Any thin line experiences?

Dbhughes

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I recently purchased a thin line ukulele which should be arriving soon. I took a chance since, in this internet world, so much is available to purchase which is impossible to physically demo. I was wondering if there are any owners or previous owners of thin lines and what your opinions may be, good or bad. Thanks in advance and have a great day.
 
Kalas are fairly common, but other brands make em as well... kalas are louder than you might think, the solid spruce top is very bright (too much so for some, me included), the lam mahogany is not quite as loud or bright. they are fun! here's an interesting video, suggesting that thin is the future or here to stay:
https://vimeo.com/ukulelefriend/tom-parse-ukulele-1
 
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You may need to hold it slightly differently to some ukes, as thin styles sometimes sound muffled if you hug them too closely.
 
My Baton Rouge solid spruce concert thin line has a slightly rounded back, which makes it a little bit awkward to hold onto, but it has a great tone, easily the equal to a regular shaped concert. :music:
 
Kalas are fairly common, but others brand make em as well... kalas are louder than you might think, the solid spruce top is very bright (too much so for some, me included), the lam mahogany is not quite as loud or bright. they are fun! here's an interesting video, suggesting that thin is the future or here to stay:
https://vimeo.com/ukulelefriend/tom-parse-ukulele-1

Thanks for the link. Interesting concept. Too bad he didn't demonstrate his thin line ukes.
Like all ukulele sizes I've heard some nice sounding ones and some poor sounding ones. But maybe I was holding them too close to my body.
 
I tried an Everplay LA8-21(made in Poland) in a shop and was surprised by the loudness and the balanced tone and bought it for my car ukulele as it's so small.
But it's also very beautiful and very well made. Sold spruce top, white/dark wooden bindings top and bottom and on the fretboard. Sides and back, as welle as the headveneer in deadwood.
Abalone rosette and furlings.
All that for 100 euro
https://gitarownia.pl/pol_pm_EVER-PLAY-LA6-21-ukulele-sopranowe-9760_1.jpg
https://gitarownia.pl/pol_pl_EVER-PLAY-LA6-21-ukulele-sopranowe-9760_6.jpg
https://gitarownia.pl/pol_pl_EVER-PLAY-LA6-21-ukulele-sopranowe-9760_7.jpg
https://gitarownia.pl/pol_pl_EVER-PLAY-LA6-21-ukulele-sopranowe-9760_9.jpg
 
Car ukulele, interesting concept...

And that doesn’t look bad for €100 or $120.
 
I have a thinline Rebel Super Concert from Mim's Ukes that's awfully sweet. It's the Mango Creme brulee model. It's become my favorite couch ukulele, because it's so comfortable and easy to play. Sounds good, too. I've also heard some thinline Koaloha ukuleles that sounded amazing! (Photo by Mim.)
 

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There is the Flight Leia, worth looking at; and i've been pretty amazed at the value of the Hricane travel ukuleles.

I'm actually a little down on the Kala models...mine (spruce) has a slight crack in the sound board (even with care/humidity) and a friend with the spalted maple has a soundboard that is cracked all over. I know that's a small sample overall, but that's 2 for 2 in my world. I think there's a chance Kala specified a top that was a little too thin.
 
Four or Five people in my uke group have the Kala Thinline, I played them and it's really amazing how well they project. A few months ago I looked for one online when I came across a Lanikai Figured Bocot
 
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Four or Five people in my uke group have the Kala Thinline, I played them and it's really amazing how well they project. A few months ago I looked for one online when I came across a Lanikai Figured Bocote (butterfly wood) with electronics discounted to $329 so I went for it. It's a beauty, has the same curved back as the Kala and also projects well, but not quite as well as the Kala.

Lanikai Thinline Bocote.jpg



This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 4 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 39)

• 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
 
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OT: How do you get the pictures to show here? I get nothing when uploading and only a link when using a url

Normally using the 3rd icon from the right is the way to do it. I have my own web site that I use to store all my photos and I just type in the HTML code and URL to retrieve the full size photo from there, which looks like this.

UU image code.jpg


I also found out last night that that an accent mark on a letter is not allowed and will cutoff the post at that point. I used an accent mark over an e and it took me a few minutes to realize that's what was happening.
 
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Yes I had a Kala travel solid spruce tenor which I recently sold to a friend and still own a Kala travel solid spruce baritone. Both have excellent sound projection and I really like their weight and thinness.
 
I look at them once in a while and sometimes I think that I want one but I don't know why. I think they look fun. I always end up asking myself what purpose it would serve and don't come up with anything. But if I didn't already have enough ukuleles I might buy one. Maybe some day I will.
 
My first Ukulele was/is a Rubin Zebrawood (Lam) Thin Glossy Tenor that I bought because it was beautiful, and cheap. After spending twice it's price in strings I found it to be my favourite Uke. It has good projection, an excellent voice, so mellow and a shallow neck.
It's too bad that Rubin (now Caramel) doesn't build them like this anymore. I buy another one as my example has a slightly twisted neck which make the upper frets slightly sharp/flat. Fortunately I don't play up the neck.
With Fremont Black line Bari-Tenor strings it is just what I need.
 
I missed this thread earlier--I have been blown away by Hricane's thinline offerings. I have a Kala Travel Tenor...the Hricane isn't quite the Travel Tenor, but it is about 90% of the Travel Tenor (the Kala top has a very thin grain, the Hricane's is wider) at about 1/3 of the price.

If you're looking for a thinline for travel purposes, I'd easily recommend the Hricane; both brands will benefit from a set-up when they arrive.
 
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