what was the first thinbody/slimline travel ukulele?

[badhabits]

acoustic, not electric. was it Kala? which model?

and who else makes them? I know the following do or did- Kala, Ohana, Lanikai, Amahi, Leolani/Kumu, Koaloha, Rebel, Enya nova, Bruko, Bonanza... what other popular brands?

 

[Poul Hansen]

I have a pretty little Everplay LA8-21 soprano Thinbody deadwood, actually the first thinbody I've seen.

 

[bbkobabe]

Funny... I was thinking this same question just the other day when I posted my review of a Kala EMTU-t I bought recently.

badhabits, you replied to my post with a speculation that the Kala GATU was the first (commercially available anyway) travel uke... the Golden Acacia Travel Ukulele. I'm guessing you are unsure now, and that's the point of this inquiry?

kohanmike also knows a lot about these... let's see if he chimes in...

I have a Bruce Wei travel tenor and a Kala SSTU-t as well... I really like this format. Not the most full sounding and low on sustain but so easy to play, especially sitting down. I like how I can tuck it under my arm and have both hands free to do something else.

We'll have to wait and see if anyone has a definitive answer I guess.

 

[badhabits]

badhabits, you replied to my post with a speculation that the Kala GATU was the first (commercially available anyway) travel uke... the Golden Acacia Travel Ukulele. I'm guessing you are unsure now, and that's the point of this inquiry?

Yeah...that was just a guess on the GATU, but I think it came before the SSTU. Might like to try one, since I've had several other iterations, but it seems kinda rare...at least these days, maybe people hold on to them forever?

BTW the SSTU in concert size was my first and I felt it was to bright and moved on...

 

[bbkobabe]

Yeah...that was just a guess on the GATU, but I think it came before the SSTU. Might like to try one, since I've had several other iterations, but it seems kinda rare...at least these days, maybe people hold on to them forever?

I've never seen one and I've been prowling eBay for several years... if that confirms rarity then it's rare!

 

[bbkobabe]

I think there was also a SMTU model... which I thought I was getting with this ukulele... a solid top that is. Oh well, the solid top Kala travelers had a reputation for splitting so I guess with this laminate top version I can leave it in the car and worry less...

 

[70sSanO]

My first thought was Kala. But I believe Martin offered a Backpacker Ukulele to compliment their Backpacker Guitar.

https://reverb.com/p/martin-backpacker-ukulele-1999-2007

John

 

[KohanMike]

Whoever did, I'm very happy for it now that I found I'm much more comfortable playing thinline with nerve damage to my neck from radiation treatments for Hodgkins Disease years ago. Here is my current group.

 

[perep]

I believe the FIRST was Kala soprano travel uke, had a compass imbedded in headstock, I still have it. Never even heard of one befiore this one, MGM brought it to UKE show in Oregon many years ago, was a big hit

 

[perep]

Was not too long after that , thin ukes started showing up, people copying Kala

 

[Graham Greenbag]

I believe the FIRST was Kala soprano travel uke, had a compass imbedded in headstock, I still have it. Never even heard of one befiore this one, MGM brought it to UKE show in Oregon many years ago, was a big hit

If not the first then, I’d have thought, one of the first. The early models had friction tuners, later models used open geared side tuners - giving a slimmer profile - and later again (inc 2010) use enclosed side gear tuners - I find the enclosed type unhelpfully heavy but think that the open geared ones would be OK.

Review of The Kala KA-SSTU Soprano Travel Ukulele

Hi guys, here is my review of the Kala Travel uke, ok, i have been using my dolphin as a beater, taking it camping and hiking, when in my backpack it took up a fair bit of space, my UAS started to afflict me and i thought about buying a uke that you could take everywhere with you, so i bought...

forum.ukuleleunderground.com

Kala Thinline ukulele review video

i hope i covered everything, if you have any more questions about it feel free to ask

forum.ukuleleunderground.com

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/kala-ka-sstu-bp-travel-soprano-1618854546 - with friction tuners. Circa 2000?

I guess that a clever person could use the way back machine to check when Kala first listed travel ukes.

A long time back a guy on Cosmos took a Mahalo U30 apart and reduced its depth, he wanted something easy to slip into his backpack to take down the woods and play. Brother Ray is long dead but John Colter was one of his pals and could give more detail - John‘s been playing for a long time so he might know of other early slim ukes.

Arguably all Sopranos are travel Ukes - that’s their history.

 

[ukulelekarcsi]

I'm quite certain that Brüko had thinbodies (F-models) before Kala did.