159). I would seriously consider one of the Kala solid acacia slotheads over this one, but that's personal preference. Good luck.
 
When it comes to mahogany ukes, I haven't found the right Chinese uke yet. I own 4 mainland mahog concerts and they sound good, but not near as good as the red cedar mainlands that i have.

I currently only own a few Kalas. One happens to be a mahogany tenor and it does have a boomier sound and I contribute that to the wider body. I am not paticulary fond of the sound that I get from it. However my cedar top Kala sounds pretty sweet (I am starting to wonder if I prefer cedar as a tonewood?).

But my favorite uke in alaska is my Mele mahogany tenor (mind you, my nice ukes were left in storage in GA).

But the neat thing about instruments is that to each ear they sound different. It seems like you may have found a gem. Go get it. You may not find another one that sounds like that one that grabbed your ear.
 
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