Swamp Yankee
Well-known member
The big brown van brought me another ukulele yesterday. This one has really floored me. It's a Kiwaya KTS-4K koa soprano.
It was a cold day yesterday so it sat a few hours warming up in the box. About an hour before dinner, I opened the top to reach in and feel the case - which seemed warm enough, so I opened it up and took the ukulele out. I looked it over, noting a few small dings which I'd been aware of, and I also noticed that I didn't like the black metal strap buttons fore and aft - and that the aft button was not centered on the seam, on either axis :/ ...a complaint which might seem persnickety to normal folk - but it bugged the heck out of me.
It was also strung for low - G, why I loathe - so the first thing I did was put a set of Martin 600s on it. Played it a bit but the strings weren't settled in - it did sound nice though. And it's very typical of other Artist series Kiwayas I own - light as a feather and very well made...they are all, in my experience, a joy to hold and play and this is my third uke in that series.
The uke has what appears to be an ebony nut and an non-compensated ebony saddle. The setup on it is the lowest I've ever experienced in any ukulele - about 1.7 mm @ 12th fret on the G string. BUT it plays like butter and has no buzzes at all - despite my playing it pretty hard indeed. The intonation is more than good enough for me though not perfect at the 12th fret.
After dinner I got out my tool kit, found the digital calipers and reckoned that I could "fix" the aft strap button and end up with an ebony end pin - centered on both axes, and when done, there would be no sign that there had been an off-center strap button there to begin with. To do this I had to whittle a plug from a small piece of mahogany to plug the original drill hole, then glue it in the hole, trim it down and shave it flush to the finish, carefully. Then it was a matter of drilling a small hole in the exact spot I wanted, then reaming that hole out to accept one of the a tapered ebony mandolin end pins I have. It took about an hour at the table, while kinda sorta watching "True Detective" but the finished work looks pretty dang nice if I do say so myself.
Then it was a simple matter of replacing the strap button in the neck heel with a nicer, Waverly strap button in ebony - with a new, freshly cut leather washer, and voila!
By this time the strings had settled in enough to play - and it was as if the ukulele really decided to reward me for my loving care. This little soprano sounds incredible in standard tuning - and it really sings like an angel in D tuning.
There's not a lot of information out there about this uke - in fact, the only hits I got on Kiwaya KTS-4K were links to threads in this forum from the previous owner.
I stepped up to the plate, perhaps, in buying this uke, but IMO this little beauty is well worth the money I spent and the time I spent to get it the way I like it. I have to say it's my favorite soprano yet. It is that nice.
Here are some links to "after" pics - thought I didn't take any "before"
https://i.imgur.com/yunRkUT.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ckzoXGR.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/i2Pw0N7.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/tWCGP5Y.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/s8dT8mx.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/6x0bpMd.jpg
It was a cold day yesterday so it sat a few hours warming up in the box. About an hour before dinner, I opened the top to reach in and feel the case - which seemed warm enough, so I opened it up and took the ukulele out. I looked it over, noting a few small dings which I'd been aware of, and I also noticed that I didn't like the black metal strap buttons fore and aft - and that the aft button was not centered on the seam, on either axis :/ ...a complaint which might seem persnickety to normal folk - but it bugged the heck out of me.
It was also strung for low - G, why I loathe - so the first thing I did was put a set of Martin 600s on it. Played it a bit but the strings weren't settled in - it did sound nice though. And it's very typical of other Artist series Kiwayas I own - light as a feather and very well made...they are all, in my experience, a joy to hold and play and this is my third uke in that series.
The uke has what appears to be an ebony nut and an non-compensated ebony saddle. The setup on it is the lowest I've ever experienced in any ukulele - about 1.7 mm @ 12th fret on the G string. BUT it plays like butter and has no buzzes at all - despite my playing it pretty hard indeed. The intonation is more than good enough for me though not perfect at the 12th fret.
After dinner I got out my tool kit, found the digital calipers and reckoned that I could "fix" the aft strap button and end up with an ebony end pin - centered on both axes, and when done, there would be no sign that there had been an off-center strap button there to begin with. To do this I had to whittle a plug from a small piece of mahogany to plug the original drill hole, then glue it in the hole, trim it down and shave it flush to the finish, carefully. Then it was a matter of drilling a small hole in the exact spot I wanted, then reaming that hole out to accept one of the a tapered ebony mandolin end pins I have. It took about an hour at the table, while kinda sorta watching "True Detective" but the finished work looks pretty dang nice if I do say so myself.
Then it was a simple matter of replacing the strap button in the neck heel with a nicer, Waverly strap button in ebony - with a new, freshly cut leather washer, and voila!
By this time the strings had settled in enough to play - and it was as if the ukulele really decided to reward me for my loving care. This little soprano sounds incredible in standard tuning - and it really sings like an angel in D tuning.
There's not a lot of information out there about this uke - in fact, the only hits I got on Kiwaya KTS-4K were links to threads in this forum from the previous owner.
I stepped up to the plate, perhaps, in buying this uke, but IMO this little beauty is well worth the money I spent and the time I spent to get it the way I like it. I have to say it's my favorite soprano yet. It is that nice.
Here are some links to "after" pics - thought I didn't take any "before"
https://i.imgur.com/yunRkUT.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ckzoXGR.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/i2Pw0N7.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/tWCGP5Y.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/s8dT8mx.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/6x0bpMd.jpg
Last edited:
