NUD: Famous FS-5 / Kiwaya KS-5

Puglele

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 19, 2019
Messages
122
Reaction score
4
Got this babe off eBay. The seller shipped directly from Japan.
It came in the original box with no case, only foam fillers inside.
First impression: very light, almost feels cheap and like a toy. However I have come to known that lightweight does not equal to bad quality.

The gloss is flawless with pretty wood patterns. The tuners were plastic, And they were loosen during the transit. I had to use a screw driver to tighten them otherwise it won’t hold tunes.

The action is extremely low, which I prefer. I don’t think the seller is specialized in Ukulele; they sell all kinds of items on eBay so I don’t think the uke was set up professionally. That means out of the box, it’s already playable. The factory did a good job.

The nut is very wide. I’m used to the narrow nuts because I have small hands. However it is very comfortable for me to play. The neck profile is flat — the flattest I have seen, almost like someone shaved it completely flat. ( that being said I hate Pono’s round and thick neck profile).

The strings are just ok. Not the best but not bad. Feels a little cheap as well.
I have been playing it for 2 hours straight, quite enjoying the tone. It’s loud, bright, very well balanced.

Overall it’s a really nice uke. So far I would give it 85/100. It costs me about $320 including shipping and sales tax ( we have 10% tax rate otherwise I could have gotten it for little less than $300). It’s a little pricey in my opinion for a laminate uke, although it sounds better than a lot of the solid wood ones. I would say $230-250 is more reasonable. I did like playing it, but the FEEL of it is where the minus from. I am not saying all high quality ukes need to be heavy built but this one just too toy like for me ( although doesn’t sound like one)
CD923F6B-9C7C-4300-9D29-E02BC45BB6B6.jpg0AC0514E-6E26-4D50-B352-BE35528472EA.jpg
36E925D0-77A1-4F5A-86CD-F359ECBA9081.jpgD1730D58-50F0-4C7A-BBB8-4BF2A9F7451E.jpg
DB0AC489-C264-4B23-AF4E-AC3AE6571B3A.jpg
 
My Famous is incredible. The light build is a plus, not a minus. (The 1920s mahogany Gibson I just bought is light as a feather and it's been around for nearly a century.) The materials and bracing of the Famous are stronger than many contemporary solid-wood instruments yet won't compromise durability. It won't sound like a solid wood instrument, but it'll hold its own. Hope you enjoy.
 
My Famous is incredible. The light build is a plus, not a minus. (The 1920s mahogany Gibson I just bought is light as a feather and it's been around for nearly a century.) The materials and bracing of the Famous are stronger than many contemporary solid-wood instruments yet won't compromise durability. It won't sound like a solid wood instrument, but it'll hold its own. Hope you enjoy.

Glad to know there are some satisfied FS owners out there :)
 
I've held ukes so light they felt like they'd explode if dropped. They sounded wonderful!
 
I am also wondering is there a huge difference between FS-1 and FS-5? It’s about $100 price difference but being both laminated make them sound similar?
 
I have the same one!!! and I agree its super light esp. compared to some solid wood ones I have tried so it kind of took some getting used to. I think I was even holding it differently at first because I was used to having to "hug" heavier ukes a little more.

Do you know when yours was made? Mine has a black saddle and nut but is also an FS-5 model and I've seen black and white out there so I'm not sure if they changed it at some point.
 
I have the same one!!! and I agree its super light esp. compared to some solid wood ones I have tried so it kind of took some getting used to. I think I was even holding it differently at first because I was used to having to "hug" heavier ukes a little more.

Do you know when yours was made? Mine has a black saddle and nut but is also an FS-5 model and I've seen black and white out there so I'm not sure if they changed it at some point.

The ones with black saddle and nut were earlier models, some of which also had a shorter fingerboard with only 12 frets, more like a vintage soprano. Personally, I like not having the fretboard overhang with extra frets, which I sometimes bump into while strumming in the sweet spot . See pic comparing new vs old FS-1 ukes. Old one also has a soundhole rosette.

FS-1 comparison.JPG
 
The ones with black saddle and nut were earlier models, some of which also had a shorter fingerboard with only 12 frets, more like a vintage soprano. Personally, I like not having the fretboard overhang with extra frets, which I sometimes bump into while strumming in the sweet spot . See pic comparing new vs old FS-1 ukes. Old one also has a soundhole rosette.

View attachment 125472

IMG_0586.jpg

I just pulled mine out to take a picture! It has 15 frets still but the fret marker placement looks a little different
 
I have the same one!!! and I agree its super light esp. compared to some solid wood ones I have tried so it kind of took some getting used to. I think I was even holding it differently at first because I was used to having to "hug" heavier ukes a little more.

Do you know when yours was made? Mine has a black saddle and nut but is also an FS-5 model and I've seen black and white out there so I'm not sure if they changed it at some point.

I couldn’t find any info on the date so I sent an email to Kiwaya. Hope they will reply.
 
The only differences are the decals and the price.

There are a lot of differences between the 1 and the 5, and the price difference is valid. Just scratching the surface, the 1 is laminate mahogany, the 5 is koa. I've had both and far prefer the 5. The build is better on the 5. I know I've very good player who likes his 5 above all others.

Not being argumentative, John, I think you may have been answering a different question--like whether it's the same as a KS-5. Yes, it is.
 
There are a lot of differences between the 1 and the 5, and the price difference is valid. Just scratching the surface, the 1 is laminate mahogany, the 5 is koa. I've had both and far prefer the 5. The build is better on the 5. I know I've very good player who likes his 5 above all others.

Not being argumentative, John, I think you may have been answering a different question--like whether it's the same as a KS-5. Yes, it is.

Yes, I meant that Kiwaya KS-5 = Famous FS-5, and Kiwaya KS-1 = Famous FS-1. Sorry if I wasn't clear.
 
Kiwaya has great customer service! They explain things very well.


This is their email reply:
The string on the Famous FS-5 is called "Famous Aranjuez Marron String". It is a thin nylon string. This string is sold only in Japan right now.

Famous ukulele (the model name with "FS") is a domestic product. For export, we ship out as KIWAYA's "KS" series. (FS-5 will be KS-5 with KIWAYA's head logo)

For the KIWAYA ukulele (proper route) we put an serial number so we can find out when (year and month) and where it was sent. But for domestic (Famous ukulele) ukulele, we do not have those serial numbers to identify the manufacture date. Only the manufacture year can be identified, and for this year (2020) the first letter "F" of the brand name "Famous", on the inner label should be black color.

2019 was brown
2018 was light blue
2017 was red,
2016 was green

If it is not any of these, then the ukulele should be made before 2015.


I hope this information helps you.
 
I feel I need to join in on this NUD as I acquired a Kiwaya KS-5 today myself. I was lucky enough to spot this one on a clearance sale at a fairly large music store, and since I wanted a quality laminate uke as a potential travel uke, I decided to snatch it. Cost me around 220€ (roughly $240) with shipping and tax, so I'd say this one was a bargain.

I have to agree with some previous comments about how light this thing is. It's like a feather but still very tactile and it doesn't feel fragile. And the volume... just wow. I think this might be the loudest soprano I have, even louder than my KTS-7. It's astonishing how well this thing is crafted. I think the strings it came with are the Aranjuez nylon strings which felt ok but didn't sound that good to me. Worth clears seem to be much better suited for this. Curiously enough, I believe this is a slightly older model as it has friction tuners instead of the Gotoh planetary tuners Kiwaya use nowadays. It must've been gathering dust at the music store for a while.

The only downside I found is that the action at the 12th is quite high which is surprising for a Kiwaya instrument. It's quite obvious that no setup was done for this uke which is to be expected from a larger (mostly online) music store. Might have to sand down the saddle a bit, but otherwise I absolutely love this one.

20200226_200726.jpg

edit.

Actually never mind, I don't think the Kiwaya Eco series have ever had planetary tuners. I just read "Gotoh tuners" from a couple of different sites and just thought they were the planetary tuners rather than regular Gotoh friction tuners. Silly me...
 
Last edited:
I feel I need to join in on this NUD as I acquired a Kiwaya KS-5 today myself. I was lucky enough to spot this one on a clearance sale at a fairly large music store, and since I wanted a quality laminate uke as a potential travel uke, I decided to snatch it. Cost me around 220€ (roughly $240) with shipping and tax, so I'd say this one was a bargain.

I have to agree with some previous comments about how light this thing is. It's like a feather but still very tactile and it doesn't feel fragile. And the volume... just wow. I think this might be the loudest soprano I have, even louder than my KTS-7. It's astonishing how well this thing is crafted. I think the strings it came with are the Aranjuez nylon strings which felt ok but didn't sound that good to me. Worth clears seem to be much better suited for this. Curiously enough, I believe this is a slightly older model as it has friction tuners instead of the Gotoh planetary tuners Kiwaya use nowadays. It must've been gathering dust at the music store for a while.

The only downside I found is that the action at the 12th is quite high which is surprising for a Kiwaya instrument. It's quite obvious that no setup was done for this uke which is to be expected from a larger (mostly online) music store. Might have to sand down the saddle a bit, but otherwise I absolutely love this one.

View attachment 125567

edit.

Actually never mind, I don't think the Kiwaya Eco series have ever had planetary tuners. I just read "Gotoh tuners" from a couple of different sites and just thought they were the planetary tuners rather than regular Gotoh friction tuners. Silly me...

Fun fact. I changed the string to worth Brown but I didn’t like it. I changed it back to the factory default and enjoyed it much better.
 
The factory strings were alright but I much prefer fluorocarbon over nylon. Worth clears seem to do the job for me with this one.

A small update: What I thought was high action at the 12th fret was probably mostly because of low string tension. I felt I was tangling on the strings but it has more to do with my rubbish restring ability. I restrung the uke again - properly this time - and the playability felt much better. The action is still a tad higher than my KTS-7, for instance, but not by much. Goes to show that Kiwayas really are very playable straight from the factory.
 
Top Bottom