Buying my first spendy uke

K&C

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Help🤔

I have been doing a lot of research on Kanilea, Kamaka, and KoAloha. I don't have access to try any in my area. My concerns are a quality, easy playing, good sound and great customer service. At the moment I am leaning towards Kanilea but I also have much respect for the history and tradition of Kamaka. Another thing I have noticed is not many makes come with radiused fret boards? Is that standard in ukulele building? If you haven't noticed already I am a novice player at best who has been bitten by the uke bug. Thanks for any help.
 
If you can drive to a shop that carries them, then do that and buy from them, specially if they are also a luthier workshop. That is the best way to get good support.

The forum is full of comparison between the 3 Ks.. do read them up.

Radius fret board is nice but have never been a deal breaker for me. I can do with or without.
 
If you want a uke with a radius fretboard from one of the K brands, than you'd have to custom order from Kanilea or Ko'olau. For customer service, KoAloha is King. The same type of warranty applies to the Opio line from KoAloha that Keith mentioned. They are made in Thailand, but with the same specs as the Hawaiian line. With the Opio, you get an instrument that is very close to the ones made in Hawaii, but at half the cost.

Other than that, my own perception is that Kanilea offers the best value out of the Hawaiian makers: great design, flawless finish, nice wood, and a lovely voicing that can be used both for traditional music and a more modern sound.
 
The 3 K brands are all great, kinda like Lexus, Infinity or Accura. Each will appeal to different individuals in different ways. They each have there own signature sound and NOBODY can describe it to you in such a way as hearing it or playing it, which is best. Go to the Ukulelesite (Hawaii Music Supply=HMS) and listen to as many of their recordings as possible. Koaloha, Kamaka, Kanilea are all excellent choices, just personal preference is all.
 
The 3 K brands are all great, kinda like Lexus, Infinity or Accura. Each will appeal to different individuals in different ways. They each have there own signature sound and NOBODY can describe it to you in such a way as hearing it or playing it, which is best. Go to the Ukulelesite (Hawaii Music Supply=HMS) and listen to as many of their recordings as possible. Koaloha, Kamaka, Kanilea are all excellent choices, just personal preference is all.

Yes . . . it's all subjective, and you really can hear a difference with the recordings on TheUkuleleSite. Beyond that, you could just buy the one that sounds best, and if you like it, keep it; and if you don't, return it (but don't get a strap button or installed pickup, as that would diminish your $$ return). Think of the cost of paying for shipping as what you'd spend in money and time if you drove around to stores that carry one or more of these brands (if you could find them).

I've played all three, which I found in three different stores that were about 90 miles apart from each other, several years ago. You could let people know where you are located, and then maybe others could suggest where you could find one or more of those brands in person.
 
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