KoAloha necks for someone who loves 35mm nut?

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The Moa

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Hi!
I adore the sound of KoAlohas/Opios but haven't been able to test them myself. I like 35mm nut width the best. As the Koalohas tend to have 38mm nut but only 36mm string spacing, do you think they could be suitable for me? Any other high end suggestions with slimmer nuts?
 
You said it yourself. KoAlohas have a wide nut but narrower string spacing (compared to the nut width) because the frets don't go all the way to the edge of the fretboard. I'm guessing the string spacing would be comfortable for you, but if you find yourself struggling with string spacing if there's even slight variation to what you're used to, then I would suggest trying them before you buy if you can. Or alternatively, order from a shop that has a good return policy.
 
Thanks to you both! Sounds good enough to me. Yeah I know I would need to try them. Sadly there are none in sale where I live. The wider ones aren't really that much of a problem, but the more comfortable the better right? :)
 
I don't find a wider nut / string spacing to be an issue usually. I'm used to 35-36 mm nut width as well. If I play anything wider I might struggle slightly for a while but it's all down to what one is used to. With practice, you'll get used to it eventually.
 
Dohle said:
I don't find a wider nut / string spacing to be an issue usually. I'm used to 35-36 mm nut width as well. If I play anything wider I might struggle slightly for a while but it's all down to what one is used to. With practice, you'll get used to it eventually.
Click to expand...

You're right, might be just that. The KoAloha neck might be ideal to start getting used to wider necks.
 
The Ko'Aloha tenor has one of the most comfortable necks I've played. The nut on my tenor (2017) is 38mm with the slots cut at 9mm C/L to C/L. So there is about a 5mm overhang on each side of the fretboard. Great if you bend the strings when you play.

I think I read that the newest tenor version has slightly different dimensions and frets to the body. YMMV.

Honestly, I don't notice the width when I play.
 
Kenn2018 said:
The Ko'Aloha tenor has one of the most comfortable necks I've played. The nut on my tenor (2017) is 38mm with the slots cut at 9mm C/L to C/L. So there is about a 5mm overhang on each side of the fretboard. Great if you bend the strings when you play.

I think I read that the newest tenor version has slightly different dimensions and frets to the body. YMMV.

Honestly, I don't notice the width when I play.
Click to expand...

Thank you! Sounds good to me.
 
I haven't played KoAlohas, but both my tenors and my baritone have a 38mm nut. I like the overhang as well. If that gets too narrow I get buzzes on the A string when I'm fingerpicking. Sometimes an instrument can have narrow string spacing but is very comfortable to play thanks to a radiused fretboard.
 
I have several KoAlohas...wouldn't sell my Koa Concert or my Tenor Sapele Opio (if I ever see a Sapele Concert, I'm going to have to buy it). I could be talked into selling the Opio Concerts I have (Acacia & Acacia Spruce).

What I wanted to say is that if you're looking for that KoAloha sound, I don't think anything matches it. And that said, not everyone LIKES it (I adore it, but that's me). BUT...that all said...I recently bought a Cocobolo Concert, and I have never played a ukulele that was more comfortable to play. Period. And that includes the Outdoor Ukuleles which offer an incredible playing experience (note: I'm not saying they SOUND like the ukuleles we're talking about). And the Cocobolos sound pretty darn amazing, too.

I'm starting to reach a point in my own playing and collecting that I'm pondering the playing experience of a ukulele as much as the sound. That hasn't stopped me from buying a used Les Paul today...
 
I have a opio soprano, which I didn’t like much and I sold it. Huge part of it was because of the neck.
I just don’t like thick necks. So I rather kept my mainland and ohana.
I have been looking for an entry level K brand soprano. After listening to tons of videos, koaloha has the best sound. However, because I know I didn’t like the neck on opio, which is the same as the ksm soprano, I hesitated.
I heard kamaka has the thinnest neck but I am not attracted to Kamaka sound at all.
 
String spacing on my 38 mm (1.5 inch) Koaloha KTM-00 tenor's nut is exactly the same as on my Ohana TK-35 35 mm (1.375 inch) neck; which actually came as a disappointment for me as I was hoping for wider string spacing, but maybe exactly what the OP is looking for. I actually compared the spacing just yesterday, and double checked it twice. As others have pointed out, this is likely because the frets do not extend to the edge of the fretboard on the Koaloha.

The Koaloha neck is for me the most comfortable neck of my 3 ukes. Admittedly, I have large hands, but the neck is far from bulky.
 
Puglele said:
I have a opio soprano, which I didn’t like much and I sold it. Huge part of it was because of the neck.
I just don’t like thick necks. So I rather kept my mainland and ohana.
I have been looking for an entry level K brand soprano. After listening to tons of videos, koaloha has the best sound. However, because I know I didn’t like the neck on opio, which is the same as the ksm soprano, I hesitated.
I heard kamaka has the thinnest neck but I am not attracted to Kamaka sound at all.
Click to expand...

This is based solely upon my tenors: The Kanile'a neck is quite flat. MyaMoe and LoPrinzi necks are also flat-ish.
 
haziz said:
String spacing on my 38 mm (1.5 inch) Koaloha KTM-00 tenor's nut is exactly the same as on my Ohana TK-35 35 mm (1.375 inch) neck; which actually came as a disappointment for me as I was hoping for wider string spacing, but maybe exactly what the OP is looking for. I actually compared the spacing just yesterday, and double checked it twice. As others have pointed out, this is likely because the frets do not extend to the edge of the fretboard on the Koaloha.

The Koaloha neck is for me the most comfortable neck of my 3 ukes. Admittedly, I have large hands, but the neck is far from bulky.
Click to expand...

I always thought it might be possible to cut a nut with a wider string spacing on a Koaloha with 27mm string spread. But since they have neck bindings, with angled fret ends well inside the edges of the bindings, I'm now not sure that would even be possible. In that respect, it seems that an unbound neck may provide more options, as far as that goes.
 
Last edited:
Ukecaster said:
I always thought it might be possible to cut a nut with a wider string spacing on a Koaloha with 27mm string spread. But since they have neck bindings, with angled fret ends well inside the edges of the bindings, I'm now not sure that would even be possible. In that respect, it seems that an unbound neck may provide more options, as far as that goes.
Click to expand...

I've been debating this same thing on my opio concert. String spacing is about 28mm with 9mm between strings, and would like to bump it to 30mm with about 10mm between strings.
 
Wow, this discussion is really making me want a Koaloha tenor. For a long time, I've thought that a wider neck with not-so-wide string spacing would suit my individual technique well because of the added "relief" from A string to fretboard edge. And now, they even changed to my preferred 14 frets to the body.

A couple of questions for owners of the new Koaloha tenor. How would you describe the neck profile? I prefer shallower and flatter. Also, looking at pictures, the heel of the neck looks bulkier than others. Does this affected playability?
 
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