Kamoa Ukulele

Jerryc41

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I had never heard of a Kamoa ukulele, but when I saw "Maui" on the inside label, I thought, "Here's another Hawaiian "K" brand." Not quite. The company is located on Maui, but the ukes are made in China, much like aNueNue - located in one place and made in another.

A new member at our group jam yesterday had a beautiful tenor. It had a cedar top and mahogany sides - all solid. It looked like very good quality.

Prices range from $369 - $1,999.
 
8 or 10 years ago Kamoa Fiberglass cases were very popular around the Forum...…..much more so than their ukes. I don't believe they make the cases any longer.
 
When we went to Kauai a couple of years ago, I tried a number of them at their shop and didn’t care for any. They look nice, but they seem a little heavy and muted, and they are not cheap. Their higher end ukuleles could be better, but for $300+, I think there are much better options.

John
 
I had never heard of a Kamoa ukulele, but when I saw "Maui" on the inside label, I thought, "Here's another Hawaiian "K" brand." Not quite. The company is located on Maui, but the ukes are made in China, much like aNueNue - located in one place and made in another.

A new member at our group jam yesterday had a beautiful tenor. It had a cedar top and mahogany sides - all solid. It looked like very good quality.

Prices range from $369 - $1,999.
I have owned a couple of Kamoas. They have a good sound and tend to go for sound over wood grain (at least the lower priced ones) I would recommend them, I have owned e3c and e3t
I now mostly own luthier built or high end ukes or vintages and that is why I don’t own a Kamoa. I was quite satisfied with the price to sound..
 
I have several friends with Kamoas, they're decent instruments! A little pricey IMHO, but good quality. I'd love to find a 500 series Grand Concert Honeyburst for a decent price, saw one on ebay a year ago or so, I bid my max and it went for like, $5 more...:(

kamoa 500 gc.jpg
 
I have 2 Kamoas. Both tenors. One an 500 and the other an E3. The 500 is quite good. It is light, responsive and open in its sound. It’s really nice with a low G. Found both of them used. I took the 500 to a local luthier to look at for a minor repair and he was impressed by its sound. Oh, and the repair was handled via email to the company. Even though I am not the original owner, they stood behind their work and made sure I was happy. They even called me on the phone and walked me through the repair. Quite nice.
 
I went to a uke store on Kauai that stocks only Kamoa and I tried many models. They were quite nice though not outstanding and I almost bought one. I am glad I didn't because for a little more money I was able to buy a Hawaiian built KoAloha and later also a Kamaka uke.
 
About 5 years ago I spearheaded a group-buy here on UU for an electric steel string archtop ukulele from a factory in China for $165 for an order of 20, an order of one was $400. Along the way I discovered the Kamoa web site and saw that they were selling the exact same uke for $750 on special order. What I learned when I went to NAMM was that the Chinese factories show their line of instruments and any distribution company can order and put their name on it. That's apparently what Kamoa does.


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
 
What I learned when I went to NAMM was that the Chinese factories show their line of instruments and any distribution company can order and put their name on it. That's apparently what Kamoa does.


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


From what I recall, the label inside the sound hole said something like, "Designed in Hawaii."
 
My bestie owns one. It's a dreadnought shaped, deep body, with a lo G attached. Very nice tone, not heavy, and fun to play. It needs a pickup in it.
 
I have several friends with Kamoas, they're decent instruments! A little pricey IMHO, but good quality. I'd love to find a 500 series Grand Concert Honeyburst for a decent price, saw one on ebay a year ago or so, I bid my max and it went for like, $5 more...:(

View attachment 120995
I had a search notification on ebay and one came up, I bid and was the only bidder, should see it today. It's an E5-GC Grand Concert Ukulele, natural finish, supposed to be 16" scale, which is what caught my interest, along with the dreadnaught body. I'm hoping it will be good for low G and work better for me than tenor scale.
E5-GC.jpg
label.jpg
 
I think this was used to be known as Larry's Music but the owner started the Kamoa brand and at some point mainly or exclusively had those in the store, so made sense to rename the store to what they carry. I think there were two locations one in Kapaa and one in Old Koloa. They are fairly generic Asian ukes and the "design" aspects seem to focus on the coat of paint that was used.
 
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https://reverb.com/shop/samuel-s-shop-1

Larry's Music Est. 1952
Birthplace of Kamoa Brand Ukulele's!!
Kauai's historic first music store was operated by Larry Matsuda and family who relocated their music store from
Waimea (Kauai's west side ) to Kapa'a in the early 1950's. This charming music store has served the Kauai community for over 65 years. Hours of operation:
Monday-Friday 11am-4pm appointments recommended 808 652 9999
One of a kind experience with local musician demonstrations and live customer service
 
Thinking about Kauai uke stores, while Kamoa is targeted at tourists it is also worthwhile mentioning the more community oriented Kalaheo store that also has their own brand of KMS ukes http://www.kalaheomusicandstrings.com/

and the Hanalei store that tends to have the best collection of Island made Raymond Rapozo ukes and also sells their own dyed yarn.
https://hanaleistrings.com/

Of course if you want biggest selection of cool and high end ukes you have to go to Scotty's in Lihue across from Walmart.
 
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