ailevin
Well-known member
My new Wow Concert that was scheduled for tomorrow, Monday June 19, arrived Friday. This is the latest chapter in a continuing story of my relationship with KoAloha, Alvin "Pops" Okami the founder of KoAloha, and Ed Fiscella, here known as @efiscella . Rather than repeat the whole story, I am going to do a brief overview with links to other threads that have the details of the previous chapters.
It began with my Christmas Miracle Ukulele, a KoAloha KTM00 described in a KTM NUD. It is like an O'Henry story where my amazing wife, using a crazy set of criteria including a couple confusions about the different Hawaiian makers, manages to surprise me with the perfect instrument. This introduced me to KoAloha, the Okami family, and Pops Okami. When I learned that Pops was experimenting with designs and making custom essentially to order ukuleles on his own, I ordered a Wow Soprano from him which resulted in this Wow Soprano NUD. That little soprano had a transformative impact on me and on my ukulele playing--it was love at first strum. My Wow Soprano changed the way I look at high/low G instruments, and the role of different ukulele sizes for me. About eight weeks ago, I asked an off-hand question of @efiscella, who is a principal in UKESA, a company that is bascially Ed, Pops and Moms Okami. Has Pops ever made a concert sized Wow? Ed told me that Pops had been thinking about a concert scale Wow as a next project, but he needed an interested buy to order one. After a little thought and concurrence from SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed), I told Ed I'd be honored to order the first Concert Wow. Pops and Ed agreed to let me share details of design and construction of the new instrument and I posted that in the thread Impressions of Ordering a Custom Ukulele. In that thread there are pictures of the ukulele from early prototype stage to the final finished product in the shop on Oahu.
Back to this NUD, the Concert Wow arrived in a archtop hard case well packed in a box with a smaller empty hardcase I requested for my soprano. The first picture shows the Concert Wow in the case.
The top is Englemann Spruce; the sides and back are select pine; the neck is sapelle; the bridge, fretboard, soundhole trim, and cap on the neck are ebony; the headstock is a triple laminate sapelle, ebony, and then maple; the logo on the headstock and the fret markers are abalone.
The body close up shows the pretty straight grain of the top, the beauty of the abalone inlays, and the label which reads
It's hard to tell from the picture, but the back is slightly arched. It is fitted with Gotoh tuners.
It has a side sound port and binding top and bottom with a three layer ebony/koa/ebony inlay, just like my soprano.
When I opened the concert case, the ukulele looked so much like my soprano that it didn't look concert size. When I took it out to start tuning, the first thing that struck me was that it was more than the soprano in several respects--heavier, more string tension, more volume. As I got it in tune and played a few chords, I was immediately struck with the depth of the voice as much as the volume and sustain. I took out the soprano and spent most of the next hour comparing them. Below is a picture of the Soprano Wow and Concert Wow side by side. They both use the same materials, and they do look like brothers.
Before I continue this quick compare and contrast, I want to get something out of the way. I did not have the same love at first strum reaction to the concert that I had with the soprano. And by the way, I did not have that with my KoAloha tenor either, though it has become beloved, and I think of it as my best and most capable ukulele. While I want to accurately report this initial response, I don't want it to be either a criticism or a conclusion about the Wow Concert. It is a statement about a very unique and special response to the Wow Soprano based on where I was in my ukulele journey when I first played it.
The Concert Wow sounds, feels, and plays like something from KoAlohaland. While the soprano and concert already look like siblings, your hands and ears know immediately that the KoAloha KTM00, and the two Wows come from the same family, both figuratively and literally. They all have the signature bell-like tone, are very articulate, and have good balance across the strings. The voice of the concert is more related to the soprano than the tenor, but it is quite distinct. The Concert Wow has considerably more volume and greater sustain, but what's really striking is the full throated, tonally rich voice. The concert sound is a grown up, more adult version of the soprano's child-like voice. It is a bit more guitar-like while the soprano sounds more ukuleleish--probably the treble emphasis. I'm not a spectrum analyzer, but I think the tonal similarity is like having the same mix of harmonics, but the difference in voice is due to enhancement of the mid-range. The difference in volume between the concert and soprano is more significant than the difference in sustain. Again, my nerdy analytical self sees that as more energy in those mid-range harmonics that the concert body amplifies and projects better. I also notice more variation in tonal quality when I play at different volumes. In particular, the attack changes depending on how I play the concert, so it is easier to highlight a particular line when playing chord/melody. In this respect, the Concert Wow may be superior to the KoAloha KTM00. The concert maintains its volume and full tone better than the soprano as I move up the fretboard.
While the look and sound signature of the concert is more related to the soprano, the feel is closer to playing the KoAloha Tenor. The string tension and playability are much more tenor-like. It is still a relatively light instrument at 451g, but it just feels more substantial in hand than the soprano at 354g. The action feels much more like the tenor as well, and it is easier to avoid unintentionally bending notes on the concert compared to the soprano. I like the slightly longer transition from the neck to the headstock compared with the soprano. It very comfortable, and there is a bit more room for chords where I angle my wrist upward like Fm or F#dim. Playing the concert, I feel like I am playing a tenor with larger hands vs. playing a soprano with smaller hands if that makes any sense. You can tell that a Wow Concert would not "grow up" to sound like a KoAloha tenor. I would expect the Wow Tenor to have the edge in volume and articulation but without the tonal complexity and woody tone of the KoAloha tenor. This morning while we practiced, my wife played the KoAloha tenor and I played the Concert Wow. I was surprised by how well the Concert Wow kept up with the tenor in volume, though there was no mistaking the difference in tone.
I did a quick comparison between the Concert Wow and my Anuenue C4 Concert (solid cedar top with laminate sides and back in high G). I think the C4 is great sounding for a concert in the $200-$300 (new) price range. It felt klunky (weight and action) and sounded muted compared with the Concert Wow. In fact, the Wow Soprano caught or surpassed the C4 in volume.
This Concert Wow is everything I hoped for and more.
It began with my Christmas Miracle Ukulele, a KoAloha KTM00 described in a KTM NUD. It is like an O'Henry story where my amazing wife, using a crazy set of criteria including a couple confusions about the different Hawaiian makers, manages to surprise me with the perfect instrument. This introduced me to KoAloha, the Okami family, and Pops Okami. When I learned that Pops was experimenting with designs and making custom essentially to order ukuleles on his own, I ordered a Wow Soprano from him which resulted in this Wow Soprano NUD. That little soprano had a transformative impact on me and on my ukulele playing--it was love at first strum. My Wow Soprano changed the way I look at high/low G instruments, and the role of different ukulele sizes for me. About eight weeks ago, I asked an off-hand question of @efiscella, who is a principal in UKESA, a company that is bascially Ed, Pops and Moms Okami. Has Pops ever made a concert sized Wow? Ed told me that Pops had been thinking about a concert scale Wow as a next project, but he needed an interested buy to order one. After a little thought and concurrence from SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed), I told Ed I'd be honored to order the first Concert Wow. Pops and Ed agreed to let me share details of design and construction of the new instrument and I posted that in the thread Impressions of Ordering a Custom Ukulele. In that thread there are pictures of the ukulele from early prototype stage to the final finished product in the shop on Oahu.
Back to this NUD, the Concert Wow arrived in a archtop hard case well packed in a box with a smaller empty hardcase I requested for my soprano. The first picture shows the Concert Wow in the case.
The top is Englemann Spruce; the sides and back are select pine; the neck is sapelle; the bridge, fretboard, soundhole trim, and cap on the neck are ebony; the headstock is a triple laminate sapelle, ebony, and then maple; the logo on the headstock and the fret markers are abalone.
The body close up shows the pretty straight grain of the top, the beauty of the abalone inlays, and the label which reads
1st Concert Wow
Custom made for
Alan Levin
Pops KoAloha.
I was very touched that Pops did that--I feel like a bit player, but also like I'm part of ukulele history.It's hard to tell from the picture, but the back is slightly arched. It is fitted with Gotoh tuners.
It has a side sound port and binding top and bottom with a three layer ebony/koa/ebony inlay, just like my soprano.
When I opened the concert case, the ukulele looked so much like my soprano that it didn't look concert size. When I took it out to start tuning, the first thing that struck me was that it was more than the soprano in several respects--heavier, more string tension, more volume. As I got it in tune and played a few chords, I was immediately struck with the depth of the voice as much as the volume and sustain. I took out the soprano and spent most of the next hour comparing them. Below is a picture of the Soprano Wow and Concert Wow side by side. They both use the same materials, and they do look like brothers.
Before I continue this quick compare and contrast, I want to get something out of the way. I did not have the same love at first strum reaction to the concert that I had with the soprano. And by the way, I did not have that with my KoAloha tenor either, though it has become beloved, and I think of it as my best and most capable ukulele. While I want to accurately report this initial response, I don't want it to be either a criticism or a conclusion about the Wow Concert. It is a statement about a very unique and special response to the Wow Soprano based on where I was in my ukulele journey when I first played it.
The Concert Wow sounds, feels, and plays like something from KoAlohaland. While the soprano and concert already look like siblings, your hands and ears know immediately that the KoAloha KTM00, and the two Wows come from the same family, both figuratively and literally. They all have the signature bell-like tone, are very articulate, and have good balance across the strings. The voice of the concert is more related to the soprano than the tenor, but it is quite distinct. The Concert Wow has considerably more volume and greater sustain, but what's really striking is the full throated, tonally rich voice. The concert sound is a grown up, more adult version of the soprano's child-like voice. It is a bit more guitar-like while the soprano sounds more ukuleleish--probably the treble emphasis. I'm not a spectrum analyzer, but I think the tonal similarity is like having the same mix of harmonics, but the difference in voice is due to enhancement of the mid-range. The difference in volume between the concert and soprano is more significant than the difference in sustain. Again, my nerdy analytical self sees that as more energy in those mid-range harmonics that the concert body amplifies and projects better. I also notice more variation in tonal quality when I play at different volumes. In particular, the attack changes depending on how I play the concert, so it is easier to highlight a particular line when playing chord/melody. In this respect, the Concert Wow may be superior to the KoAloha KTM00. The concert maintains its volume and full tone better than the soprano as I move up the fretboard.
While the look and sound signature of the concert is more related to the soprano, the feel is closer to playing the KoAloha Tenor. The string tension and playability are much more tenor-like. It is still a relatively light instrument at 451g, but it just feels more substantial in hand than the soprano at 354g. The action feels much more like the tenor as well, and it is easier to avoid unintentionally bending notes on the concert compared to the soprano. I like the slightly longer transition from the neck to the headstock compared with the soprano. It very comfortable, and there is a bit more room for chords where I angle my wrist upward like Fm or F#dim. Playing the concert, I feel like I am playing a tenor with larger hands vs. playing a soprano with smaller hands if that makes any sense. You can tell that a Wow Concert would not "grow up" to sound like a KoAloha tenor. I would expect the Wow Tenor to have the edge in volume and articulation but without the tonal complexity and woody tone of the KoAloha tenor. This morning while we practiced, my wife played the KoAloha tenor and I played the Concert Wow. I was surprised by how well the Concert Wow kept up with the tenor in volume, though there was no mistaking the difference in tone.
I did a quick comparison between the Concert Wow and my Anuenue C4 Concert (solid cedar top with laminate sides and back in high G). I think the C4 is great sounding for a concert in the $200-$300 (new) price range. It felt klunky (weight and action) and sounded muted compared with the Concert Wow. In fact, the Wow Soprano caught or surpassed the C4 in volume.
This Concert Wow is everything I hoped for and more.
. 
