Koaloha Opio tenor Vs The Rebel tenor?

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The Moa

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Hi,
I started playing the uke a couple of months back and fell in love with the instrument. I have a VTAB laminate mahogany concert and I want to upgrade to a higher end tenor.

I'm searching for a warm sounding instrument that has a slight guitar like tone yet still sounds like a ukulele. I'm trying to learn to play jazz and latin with it. I find an over 35mm nut width and a slim neck depth to be plusses.

The ukes that have really caught my interest are Koaloha Opio KTO-10 (both acacia and spruce models) and The Rebel double cheese tenor (both spruce and mango). I'd really like to fit them with a low-G set. As a side note I love the sound of The Rebel Pluto that is a spruce and acacia instrument like the KTO-10-s while The Rebels at my price point are spruce and mahogany.

Does anyone of you have insight to which one to buy. I do like them all, but The Rebels are quite a bit more expensive, so if someone knows if they have some sort of a gamechanger trait compared to the Opios please tell me.

I'm open to other suggestions as well. Thanks!
 
Welcome to UU, Moa!

There is something about Koalohas (including the Opios) isn't there?

I don't have the money to buy a fancy instrument, and I absolutely love my current instruments (the most expensive is a solid mahogany VTAB tenor). However, if I would have the funds I would pick an Opio over any of the Rebels, except for the Particle.
 
Funnily enough, the company that builds the KoAloha Opio range are the same people that make the Rebel ukuleles. Whichever you buy, you'll guaranteed to get a quality instrument. :)

I believe the Rebel tenors are a good $200 or $300 more expensive than the KoAloha Opios. Considering that, I would go for the KoAloha, but only if you know for a fact that you won't get tempted by the Hawaii-made koa KoAlohas immediately after you get the Opio. I know I would. :D

I think both are strung with low G out of the factory so you're good there.
 
Yes the price gap between the acacia Opio and The Rebels is something like that. The spruce Opio however is just about 100 USD cheaper than the Rebel (which of course is a lot of money).

The Hawaii-made KoAlohas seem wonderful. For some reason I kind of prefer the sound of the Opios, as they seem to give a little more of that latin guitar vibe I'm after (KoAlohas being mostly a little brighter sound vice).
 
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I really love KoAloha soprano and concert ukes, but their tenors are just not as sweet as the Kamaka or Kanile'a ones. That goes for the Opio as well, and may be partially due to their large and heavy headstock design. One of the nice features of the Rebel is it's slim headstock with Grover UPT tuners that make their tenors more balanced to hold than the Opio. For a warm jazz and latin sound you could also consider a baritone sized uke, which will sound much less punchy than a Rebel or Opio.
 
merlin666 said:
I really love KoAloha soprano and concert ukes, but their tenors are just not as sweet as the Kamaka or Kanile'a ones. That goes for the Opio as well, and may be partially due to their large and heavy headstock design. One of the nice features of the Rebel is it's slim headstock with Grover UPT tuners that make their tenors more balanced to hold than the Opio. For a warm jazz and latin sound you could also consider a baritone sized uke, which will sound much less punchy than a Rebel or Opio.
Click to expand...

I really do like baritones. Not just the thing I'm looking for now.
Nice points of the Rebel. Thanks!
 
Sent you a PM, thanks
 
I have The Rebel Double Cheese spruce top tenor, and the sound is as you're describing - very warm and guitar-like, with great clarity and resonance. It comes with low G, and just has a beautiful voice, imo. It's a lovely uke, could be just what you're looking for.
 
merlin666 said:
I really love KoAloha soprano and concert ukes, but their tenors are just not as sweet as the Kamaka or Kanile'a ones. That goes for the Opio as well, and may be partially due to their large and heavy headstock design. One of the nice features of the Rebel is it's slim headstock with Grover UPT tuners that make their tenors more balanced to hold than the Opio. For a warm jazz and latin sound you could also consider a baritone sized uke, which will sound much less punchy than a Rebel or Opio.
Click to expand...

To merlin666's point - the Rebel tenor is quite light, and well balanced. A beautifully built uke. The spruce and mahogany is surprisingly warm.
 
The Moa said:
Hi,
I find an over 35mm nut width and a slim neck depth to be plusses.

I'm open to other suggestions as well. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Have you had a chance to play either a Kanilea or their asian-built Islander line? They have a wide neck that is quite slim in depth. I find their necks quite comfortable and I like the sound of the islanders as well.
 
I have both an Opio and a Rebel tenor, though neither of them with the spruce top. The Opio is all acacia and the Rebel is mango.

As someone else noted, they're both made by the same people in Thailand, and you can see the similarities. I think the Opio is a phenomenal value for what they are. Basically, a KoAloha made overseas. Having played their koa models and Opios back to back, I do prefer the Hawaiian-made koa models, but the Opio gets you pretty close; they're very similar.

That said, I think the Rebels are closer to the quality of the Hawaiian-made KoAlohas, and personally like their sound better than the Opios--I'm actually thinking about selling my Opio tenor. But if you prefer the Opio sound to the KoAloha, you might also prefer it to the Rebel.
 
Going to resurrect this discussion rather than starting a duplicate thread. Kicking this question around myself. It would be Tenor size for me.

Here is where I sit when pondering this question:

I recently got a Ohana TK50G Cedar and Rosewood Gloss, and a nice used Pono MGTD Mango Gloss. I like both very well and the neck shape of either suits me well, etc Each has it's own differing voice and I like the sound of each. I do like variety though and so adding a Opio or a Rebel is floating around in the back of my head...

I have read the praise both for the Opio and Rebel and either of those would definitely be top of my comfort in spending $. If I wanted to take a little step up and add one more nicer Uke I would be looking at these two brands in particular.
 
Rebel and Opio have very different neck shapes from Ohana and Pono. Some people like one but not the other. I advise trying these out before buying. If you can't try them out, you already have instruments that you are happy with.
 
man0a said:
Rebel and Opio have very different neck shapes from Ohana and Pono. Some people like one but not the other. I advise trying these out before buying. If you can't try them out, you already have instruments that you are happy with.
Click to expand...
Would you describe the necks of either as being a "flatter" type profile ? The only uke I have not liked in my hand was a Kumu. To me the neck was wide and flat. Otherwise I have not been too fussy as far as neck profile.

I have not had an Opio or Rebel in my hands.
 
Rebel and Opio have wider necks than Ohana and Pono. Hard to compare "flatter" when the width is different.
 
The Opio and the Rebel tenors have necks that are about the same thickness (fretboard to back of the neck). The Opio has a wider neck. Both have a round shaped neck. The Opio "feels" a little flatter because of the width. (A flatter oval.) But it's not by much. I think both are very comfortable to play.

I like the Rebel tenor over the Opio. The finish feel better to me. Smoother and more even.

I am comparing tenors: a Sept. 2020 Rebel Double Creme Mango Matte (satin really) to a 2018 Ko'Aloha Opio KTO-10S Spruce/Acacia satin. Can't really compare the sounds with such different woods.
 
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