Kala Acacia vs. Lacewood?? (A step before Kamaka)

I was thinking of just going straight to Kamaka HF-3 for my uke, but decided to wait for Kamaka and choose another ukulele. I'm now down to Kala Acacia or Lacewood. Any suggestion?

I am planning to stick with this uke for a while until I can get a custom Kamaka

m2jang said:

I was thinking of just going straight to Kamaka HF-3 for my uke, but decided to wait for Kamaka and choose another ukulele. I'm now down to Kala Acacia or Lacewood. Any suggestion?

I am planning to stick with this uke for a while until I can get a custom Kamaka

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Are you connected at Kamaka?

Their custom list has been closed for a couple of years. The will do semi customs, but even those don't deviate too much from the norm. They will upgrade the koa but that's just about it. Other than that, they are built as off the assembly line ukes.

I've played the Kala solid acacia several times at a local music store and I've never been impressed with it. They try to pass it off as a "cousin" to koa. They are related, but let me tell you, the sound of acacia doesn't even come close to koa.

As far as the lacewood goes, I've looked for it to see what it's about, because a solid spruce top is always a winner with me. But there's only one place I can find it available. You better jump on it, because it must have been discontinued or something. Here's a link below:

http://www.amazon.com/Kala-KA-ASLAC-Lacewood-Concert-Ukulele/dp/B003EVH5M8

I love my Kala Acacia Tenor. of course, I love it with worth or south coast strings. Hated the aquilas. Plus I changed out the saddle and nut to TUSQ, did the set up to achieve as nearly intonated as a uke can get. After about 2 years it really opened up and sings now with a sweet sweet tone! I recommend it, and they are much cheaper, even after all that work, than a kamaka. I don't know about the lacewood, but I also love my Cedar Acacia Kala. Very very surprised how wonderful it is to play!

I have a Kala solid acacia tenor strung dGBE with Worth CB, and I absolutely love it. I also have a Kala concert spruce/lacewood concert, which is okay but not on par with the tenor. Of course, I imagine the dGBE/Worth tuning has a lot to do with that. Or maybe it's just me.

consitter said:

I've played the Kala solid acacia several times at a local music store and I've never been impressed with it. They try to pass it off as a "cousin" to koa. They are related, but let me tell you, the sound of acacia doesn't even come close to koa.

As far as the lacewood goes, I've looked for it to see what it's about, because a solid spruce top is always a winner with me. But there's only one place I can find it available. You better jump on it, because it must have been discontinued or something. Here's a link below:

http://www.amazon.com/Kala-KA-ASLAC-Lacewood-Concert-Ukulele/dp/B003EVH5M8

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Actually, I think MIM has a couple in stock. Its just a soprano size though.

I owned a Kala solid acacia, albeit not a tenor, and I was pretty underwhelmed with it. It was very overbuilt, action was high at both nut and saddle, and it didn't intonate very well. It took a fair amount of work to get it playable, and then it still was nothing spectacular.

Honestly, if you have an even halfway decent uke to play now I'd just save your money and it will be that much quicker that you'll be able to afford that Kamaka. If you do get the Kala make sure you get it from someone who will check and adjust the setup as needed.

John

m2jang said:

I was thinking of just going straight to Kamaka HF-3 for my uke, but decided to wait for Kamaka and choose another ukulele. I'm now down to Kala Acacia or Lacewood. Any suggestion?

I am planning to stick with this uke for a while until I can get a custom Kamaka

Click to expand...

Kala has discontinued the spruce lacewood model. For 2014 a spruce / ovangkol will be coming. They make a cedar/acacia model with slot head thats proved to be very popular.

flyingace said:

I love my Kala Acacia Tenor. of course, I love it with worth or south coast strings. Hated the aquilas. Plus I changed out the saddle and nut to TUSQ, did the set up to achieve as nearly intonated as a uke can get. After about 2 years it really opened up and sings now with a sweet sweet tone! I recommend it, and they are much cheaper, even after all that work, than a kamaka. I don't know about the lacewood, but I also love my Cedar Acacia Kala. Very very surprised how wonderful it is to play!

Click to expand...

The aquilas factored in on why I didn't care for it. BUT, I wasn't willing to invest the moolah to see if a change of strings would make a difference.

Hi,
I have a few Kala's, my favourite is my Kala ASAC-S, Solid Acacia Soprano. I replaced the Aquilla strings with Orcas, black flirt (made in Japan). The Uke is now 18 months old and it is playing better every day. Every body I play with want's it. The intonation is spot on, the frets and neck are well finished, no smell or excess glue. I originally had it on order for 6months and only 6came to Australia. You could also look at the Leho LHT-SMF-CE-TB.Splated Maple Thin Body. Exceptional quality for the price, beautiful looking and spectacular sound. My cousin reckons it's better than his vintage Martin. Good luck with you shopping, it's very easy to catch UAS. Ukulele Acquired Symptom. Get back to me if I can be of any further help. Bruce