NUD: Koaloha Pikake

I buy a lot of ukuleles.....

First impressions:
I've been spoiled by the Martin C1K my wife claimed. The second C1K was returned, but the one we kept at least equals the Koaloha in terms of volume and resonance. Nuprin demonstrated the two ukuleles in a video on this forum, and sold his Koaloha after buying the Martin. To be fair, the Koaloha has wimpy thin gauge strings, and the Martin has a set of Oasis. The Oasis certainly transformed the Martin, so I might consider changing the Koaloha's strings. I don't want to take any chances with it, but I'm not a dope when it comes to string changes. The Martin also has a deeper body, and that might contribute to its tone and volume.

The Koaloha has jumbo frets, and there is less room between frets than on the Martin. Barring the first fret is much cleaner on the Martin, but it's not very noticeable otherwise. This is a "factory special" and that's clearly stamped on the label. The reason given had to do with an area of incompletely filled pores here:


The pores are only noticeable if they light hits it at an angle, and I can't see it as I look over at the moment. The finish isn't nearly as matte as the Martin, and I'd call it semi-gloss. I certainly wouldn't want the neck any more glossy. The instrument was built in February 2014. The headstock design doesn't bother me at all, and I was fully expecting it would. Joel did an excellent set up, and it's as if he read my mind.






That is as far as the case opens, and it has slammed shut a couple of times. Fortunately, I don't trust cases to stay open....

Will be curious to hear your thoughts if/when you change strings. Based in my very limited experience, I think the Martin and KoAloha are two distinctly different sounds, but both very nice.

I documented here a recent experience with a KoAloha KCM-002 that I returned to seller due to a bubble in the rear seam. I have to say while I really love the jangley sound KoAloha's are known for, I have seen issues in three of five of the first production quality instruments I've personally held/played. Makes me wonder about their QC. To be fair, that KCM seam issue might have been due to improper care by owner but still, I don't think I'd buy another KoAloha unless I was highly confident in the customer service of the seller. And despite concerns about their QC, I'm pretty sure another KCM-02 or a soprano pineapple with extended neck that HMS sells will make it into my rotating Uke program at some point.

Hi Eddie,
I'm undecided about messing with the strings, but that could change at any second.

While discussing Cordoba ukes in the Beginner's forum, I noted that I bought one for my niece, and that it had a nicely cut nut slot. The Koaloha is one of those ukes that has a nut simply glued to the end of the fretboard:


Cordoba 15CM Nut Slot:


How difficult can it be to cut such a slot??? If I keep the Koaloha, it'll get a nut slot. That sort of thing drives me crazy.

P.S. I just remembered I have a set of Southcoast Light Medium strings. That's keeping it apples to oranges...LOL

Ukulele Eddie said:

I documented here a recent experience with a KoAloha KCM-002 that I returned to seller due to a bubble in the rear seam. I have to say while I really love the jangley sound KoAloha's are known for, I have seen issues in three of five of the first production quality instruments I've personally held/played. Makes me wonder about their QC. To be fair, that KCM seam issue might have been due to improper care by owner but still, I don't think I'd buy another KoAloha unless I was highly confident in the customer service of the seller.

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The top of my Koaloha is bookmatched, and has a strip to hold the seam together. That's not always the case, so it's nice to see in light of your experience. The back is bookmatched as well, and while it does not have a center strip, to does have a light color along the seam. It's absolutely uniform the entire length, but not reflected on the outside of the uke. The rest of the grain does match, so it's not a laminate. Is it possible that they rabbited out a center strip for the back?

*The pic of the center strip is at the top of the post.

Congratulations! I love my KoAlohas but you do have to be careful about going to heavier strings, unfortunately. Of course, most of them are pretty loud even with the light gage fluorocarbon strings.

John

Don't let it drive you too crazy, any uke I've seen that doesn't have a headstock lamination, doesn't have a nut slot cut into the neck. For that matter, no uke I've seen has a nut slot cut into the neck. The nut sits between the headstock lamination and the fretboard. You cut into that neck, you can kiss your "better than the weather warranty" goodbye.

a 1947 Martin. No headstock lamination, no nut slot

OldePhart said:

Congratulations! I love my KoAlohas but you do have to be careful about going to heavier strings, unfortunately. Of course, most of them are pretty loud even with the light gage fluorocarbon strings.

John

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I'm just seeing that now. The pic of the soundboard in front of the bridge is not what I like seeing on an instrument built two months ago:

That blank is machined straight, and was flipped just to make sure. It's only been here a couple of hours, so the humidity in Pennsylvania didn't do that. HMS did toss two Oasis humidifiers in the case, but the top is very thin.

Martin soundboard, to be fair:

Skinny Money McGee said:

Don't let it drive you too crazy, any uke I've seen that doesn't have a headstock lamination, doesn't have a nut slot cut into the neck. For that matter, no uke I've seen has a nut slot cut into the neck. The nut sits between the headstock lamination and the fretboard. You cut into that neck, you can kiss your "better than the weather warranty" goodbye.

a 1947 Martin. No headstock lamination, no nut slot

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Hey! Good point.... I don't think I ever had a guitar/uke without a headstock veneer.

EDIT: Here's an Ohana with a slot cut into the neck. That went back within the hour.....

I thought the pikake had a straight cut fretboard at the soundhole, rather than the scalloped version. Did that change?

FrankB said:

I'm just seeing that now. The pic of the soundboard in front of the bridge is not what I like seeing on an instrument built two months ago:

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Looks normal to me. My formica Martin OXK has a bigger dish then that. Dude, your driving yourself nuts !

Nevermind, I see on Koaloha's website that both sizes have the scalloped fretboard. So, the only difference is the finish? Is there really a noticeable difference in sound between the pikake and the standard models?

your pictures are upside down. makes it hard to see what you're talking about.

Are those gotoh tuners?

FrankB said:

EDIT: Here's an Ohana with a slot cut into the neck. That went back within the hour.....
View attachment 65804

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It's certainly cut into that big thick lamination. Was that a slotted headstock ohana?

Skinny Money McGee said:

Looks normal to me. My formica Martin OXK has a bigger dish then that. Dude, your driving yourself nuts !

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UAS, NUD, OCD, all the same to me....LOL! I've seen some really badly collapsed soundboards on ukes at the local GC, and that's one of the things I check for immediately on my classical guitars. Hopefully it doesn't get worse.

Okay, the wife is home, and the Koaloha is pulling ahead. It's definitely warmer, and has a more full tone when playing fingerstyle. I don't know how that changed, but it did.

The Ohana was not a slothead. It was nearly $500!

Edit: the tuners are Gotoh UPTs. They work well enough, and certainly better than friction tuners.

Spoke with Aaron at HMS. He said Worth CM, Oasis, or any medium tension string will work on the Koaloha. He also said not to worry about the dip in front of the bridge, and to just start playing. Actually, he said not to trust a woman or ukulele without a belly. I've played that thing so much, my left arm has gone numb.

Koaloha has a warmer sound than the Martin, while the Martin has more resonance and sustain. Whether the last two qualities are worth having I don't know. I do know that a classical guitar is usually not suitable for flamenco, because the sustain doesn't suit that style of percussive playing. The Koaloha doesn't sound as thin and boxy on the first few frets when playing fingerstyle, so that one goes to the Koaloha as well.

I'm going back to disturbing my wife's movie watching now....

About strings...
My KoAloha pineapple longneck sounded dull with Worth CM. Perked back up with CL strings. YMMV.

FrankB said:

I'm just seeing that now. The pic of the soundboard in front of the bridge is not what I like seeing on an instrument built two months ago:
View attachment 65797
That blank is machined straight, and was flipped just to make sure. It's only been here a couple of hours, so the humidity in Pennsylvania didn't do that. HMS did toss two Oasis humidifiers in the case, but the top is very thin.

Martin soundboard, to be fair:
View attachment 65803

Click to expand...

A little dish in front of the bridge is actually normal on KoAlohas and in my experience they don't get worse if you don't use heavy strings. In my experience they can quickly get bad enough to rotate the top of the bridge saddle forward enough to impact intonation noticeably if you do use heavy strings; in my case, it was using Tenor Alohi strings on a longneck soprano (concert scale). I've taken the strings off it completely in hopes that over a few months it will rebound and then I can restring it with light strings and see if it is going to be stable.

John

Hi Guys,
My arm is going to fall off! I can't stop playing this ukulele!!! I've changed my attack, and the Koaloha and I are becoming better acquainted= sounds better. My wife said it's opened up over the past two hours, but I'll take the credit.

I'll order some Worth CL strings, and thanks for the reassurance, John. I needed that! I'd actually prefer to keep the strings as light as possible, but with good tone. I'd keep playing my tenor otherwise. These ligaments aren't getting any younger, and my guitar hasn't seen the light of day since I started playing ukulele at the end of January. Fine by me....

My guitar hasn't seen the light of day in about 4 years.

You might want to try Fremont Blackline MT on your KoAloha. Really liked the sound on my previous KoAloha concert.

Congrats and enjoy your new KoAloha!

as nit-picky as you are and you bought a blem?!?!?!