Costco Ukes

Ukunewb

Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2012
Messages
12
Reaction score
0
First, I know, I know. Big box store. But I'm from Issaquah, WA, home of Costco headquarters, so I'm supporting my local economy. Costco is good to their employees. They provide a great service too for customers, etc. They are worth supporting.

So my question.

I got the Kohala Uke for Christmas, the $99 one from Costco.com. It is supposed to be a great Uke if the strings are replaced. The local music store wanted to see it so I showed it to them, and they said it was as good as anything I could buy from them at the price point. No buzzy frets or anything. A good copy.

But before I go replacing the strings, I wondered if I should try the Kahuna Uke from Costco, the $149 version. It has Aquina strings, but I don't think they are the Nylgut strings. It comes with lessons, which I don't necessarily care about. It doesn't have a tuner like the $99 one does so I'd have to buy one.

Does anyone know anything about the Kahuna? Does anyone know if anything about it, functionality-wise makes it worth the extra $50?

I am a beginner. Expensive Ukes may be in my future, but for now, I'm just shopping for a functional uke. I don't care about what it's made from unless it heavily affects sound, or what it looks like.

Here's a link to Costco in case you're interested: http://www.costco.com/Kohala-K2-C-Koa-Concert-Ukulele-Bundle.product.11762941.html

Thank you very much for any help.
 
Kohala is the budget line of Lanikai. The equivalent Lanikai would be the LKP-C Koa pack, which retails for about twice the Costco price. They are probably exactly the same uke, the Lanikai will just have better fit and finish and a bit more bling as far as bindings goes.

I've never heard of Kahuna ukes, but Lanikai calls their dealer Big or Lttle Kahunas, so i'm guessing the Kahuna is a Lanikai that is made specifically for Costco.....sort of like the LU22CGC is made specifically for Guitar Center. Even if it not made by Lanikai, chancnes are it was made in the same factory as the Lanikai/Kohalas. The main difference is the Kahuna is solid top uke while the Kohala is all laminate. a solid top uke will have a better, more full and rich tone than a laminate in general. But the bottom is line is up to you, is it playable and do you like the tone?
 
Someone call ?

No ?

Ok, I'll be downstairs drinking Gin if anyone needs me...
 
I haven't seen either of these ukuleles in person, but the $99 one is Koa, and the $149 one is Zebrawood. The Koa tends to be warmer, and Zebrawood tends to be brighter in tone. If you can play them in person, that would be best because other issues like strings, and construction can affect the sound. Zebrawood will typically have a strongly striped dramatic grain pattern. Koa can be fancy too, but chances are on this level of a uke, it will have a flat plain grain.

–Lori
 
Please get yourself a proper uke from a music store. A friend of mine bought his first uke at Costco in Hawaii. It was a rebranded Mitchell made out of "Koa". Very flashy, lots of blingy stuff. Very heavy, cheap tuners, no set-up, sounds awful. Also it had the saddle installed backwards so the intonation is terrible and some idiot glued it in so I can't turn it around. And the saddle is screwed in not just glued. It wasn't cheap. I sold him a used Frankenreiter model cordoba, great setup, it plays in tune. nice sound. There are some specialty items, musical instruments and bicycles for example, that should be bought from specialty dealers. They need proper set up and care. There are plenty of cheap, as in under $150 ukes that are great from Kala, Ohana, Luna, Islander, and the like.
 
Even for a hundred bucks you can get something better. And 12 bucks on amazon will get you a snark headstock tuner.
 
I would agree on ordering from a uke dealer: Mim, Mike @ Ukerepublic, Elderly, Mainland. You are going to get a well set up instrument, and that makes for a big difference. Plus, if they do miss something, you know who to contact and I have absolutely no doubt they will make it right.
 
Can't address the ukes themselves, as I've never played either, but...

I got the Kohala Uke for Christmas, the $99 one from Costco.com. It is supposed to be a great Uke if the strings are replaced. The local music store wanted to see it so I showed it to them, and they said it was as good as anything I could buy from them at the price point. No buzzy frets or anything. A good copy.

But before I go replacing the strings, I wondered if I should try the Kahuna Uke from Costco, the $149 version. It has Aquina strings, but I don't think they are the Nylgut strings. It comes with lessons, which I don't necessarily care about. It doesn't have a tuner like the $99 one does so I'd have to buy one.
You can use the same tuner on both ukes, no need to buy another one. Unless, of course, you just like keeping one in each case/gig bag so you don't forget a tuner when you leave the house. :)
 
I have one I picked up on eBay for my trunk uke in my car. It's a concert and I put new strings on it and it plays fine but it's like holding a heavy piece of sod wood for sure. It can take a beating and heat does not seem to affect it.

I will say if you are looking to spend 150.00 I would look at the Gretsch line. Several of us have done reviews on them and they are a huge bang for te buck for sure. I picked one up and it's replaced by Kohala as my new travel uke and sounds much nicer. It's also a lot less weight than the concert Kohala and it's a tenor!

Good luck!
First, I know, I know. Big box store. But I'm from Issaquah, WA, home of Costco headquarters, so I'm supporting my local economy. Costco is good to their employees. They provide a great service too for customers, etc. They are worth supporting.

So my question.

I got the Kohala Uke for Christmas, the $99 one from Costco.com. It is supposed to be a great Uke if the strings are replaced. The local music store wanted to see it so I showed it to them, and they said it was as good as anything I could buy from them at the price point. No buzzy frets or anything. A good copy.

But before I go replacing the strings, I wondered if I should try the Kahuna Uke from Costco, the $149 version. It has Aquina strings, but I don't think they are the Nylgut strings. It comes with lessons, which I don't necessarily care about. It doesn't have a tuner like the $99 one does so I'd have to buy one.

Does anyone know anything about the Kahuna? Does anyone know if anything about it, functionality-wise makes it worth the extra $50?

I am a beginner. Expensive Ukes may be in my future, but for now, I'm just shopping for a functional uke. I don't care about what it's made from unless it heavily affects sound, or what it looks like.

Here's a link to Costco in case you're interested: http://www.costco.com/Kohala-K2-C-Koa-Concert-Ukulele-Bundle.product.11762941.html

Thank you very much for any help.
 
You already have the Kohala that is playable. That is good luck of the draw. There is no guarantee that the kahuna will be as good. Also, you will probably need to change the strings on which ever one you select since they have endured who knows what in the factory and during shipping. For $20 you can get new strings and a tuner on the one you have.

Is it possible to return it for cash? If so, I would bet that you would be much happier with something like this Ohana. http://cargo.ukerepublic.com/product/ohana-sk-10s-mahogany-soprano-player-pack

Good luck and keep us posted
 
I have two of the koalas from costco, great ukes for price, nice gig bag also. I went through them at costco a year ago and selected the ones that looked and sounded good, one has super curly koa front and back. I know they are laminate but I put aquilas on both and they play well for high end entry uke, so then you could save your money for the k's that you will get into if you keep playing. Don't be like so many of us including me that are slowly going up the better uke ladder and wind up with higher end ukes down the road. I have gone through 35 or so, sold some kept some that play well, still I play mostly the high end stuff, neck plays well and sound is awesum . Just my opinion on these costco ukes. Well I'm off to Hawaii for another uke, giddy already.
 
For a beginner uke you can't beat the price. There is a Costco outlet store here (looks like they sell things that are returned and damaged goods on the shelf ...dented cans etc.) They have the ukes there for $50-$60. Have purchased quite a few for my nephews...changed the strings right away to Aquilas...Can't beat it for the price....
 
I'll just throw this into the mix:
http://www.theukulelesite.com/makala-mk-s-soprano-best-beginner-pack-options.html

All my ululeles, so far, have been from HMS. Out of the six I've purchased from them, for myself or others, only one had a buzz at the nut; the rest were perfect. The one with the buzz was replaced in a very timely fashion, in plenty of time for Christmas in spite of Santa's arrival looming very near; I got the return label the same day as I called about it.

So, a well setup beginner ukulele from a well regarded dealer, shipped, for less than a Franklin. I'm just sayin'. ;)
 
Thank you everone

Thank you everyone for your input. I appreciate it all.

The main reason I didn't use a music store is I see it as just as much of a gamble as going thru Costco. We have a music store withing a couple miles of my house, a small time shop where everyone seems really nice. However, they had no entry level ukes in stock. You have to mail order them from their warehouse, so very little opportunity to try before buying. They had a whole pile of entry ukes that they were returning, so they may have quality issues with the ukes from their warehouse. They had no Aquila strings and they don't even carry them. They had no teach yourself books. They are basically a music lesson house that carries a few instruments. Really nice people tho. They are the ones who told me that my Kahala was a good copy and there was no reason to get something else at that price point.

The other music stores in driving range are a Guitar Center and a Mills Music. I suspect they don't offer a whole lot better service than Costco would, so I don't really trust them.

So I figured I'd try the Costco or get nothing, and then once I understand ukuleles better, I might upgrade thru Dusty's in Seattle or something. Costco has an excellent return policy if anything goes wrong. My Costco Kohala seems to be doing all right. All but the C string stays in tune for a long time now (It comes with ghs strings). I'm enjoying playing it.

I have enough doubt about my purchase that I did go ahead and order the Zebrawood from Costco.com. It comes with Aquila strings. I don't know if they're the premium strings, but I figured I'd try them. I'll either return one of the ukes to Costco, or keep both and let my nieces and nephews play with one when they come to visit. Kids and ukes are just a perfect match.

Again, thank you all. You are wonderful.
 
Top Bottom