Islander vs Kala

gigemaggs99

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Does anyone have experience with either of these and could you compare them? I don't have any local dealers where I can hear them or play them to try and see/hear a difference.

Islander Mahogany Concert MC-4

Kala KA-C Concert

The Kala does look nice w/ the binding. The Islander looks nice with pegs on the bridge, looks clean!

Thank you for any tips/suggestions/reviews.
 
I just bought an Islander Acacia concert from The ukulele Site. I had borrowed a friend's Kala first. I decided on the Islander because of good reviews on this forum, and I bought where I did to make sure it got set up properly.

Mine is a solid top with laminate sides, so the solid mahogany will probably sound better. The workmanship is 100%, no flaws of any kind and the setup is perfect. I'm completely happy with it, I view it as the Toyota Corolla of ukes. It's not so expensive that I worry about getting a scratch on it.
https://www.theukulelesite.com/shop-by/sales/islander-sa-4-c-solid-acacia-top-concert.html

I plan to get all my new(as opposed to previously owned) ukes from the Ukulele Site;)
 
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The two companies have different backgrounds and approaches. Kala is the world's biggest ukulele producer and has a wide range of models. Islander is based on the Kanilea design from Hawaii and provides a more limited range of models. Comparable brands would be Pono and Opio.
 
Excellent, thank you both for the reviews and information. I'm leaning towards the Islander.
 
Key Islander feature is the 1.5" nut width. Many like that alot, as it provides more room for your fingers to accurately fret the notes, without rubbing the next string over. I've found the normal Kala nut width just too thin, although some Kala Eite ukes have 1.5" nut also, but those cost 3-4 times more than the standard Kala line.
 
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I just bought an Islander Acacia concert from The ukulele Site. I had borrowed a friend's Kala first. I decided on the Islander because of good reviews on this forum, and I bought where I did to make sure it got set up properly.

Mine is a solid top with laminate sides, so the solid mahogany will probably sound better. The workmanship is 100%, no flaws of any kind and the setup is perfect. I'm completely happy with it, I view it as the Toyota Corolla of ukes. It's not so expensive that I worry about getting a scratch on it.
https://www.theukulelesite.com/shop-by/sales/islander-sa-4-c-solid-acacia-top-concert.html

I plan to get all my new(as opposed to previously owned) ukes from the Ukulele Site;)

I think you don't have to be that kind of stubborn. There are a lot of high quality ukuleles at the very reasonable prices, like Strong Wind ukuleles: https://www.strong-wind.com/ukuleles. As you can see in "About Us" of Strong Wind, they have already been working in the field of musical instruments for almost 30 years ! What do you think ? :eek:
 
I own both, and they are both great.
The Islander is set up with low g Living Waters and everyone comments on how good it sounds.
 
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