Kala Ukes

Jerryc41

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Kala makes a great variety of ukuleles, and my slothead cedar tenor is one of my favorites. I realized yesterday that I have probably never been with a group of ukulele players when there wasn't at least one Kala.

Do you have any good or bad comments about Kalas?
 
I have a Kala soprano in solid acacia. It is a classy instrument in all respects - definitely one of my favourites. I had a Kala thin line travel uke, some years ago, but let a friend have it. It was a surprisingly good uke.

John Colter.
 
My second ukulele was a Kala. It was badly made and the nut was somehow out of whack with the cheap slothead tuners. The strings would break constantly. Ok it didn't cost much but I would never buy another one.
 
The concerts and tenors I've tried at music stores have mostly been "pretty good but not good enough to walk out with". I agree the thinlines are surprising. Perhaps it is my general meh-ness of the standard Aquila strings.

I do keep coming back to the SLNG series and still think it is the best "bang for the buck" uke on the market.

The u-basses are in a whole 'nother category - really like my Cali fretless.
 
Hmm, I first bought Makala ukes, tenor, pineapple soprano, & concert, they were OK, but then I bought a Kala KA-SLNG, & I did most of my learning on it, at least, with better strings fitted to it. Still have & play it even nowadays.

I also still have a concert KA-CEME & a KA-T tenor - along with my solid acacia concert, which has a really nice tone to it.

Of course I have other brands too, Baton Rouge, Ohana, RISA, & my 'best uke', a KoAloha Opio.
 
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I have a Kala KA Tenor with as they say the Exotic Mahogany laminate, which certainly does not look exotic to me.

It sounds OK, plays OK, is well made, was fairly priced so what is not to like.

OK so it may not have the rich tones or looks of a uke costing upwards of $1000 but it does the job.

Mine is played as part of a Uke Group where a $1000 uke would be wasted imho since many of the other ukes are $100 ones.

For solo playing it is my Risa I turn to.
 
My starter ukulele was a Kala Exotic Mahogany Tenor. I really learned a lot while I owned it. Put some different strings on it and it will improve the sound immediately. I also own a Córdoba Ukulele which I really like. I now mostly play Baritone and my solid Cedar topped Kala Baritone is a great instrument for the price.
 
I personally think that Kala is one of the best, most consistent brands across virtually all price points. There are folks who consistently make great mid-to-high end ukes, but almost no one makes good stuff from the real budget price points all the way up to the expensive stuff.

My first "real" uke was a Kala Ziricote concert (KA-ZCT-C), and although it is laminate, it sounds great, plays great, and is still with my collection today. Over the years, I've owned the Exotic Mahogany concert (KA-CEM) and the Pacific Walnut tenor (KA-PWT) and while I did eventually sell both of those (they were rendered redundant through bouts of UAS) they were both quite nice for their price. Well made, sounded good, played well.

My first "expensive" uke was a Kala Elite Koa 1 soprano. Although I now own instruments that cost *much* more, that is another one that I just can't bring myself to let go of. The Elite series are pretty underrated in my opinion. They are very well made, sound fantastic, and cost less than they are really worth. Particularly the latest iteration, with the wider nuts and the new X style bracing, they are truly worth checking out.

There has only been one Kala I did not like, I think it was the Solid Mahogany Soprano (KA-SMHS.) It just sounded a bit dull to me in the shop. For it's price, I wanted to like it, but it didn't speak to me.

The real hidden gem of their line, in my opinion, is the Spruce Top Flame Maple series. These have a solid spruce top with laminate spalted flame maple back and sides. They are under $300 (US) and punch way above their weight class. My wife has the tenor and plays it more than her Martin or Opio tenors. I have the concert version, and it is also great. If you get a chance, give them a try.

At the very bottom end, you have the Makala line (they are part of Kala) with the Shark and Dolphin lines. Although they are crazy colors that don't appeal to everyone, they are pretty great. I always describe them as the "cheapest ukulele I think you should play on purpose." :) (My wife put a low-g Fremont Soloist on her concert Shark and it sounds shockingly good!)

A well setup Kala is a great way to play.
 
I think Kala is a wonderful company that has done a lot to help promote ukuleles. They have the Makala range of instruments for those who don't want to spend much on their first uke. When started out, I asked the guy at the local music shop what the least expensive beginner ukulele they had, he said, "Makala is the least expensive brand that we will actually stand behind." I bought a Tenor for $80 out the door. It was dark brown and had brass frets and looked just like how I pictured a ukulele. The action was a little high, but it was fine. I'm still a fan of the Makala Pineapple as a travel uke.
I also feel that they have been very innovative. Not that they've introduced new tech into ukuleles, but they have a TON of models in every type of wood and configuration. I picked up a Cedar topped 5-string slot head not too long ago and it is wonderful.
Also, the first rubber stringed micro-bass I ever saw was a Kala. Lots of people have those now and 4 years ago, they didn't.

I just wanted to throw Kala some love for doing a great job of providing inexpensive entry level ukuleles, supporting the ukulele community and innovating new wood combinations on new high end models.
 
I have two Kala instruments:
A slot head 8 string — KA-8 which I looked at and played several times before I purchased
A slot head KA-ATP-CTG-CE which I fell in love with the moment I played it. It is my main stay.

Both are tenors and both play and sound/project well. While I like the fullness of the 8 string, I find it can be a little ‘tedious ‘ to fully cover all the strings. But, I am more of a pick and strum player vs. a complex strummer. I was raised playing clarinet and saxophone (and piano) so I like to play pure melody rather than the chords.
I’m a Treble Cleff vs. Bass Cleff mentality.

My next buy will probably be another Kala.
 
I personally think that Kala is one of the best, most consistent brands across virtually all price points. There are folks who consistently make great mid-to-high end ukes, but almost no one makes good stuff from the real budget price points all the way up to the expensive stuff.

My first "real" uke was a Kala Ziricote concert (KA-ZCT-C), and although it is laminate....

That Ziricote is beautiful.
 
Yep, Kala is very popular in my 50 person seniors ukulele group, especially the Travel Thinline. In my first year playing uke 6 years ago, I went through 16, all tenor cutaways between $150 and $200, none Kala, but as I improved, I became better at differentiating the quality and playability of each. I contacted Mim and she recommended the Kala KAATP-CTG-CE solid cedar top, acacia koa. I traded in 4 of mine for that and am I glad I did, it's my go to gig uke. I then culled down my collection to 4 that I liked the best, now up to 9 good ones.

A few months ago I bought the new Kala Journeyman Red U-bass, but it was defective, the A string rattled like crazy. I contacted Kala and they said just send it in with my receipt. They fixed it in about a week under warranty.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
They are much the same as all other mass produced ukes. Out of ten, one is exceptional, one is rubbish, and the rest are OK.
I played two really lovely ones last week though.
 
Kala makes good, playable ukes at good prices and offers a wide selection of models. All of which is terrific. I remember when the uke market was small and you could only dream of shopping the choices Kala now offers.

But the BEST thing about Kalas is that they are widely available. You can walk into a local music store and take your pick. I recommend Kalas to beginners because they can play the uke before they buy it. I would also recommend Ohana and Mainland and my beloved Fluke, but good luck finding one to test drive.

I have a dirt-cheap mahogany laminate Makala baritone; it plays and sounds better than any rational person could expect. The only reason I don't own one of their cedar/acacia concerts (which I love) is that I bought a Clara which fills that niche better -- at four times the price.

My only caveat with Kalas, as with all factory-made mass-production ukes: setup setup SETUP!
 
I see a lot of them around at strum-a-longs and I've looked at them every time I've been searching for a new one. The closest I've come to buying one though is my Makala concert that I started out with and I have no complaints. In fact, it is still my favorite when it comes to just general strumming, picking, and grinning. So I figure that if their bottom of the line is that good, you can't go wrong. If I just bought ukuleles willy nilly, I would probably have a couple of them, there just hasn't been the need and the opportunity come together yet.
 
I've got two Kalas and an Ohana, as shown in my signature below, so I don't have a lot to compare it to. Of the three ukes that I own, the Kala baritone is by far my favorite. Sounds great, feels pretty comfortable (though the neck is a bit chunky for me), and the intonation is right on, all the way up the neck. Both of my Kalas seem better built than the Ohana, and they have better intonation than the Ohana. Still, I'm talking from a limited sample, so this is an interesting thread for me.
 
I have the Kala ASOV - solid spruce top, solid ovangkol back and sides - that several on here got at an extreme discount a few years ago. It is a lovely looking uke with a great sound. It is my go-to for my uke group.

It is in the middle niche of Kala's offerings as it was one of their special edition ukuleles.

I would buy one of their solid wood ukes again (the category below the Elite) but they don't seem to offer much in soprano size.
 
Stuart Fuchs, a great player, often plays Kalas in his videos and tutorials and they sound great because of their build and materials and probably most of all because of his playing. I’ve heard a lot of players on much more expensive ukes that don’t come to sounding as good. Good enough for him, good enough for me.
 
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