guitalele sizes

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mikeeG7th

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Im looking to upgrade my Yamaha GL-1. Looking at either Koaloha D-VI or Kanilea GL6. I like the sound of both based on what I hear from online demos. Will appreciate feedback on their differences (body size, tone, neck width, string spacing).

I mainly play guitar and Im looking for a smaller substitute to it. I already tried smaller guitars and at this point, Im really looking for a guitalele. I just dont have a place near me where I can try them first.

Im looking for something with good string spacing closer to a guitar. I have a Pineapple Sunday as well but Im looking for wider string spacing as my had tends to cramp more nowadays. Also would like body size to be bigger for easier holding. I like the size of the Yamaha GL-1 but if the body can be bigger and string spacing wider, thAt would be great.

I read the Kanilea is baritone body and Koaloha is tenor. IS the body size a lot of difference between the two? For the neck , are they about the same or one is wider than the other? Anyone has picture of side by side comparison helps ;) I cant seem to find full specs on their size.

Im looking to order one this week. thanks for any feedback!
 
You could do worse than checkout the seller, taisamlu on eBay. He has quite a number of Guitarleles for sale. He has both tenor guitarleles, like the Yamaha with a 17" scale length and baritone guitarlele's with a 19" scale length. The string spacing on them is the widest I've seen on a guitarlele.

This is a eBay Australia link to the first one listed. LOTS to choose from. I'm perfectly happy with the quality of instruments I've bought from taisamlu although I'm not claiming that they are perfect.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Alulu-So...LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item540ce0afc1&_uhb=1

Anthony
 
For cheap options I would echo Anthonyg's suggestion of ebay sellers from Asia.

Lots of baritone scale guitalele's (19"), with a variety of solid wood options, and some have very nice looks about them. My experience with such seller's is the instrument will need a proper set up on arrival and better strings, but then is just as good as most mid-range instruments. And if you don't like them, easy enough to sell on ebay to people who don't trust international shipping :)

From my own search, I don't thing you'll find many (any?) wider necked guitaelele's, even going up to baritone scale.

Also, about cramped necks: I changed the nut on my Yamaha guitalele's to a 52mm with no problem. This gives 44mm string spacing (up from 39mm) without the strings falling off the edge.
The Yamaha has a huge edge-to-string distance for me, so this increases the string spacing without having to have a wider neck. (It also lets me thumb-fret the low A string, great for drop G tuning :).)
 
Last edited:
The Islander GL 6 is great. The neck is pretty much like a small classical guitar. The quality is really very good. The sound is nice. It's a lot cheaper than the Kanilea, but the same design. The GL6 is definitely noticeably bigger than the Yamaha GL-1 I used to have. It is also a dramatic improvement. The wider neck gives me room for my fingers, and the longer neck enables proper tensioning of the strings. The body size is quite a bit larger - being a baritone.
 
thanks everyone! i will be calling HMS this week and see what they have in stock. Im glad they have sample vidoes so I will be checking them out.
 
New forum member here. I just got back from Hawaii where I bought an Islander GL-6 at the Kanilea factory. It's a great instrument, and feels very similar to the Hawaiian made GL-6. It's not Koa and the internal bracing isn't the same, but great bang for the buck.

Here's mine with two "real" ukes I got on previous trips to Hawaii - a Tangi tenor and a Koa Mele soprano.
 

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mikeeG7th said:
Im looking to upgrade my Yamaha GL-1. Looking at either Koaloha D-VI or Kanilea GL6. I like the sound of both based on what I hear from online demos. Will appreciate feedback on their differences (body size, tone, neck width, string spacing).

I mainly play guitar and Im looking for a smaller substitute to it. I already tried smaller guitars and at this point, Im really looking for a guitalele. I just dont have a place near me where I can try them first.


Im looking for something with good string spacing closer to a guitar. I have a Pineapple Sunday as well but Im looking for wider string spacing as my had tends to cramp more nowadays. Also would like body size to be bigger for easier holding. I like the size of the Yamaha GL-1 but if the body can be bigger and string spacing wider, thAt would be great.

I read the Kanilea is baritone body and Koaloha is tenor. IS the body size a lot of difference between the two? For the neck , are they about the same or one is wider than the other? Anyone has picture of side by side comparison helps ;) I cant seem to find full specs on their size.

Im looking to order one this week. thanks for any feedback!
Click to expand...

The islander baritone guitarele in my opinon has the best sound and look from everything i have heard and seen. Personally if i was to get one (and it is on my list) i would choose this
over the smaller versions just my personally opinion. Still small and portable but has a more 'robust' sound.
 
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