Kala Archtop Tenor

[Melanie]

Thank you so much guys You've all given me plenty to think about.

[kissing]

I'm going to disagree. I own two. One for home and one for work. I also have a Kanilea tenor and assorted other ukes. I love my archtops. You can see me playing at kjorgensen100 on youtube. the neck is very fast and the sound depends on how you tweek your amp. I just use a vox amp. The amp is important. Acoustic is good for practicing, not for performing.
Go for it.

I bought two because I couldn't stand the idea of ever not having one.

I'm not sure what you're disagreeing with

[BlackBearUkes]

Here is the thing about Kala archtop ukes........they are not really archtop instruments in the true sense. They are built more like a flat top only the top is deformed and bubbled up. The one distinguishing feature that a true archtop has is a floating bridge will a tailpiece to support the strings. All the string pressure is downward thus activating the top. Normally a uke doesn't have enough of this downward force to produce the volume we are used to. There are some makers that have built good quality archtop ukes, but they are pricey, and so they should be because the tops and backs are carved, not steam bent plywoods.

The Kala archtop has the bridge glued directly to the top like any other uke, the only difference is that the top has an arch to it. The sound quality is going to suffer acoustically with this arrangement, hence the need for electronics.

[13down]

Thanks for that explanation! Very helpful.