Best "K" brand soprano?

I would love to see a ranking of your ukuleles. I'm not mainly a concert player, but your list of ukes includes many that I've liked or am interested in, though also quite a few that I've never tried. I'm guessing you wouldn't have a straight, linear ranking for them, but if you had to put them in an order of preference, I'd be curious what your ranking would be.

You're right that there's a lot of subjectivity involved, but there's enough overlap that other people's opinions can be meaningful points of data. I don't think my opinion trumps anyone else's. But I bet if enough people offered opinions, we'd start to see some broad patterns from which we could derive some conclusions that might fit with own preferences. Maybe enough to make predictions, since we can't all go out and buy everything we're curious about. Anyway, whenever I see these "what's the best X" type of question, I invariably see experienced people demur because of the subjectivity involved. Yet I'm interested in hearing other people's opinions. Especially people who've had more experience. Maybe better just to ask "what's your favorite X?"

I bow to rafter's wisdom and modify my original question to; What's your favorite "X" soprano?
 
I bow to rafter's wisdom and modify my original question to; What's your favorite "X" soprano?

Ha, kind as that was, it's probably best not to accuse me of having wisdom.

A lot of people seem cagey about "what's the best X" because there isn't any established objective criteria about what "best" amounts to. And the ukulele community, more often polite than not, isn't very quick to get into the kind of shouting matches one might find in other hobbies. People might hesitate less to answer "what's your favorite X," though I'd just assumed that was implied by your original question.

Like you, I definitely want to hear people's opinions, especially drawn from experiences and abilities I don't have.
 
My favourite brands are definitely the three K brands. I have visited their factories, some of them multiple times, and when you get to know the people who make the ukes there's just no alternative. Plus I don't really dig that modern sound of the higher end Asian ukes, they sound metallic and distorted to me on the various videos.
 
What about those Koaloha Naupaka sopranos? Anybody have one of those?
 
As previously stated, my KoAloha is favourite but I also have a Koa Pili Koko which I like very much. It has two 'Ks' in its name but is made from solid Acacia, not Koa.

John Colter
 
To answer the question.

I only play Soprano and have all the K's - IMHO in order of favoritness.

Kanile'a - too subtle a sound
Koolau - Nice but not soo special
Kamaka Std - sweet sound - special
Koaloha Std (Anniversary) - special - Great
Koaloha Pineapple - best one I have always gets played first
 
"K" brand? I'm assuming you mean just Kamaka, KoAloha, Kenile'a, and Ko'olau?

In this case, there's really no good answer because these are premium makers that build competing instruments... I'd bet each maker can find something to say why their soprano is the best.
 
I had the chance to buy a Kamaka soprano but wasn't impressed by it. I now have a KoAloha and that is wonderful.

John Colter

I'm just the opposite; I like the Kamaka more than KoAloha.
 
I always like when these threads pop up. Truly, everyone has different taste...and while I enjoy all the K’s for what they bring to the table, I think Koaloha builds the best soprano out there.
 
Lots of great opinions and comments. Thanks to all for sharing. A quick non-scientific look at the comments seems to favor Koaloha!
 
LOL. That's exactly what I thought of.

It’s an incredible uke. If it were 14 frets to the body I wouldn’t have consider selling it. And since I’m in the middle of a lot of things keeping me busy I’m kind of considering just holding onto it. But I highly recommend it
 
I'm kinda iffy about those contrasting tops. I've seen them on other ukes, but I'm not a fan - not yet, at least. My Rebel has slightly contrasting pieces, which I like.

Yeah, I agree. I'm not sure about the look of the two woods and if they contribute or detract from the sound but I like the Naupaka "Romeo and Juliet" story.
 
I'm kinda iffy about those contrasting tops. I've seen them on other ukes, but I'm not a fan - not yet, at least. My Rebel has slightly contrasting pieces, which I like.

I think if the music is good, people don't care what the instrument looks like.
 
Can anyone speak to how a Koaloha Naupaka soprano sounds?
 
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