KoAloha's vs. Opio's vs. Rebel's

KoAlohas vs. Opios vs. Rebels

I impulsively somewhat stupidly sold my KSM-00c that I had only owned for a couple of months and had gotten at a great price in a moment of feeling like I wanted to explore other things. I kinda miss it.

I have solid hog teardrop soprano on order from Cripple Creek, similar to the one that sold in the market place a week or so ago, but that won't be ready for 10 weeks and I'd kinda like to have a regular bodied 12-fret to the body soprano anyway (my custom will be 14 to the body and size-wise somewhere in between a concert and soprano).

There are plenty of good options out there and I should probably just get an old Martin, but I already have two hog concerts and my since my custom will be hog I'm considering something different.

I know YogiTom and Baz love Rebels, but beyond that I haven't heard much on them. Particularly the sops.

I'd love to get anyone's experiences on how feel, tonality, volume, differ among koa KoAloha's, Opios, and Rebels.

Specifically, in addition to looking at the used KoAloha market, I'm thinking about a KSO-10s, a Rebel Double Creme sop, or a Rebel Double Cheese sop (I might just decide on a Martin or Martin copy or maybe I'll just for my custom to decide what else I want, but that is different can of worms)

Any and all experiences welcome.

(sorry if this has already been addressed. Couldn't find much on my searches)

LOL. I just realized I put apostrophes in front of each "s" in the uke brands in the thread title. Not that it matters, but that should be plural not possessive. Sigh, wish I could edit thread titles.

CPG said:

LOL. I just realized I put apostrophes in front of each "s" in the uke brands in the thread title. Not that it matters, but that should be plural not possessive. Sigh, wish I could edit thread titles.

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Apostrophe's fine if you read it: "KoAloha's tone & feel vs. Opio's tone & feel vs. Rebel's tone & feel"

I have little topical to contribute though. Never touched a Rebel. Loved the KoAlohas I tried when I was in Hawaii, but not enough to say anything concrete. I'd have brought home a KoAloha except for price. I might have brought home an Opio except that I A/Bed it right next to the KoAloha, and they didn't do Opios in the woods of the KoAlohas I liked best

I don't have any experience with the Rebels. And I haven't tried the soprano versions, but I spent some time going back and forth between the acacia Opio and the koa KoAloha in tenor sizes to get a direct comparison of their sound. There's a difference, and the koa tenor was clearer and, I don't know, sweeter? It had a better tone, but it wasn't a huge difference. The acacia model gets you maybe 80% of the way there to the koa one.

I only had one of each to compare, though, so not a huge sample size. I did try out the spruce top Opio as well, also in tenor, but I didn't spend as much time on it. I just remember it projecting louder than the all acacia model.

Arcy said:

Apostrophe's fine if you read it: "KoAloha's tone & feel vs. Opio's tone & feel vs. Rebel's tone & feel"

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Ha! Thank you for this. That might have actual been what I was thinking when I wrote it.

snowdenn said:

There's a difference, and the koa tenor was clearer and, I don't know, sweeter? It had a better tone, but it wasn't a huge difference. The acacia model gets you maybe 80% of the way there to the koa one.

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This is my impression from listening to sound samples. Mine had a warmth and sweetness to it that I don't hear in the sound sample of the acacia ones. They excellent, just different, brighter and a little more brittle/crispy, and subjectively not as good as mine did. Just from sound samples I feel like the spruce at least adds some character, where the acacia (and again this is just subjectively how I hear it) sounds like a less warm Koa. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing.

I have a KTM and a Double Cream I could compare for you. Neither are sops but I do have a 2003 koaloha long neck I could sample too. I prefer the tenor size and style, and I think hands down the KTM is my favorite. The tone is just perfect to my ears, if I could only have one that would be it.

Can't do a comparison, but I do have a soprano Opio in sapele. It has a beautiful tone with lots of sustain. I use Living Water strings. To compare it to my 12 fret soprano mahogany Mele and Martin, it is cleaner and clearer in sound, but not as bright as my maple 12 fret Brueko..

Thanks for the inputs. Those sapelle opios were cool, I wonder why they didn't stick with them.

So who out there has or has tried a Rebel soprano?

I have a Rebel soprano double creme and I love it. I have only been learning to play the ukulele since August. I am concentrating on fingerstyle and the notes really chime out very clearly. It also sounds good strumming. I think it has a warm sound. I am very critical about tone and the Rebel tone is excellent. One of my favourite players is Sam Muir and I think the Rebel serves me well in practising her arpeggios.

I also have one of the new Romero Creations traditional concert ukuleles in mahogany. The Rebel soprano stands up to the Romero well. I bought the Rebel because I find the concert size is a bit of a stretch. I have arthritis and the Rebel is easier on the fingers.

The Rebel looks beautiful and sounds beautiful.

Thanks all. I decided to try something totally new to me and order a double creme from Mim after finding this older HMS sound sample on the web : https://www.theukulelesite.com/rebel-mango-soprano-double-creme-1934.html

This one has both Kalei and Corey playing and I think probably gives a pretty good picture of the tonality. I think mango is sometimes described as "mushy", but I guess I would describe it as "fat" sounding. Probably mostly due to the build but also the wood.

The current sample they have up has a lot of closed position, muted playing and doesn't give nearly as good a picture of the sound.

I knew there had been a different sample up at one point and was specifically looking for that one before making a decision. Just took me a while to find it.

Anyway, I think I'll like it as least as much as I liked my KSM-00c. I'll probably post an NUD when I get it.

Thanks all.

P.S. Just a reminder of how awesome Mim is. She emailed me within an hour of placing my order to tell me that my uke had a "blem" on it and that I could either choose another or take the same one with a $30 discount. She sent me a picture of the blem. It's just a little area on the g side of the neck/base of the headstock where the finish is a little cloudy. I stuck with the one I had chosen and took the discount. She's already got it setup and is shipping it out today. That's some pretty insane service!

CPG said:

Sigh, wish I could edit thread titles.

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You can, if you click on "Edit" and then "Go Advanced."

Jerryc41 said:

You can, if you click on "Edit" and then "Go Advanced."

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I think that only lets you edit the title on the original post. When you post a new thread the initial post get the same title. When you "Go Advanced" on the original post you can change what appears at the top of the initial post, but the thread title still appears in the forum as it was originally created.

I could be wrong but I think that's how it works.

Thanks for the recommendation.

CPG said:

I think that only lets you edit the title on the original post. When you post a new thread the initial post get the same title. When you "Go Advanced" on the original post you can change what appears at the top of the initial post, but the thread title still appears in the forum as it was originally created.

I could be wrong but I think that's how it works.

Thanks for the recommendation.

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You're right. I tried it, and the title in the post changes, but not the title in the list. Odd.