New brand - Aolani?

I don't understand why it's'replace the tuners' rather than install the tuners. Does the Chinese Factory produce them thinking that it's a final product?
Anyway nothing smells good about this. Also ULTP is known for being less than trustworthy and the fact that this brand is only available there is a gigantic No-No. Also I didn't know that cornerstone is marketing in that ultra religious way. Kind of strange and off-putting especially when the price is so high and the product so obviously shiny and luxurious.
Regarding Mainland ukulele : their business model has the structure of the instruments built in the Caribbean I think? Before being finished in the US. I don't think that they just add a bone nut and saddle and swap out tuners.
Speaking of bone nuts and saddles. I'm really sick of dealer manipulation. I want them to stop telling us that bone is superior and will make a huge difference especially when on other listings they tell us that synthetic tusq is superior and will make a huge difference.
Mainland ukes built in the Caribbean? I've not heard that before, mon. I've seen posts that think they come from the same factory as Ohana. That I would believe; I have another uke that is exactly like my CK-35, just a different name on the headstock and different tuners.
 
Yes, I know. I live on Oahu. But until recently, Lanikai Ukuleles claimed to be a Hawaiian company, and their sole reason for being able to claim that was they rented a 10x15 import office on the docks. If you need proof it was there at one time, go watch a Baz review of a Lanikai ukulele. He mentions it.

I'm only mentioning them because I was agreeing with a previous poster that a number of companies who make their ukuleles in China will do some tiny little thing to the uke somewhere in America and then claim it's an American ukulele.
I just get tired of the hyperbolic sales-speak that we hear from the #1 ukelele store in the known universe. That's just my opinion, and each of us has a right to his or her own.
 
For the last 10(?) years we have had access to low cost ukuleles from countries where politics have allowed compromises in workplace conditions, worker pay rates and environmental standards. We all know that is the case and have still bought the products.

You can't suddenly go on about "hyperbolic sales speak" and get annoyed by the practices of ukulele merchandising companies if you have been part of the major consumer base that has supported the products for the past 10(?) years. If you weren't such an accepting and lucrative and responsive consumer base, the industry would have been forced to move in a completely different direction starting around 2010.

Maybe now is a good time to admit the failure as a group of consumers and make a change to force improved pay and working conditions for the workers and much more attention to environmental standards in the factories and in the materials used to make the components? If you just stop naively and gullibly believing everything on Amazon and other cheap internet sites and refuse to buy the product you will force a major change? Just stop buying ukuleles without finding out where the factory is and what the real materials used really are? Instead of bragging about how cheap the product is and how good you think it sounds?

Maybe you can ask why you can't employ the citizens of your own country in factories that have a high output of ukuleles. Maybe you can ask why with all the technological advances in your own country, why can't you rescue the people of a city like say Chicago and re-invent the factories of the early 20th century? Or similar cities in trouble in other countries? The entrepreneurs are in your country, there are plenty of people looking for work, you have plantations of wood, where is the political will, has it been stolen from you or did you give it away $ by low cost $ buying cheap imports?
Sorry, Bill, but I CAN go on about hyperbolic sales-speak. The fact that it annoys me has nothing to do with where something is made, by whom, its relative merits, nor how much it costs. I was expressing my opinion regarding a sales pitch, that's all. Chill out. Thanks.
 
I'd say it is when their ukes are normally sold at around $5000 or more. :D

Cornerstone is one of those high-end brands I've barely ever heard of but I do see them pop up in reputable uke shops. That said, I have even less experience with this new line of models they are producing. No doubt the custom shop ukes are top tier but I'll have to look for some reviews of these Aolani models.
If a $5,000 uke is being offered for $600, I'd be concerned.
 
Just saw this video about these new Aolani ukes:



It's the typical sales pitch by Terry but at least you get a glimpse and sound sample of the Aolani models.

Cornerstone seems to make ukes only in tenor size which is really disappointing. The spruce top koa back and sides in concert size would be the exact thing I've been searching for quite some time now.

It seems that tenors are very popular, and they sell for a higher price. There was a survey here years ago, and I seem to recall that the tenor was the most popular size, and KoAloha was the favored brand. I don't care about size. I buy what looks and sounds good. I have almost equal numbers of the three popular sizes. On the other hand, I know someone who buys only concerts, and another guy buys only tenors.
 
Top Bottom