Kala Ukes

Kala is the by far the largest producer of ukes and every uke store I have visited has a Kala section if not a Kala wall. They have a huge range of models for every budget, so the biggest advantage is that you can actually compare many ukes and have a chance to find one that you really like in a store instead of relying on online ordering. That said, the only Kalas I was really impressed with were the California built Koa Elite models and they were in the price range of the Hawaiian Koa ukes in the store, which I prefer. For the their regular models, the ones that I tried in stores were just "fine" not better or worse than those of other brands like Ohana in the same price range. Cheap/moderately priced ukes all seem to be fairly generic and buying one is more a matter of personal fit/like than of brand distinction.
 
We have a kala KA-ACP-CTG, their cedar top acacia concert which started us on the Ukulele journey, a travel Soprano - KA-SSTU-S and a 5 string KA-ATP5-CTG which is a cedar top acacia. We enjoy them. For me I recognize their economy Ukuleles that are fun to play. However, as such they all became my grandson's instruments. :)

As for the controversy about Kala, I can suggest listening to Andrew of HMS discuss positive aspects of Kala from a business standpoint and willingness to listen as a positive thing. https://youtu.be/2r355KnmLU4 At around 48:00 Andrew discusses his communication with Kala. To me communication and willingness to do so is a positive thing.
 
Kala found a niche and filled it. From there they have grown to fill most of the entry to beginner/intermediate instrument market niches. They now have a lot of competition.

The Elites are a vanity project that will also lift the lower-quality image that Kala has. It does a very good job and has, I believe, brought the quality levels of inexpensive ukes up to the point where they are of reasonably good quality.
 
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