Kanile'a K-1 Tenor ukulele - REVIEW

Well, my new uke arrived, and this one is an absolute peach. It's a Kanile'a K-1 Tenor ukulele and since it came to me I have hardly put the thing down. I have hankered after a Hawaiian ukulele for some time, and am thrilled that I am now an owner. Time for a detailed review!

Kanile'a ukes (pronounced Kanileya) are made by Joe Souza's team, by hand from wonderful solid woods in Kaneohe, Hawaii. Being a handmade Hawaiian uke gives it the moniker as being a K Brand ukulele (more about that HERE.  Not having the funds to fly to the islands, I placed my order with the wonderful Southern Ukulele Store (great store and a must visit for any uke buyer in the UK) who are the registered UK dealers. Paul at the shop was extremely helpful, and shipped the uke in perfect packaging, inside a pod case that came as part of the price.

Whilst this is an entry level model in the Kanile'a range, this represents my first "professional" grade ukulele. I chose the Tenor as my collection prior to this consisted only of sopranos and concert ukes. Time for a step up in size!

So, first off, the build details.  The uke is constructed from solid, select Koa wood with a stunning bookmatched grain pattern, and this one is finished in satin, not gloss. The photos I have taken of it really do not do justice to how wonderful the wood is. The neck is a single piece of mahogany (strengthened with a carbon fibre rod inside it) with an impeccable rosewood fingerboard and silver nickel frets. Fret markers both on the fingerboard and the upper side of the neck are made from Paua Abalone. The headstock is faced with a veneer of Koa, and the Kanile'a logo is not printed but inlaid in a lighter wood. The tuners are excellent quality Grovers in chrome. At the bridge end you will spot something more unusual - the strings are not tied to the bridge, but held in place by black bridge pins as you would normally see on an acoustic guitar. The bridge is rosewood also, and both nut and saddle are made of NuBone.  Aside from that, there are no other embellishments or binding - this is a plain ukulele. It arrived strung with Aquila strings, but more on that later. Inside the uke is the Kanile'a label showing its provenance and serial number.

The uke is a traditional shape with wider lower bout, and also has a slightly arched back for better sound projection. Inside the uke, it uses the revolutionary Kanile'a TRU (Total Resonating Ukulele) Bracing system - this is a system similar to those seen on very high end custom guitars. You can read the details HERE, but it essentially allows for a more efficient vibration in the soundboard

The first thing that hits you in picking this uke up is the absolute impeccable quality of the build. There is not a mark, blemish or anything anywhere on the instrument. Everything is fitted together perfectly and the uke feels solid in the hands. It is however extremely light for a large instrument and feels very balanced to hold. Frets are finished perfectly and smooth, and the fingerboard looks well conditioned. The set up was also just perfect - the action height is just as I would like it, and testing the intonation all over the neck with an accurate tuner shows no issues at all - this is a uke that will be in tune!  The tuner quality is superb, with each one stamped with the name "Grover". They have an excellent turning ratio meaning fine tuning of the uke is an absolute breeze. They are also incredibly smooth and stable.  The nut and saddle are also perfectly finsished, and I adore the way the bridge saddle shape blends with the rosewood of the shaped bridge.  I also like the shaping of the neck which is extremely comfortable to play.

So, how does it sound. Well, first off, it arrived with Aquilas as I say, so the first job was to remove them and put some Worths on. I have nothing against Aquilas, but they are a powerful string, and I wanted this uke for its tone and clarity, not volume. The range of tone that comes from this uke is astonishing. There is good bass, but a real shimmery chime across the notes. As is the case with high end guitars, every string shines through equally on this uke, nothing is "lost in the mix" or muddy. Sustain is massive and the volume is great, helped by that bracing system and arched back.  I do mainly strum in my playing, and this ukulele certainly delivers in that regard, but where it really shines in when fingerpicked (part of the reason I bought it) - its glorious in its voice. The other thing that struck me was how balanced it sounded no matter whether you play it quietly or thrash it as hard as you like. Many cheaper ukes can suffer in this regard and either "boom" when played hard, or just lose their tone when played softly. As such, despite it being an acoustic instrument, I can see this as being perfect for late night practice without waking the family - supremely satisfying at low volume.

I really am thrilled with it, and fully understand where the money goes in making a step up to a pro level instrument. As much as I love my other ukes, this is a significant step up in quality. I suppose its like spending your life playing a Yamaha piano, then sitting down to a Steinway Grand, or upgrading from a Volkswagen Golf to an Aston Martin - sure they are both cars, but... well, you know what I mean!

But lets be balanced. Do I have any gripes?  Small ones I suppose.

Firstly, I really dont know why they ship these with Aquilas (presume a deal was done with the Company), but I cant believe they are the best option. This is a uke that wants to shine and show off its voice, and many many players prefer the use of Worths or D'addario Pro Artes.

I suppose that if I had the choice, I would have preferred high quality friction tuners rather than geared. Dont get me wrong, there is NOTHING wrong with the Grovers on this uke, I just prefer friction tuners for their looks. 

Finally, I suppose some (not me), may think that the uke is a little too plain. Going up in price to the K-2 model gives you binding on the uke that some may prefer, but bear in mind that the K-2 is an identical uke musically. The binding is purely decorative. I prefer understated, but this is a VERY plain looking uke.

But those gripes are so minor they should not be worried about.

Would I recommend it?  What do you think?!


(If you are looking for another uke - check out my reviews page HERE

STOP PRESS - You can read my update to my review, having had some proper playing time Here

Kauai KUC-70b Concert - REVIEW

Out with friends last night and I bumped in to my good friend Corinne F (my regular ukulele and guitar jamming partner in crime), who was excited to show off her new ukulele.

I had not heard of the brand before, and for a price of £69 I must admit to being skeptical over build quality. I am not suggesting that all ukes of that price are poor, and you will know I highly recommend beginner ukes for much less money. It's just that when you are spending that money, ukes often have imperfections in the finish, and very often need setting up to get the tuning and intonation right. I and a play of it, and WOW. Flawless finish and set up! But anyway, over to Corinne who has kindly written the review below to go on Got A Ukulele.



Review of Kauai KUC-70b concert ukulele.

Having decided to try for a reasonably cheap concert ukulele ( I have already got a very expensive banjolele which is only suitable for jamming if we’ve all got a loud resonating beast in our hands!) I did a bit of checking stuff out on the net. I found the Kauai, made in China, on various music shop websites, but couldn’t find any reviews for it. I finally found one by a seasoned guitarist of 40 yrs on an American website, and he rated it quite highly, so I ordered one. I’d tried out Barry’s Flea and Fluke in our jam sessions and loved their clarity, tone and sheer volume, so the idea of a plastic bowl-backed uke that looked like a mini Ovation guitar appealed very much. (I play a real Ovation guitar as well!)




The good thing about this one is that the soundboard is solid wood (cedar), the fretboard is rosewood, the nickel silver frets well set and finished. The rosewood saddle and the bridge are just at the right height- no tweaking needed, and the action perfect, no going out of tune on the higher frets! It looks good, too - the machine heads are small, neat and stylish with pearloid buttons, the neck is solid mahogany with a mahogany veneer face, and the whole thing finished in a matte satin varnish . As an added bonus, It came with a set of Aquila strings, not some junk nylon unbranded set that many ukes arrive with. They seemed a little too heavy at first, yet after playing them in for a while I now think they sound great. I had to let Barry have a go though, and stand back myself and listen from a distance to fully appreciate its resonance and well rounded tone for such a reasonably priced instrument. No electrics are fitted, but with a plastic back would be very easy to drop a pickup in.




I paid £69.99 from Bandwagon music in Perth, but Gamlin’s music in Cardiff was advertising them for £10 less ( out of stock!) Unfortunately when I spoke to Gamlin’s they said they would have no more in until after Christmas. I would thoroughly recommend this concert uke to relative beginners wanting to upgrade from their first uke or indeed to anyone wanting a quality instrument for under £100. A definite bargain!

Thanks Corinne - I'd highly recommend this uke to everyone - if you can find one in stock! I think that speaks volumes! In fact, if you are a lover of the Ovation styling, this should seriously be on your list If you are looking at the Applause model ukes which are much more expensive than this.


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Apologies for another break

I know people check my ukulele site regularly and as such I'm sorry that at the moment I cannot update it as regularly as I would like.

Another one of those patches where the day job has gone bonkers I'm afraid. Add to that, my eldest daughter went into hospital today (routine, she's fine thanks!) mean I'm struggling to find time to update daily as I would like.

Fear not, much in the pipeline!

Coming soon on Got A Ukulele!

- more interviews, including chats with both a ukulele builder and a well known act.
- more beginners tips
- reviews of more uke products, including a brand new ukulele that will be with me real soon.

As I have said before, if you fancy guest blogging on this site, just get in touch!

More soon!

Baz


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A gripe - don't get hung up by uke strum patterns

One of the most common questions I get asked (and, indeed one of the common questions I see on many ukulele discussion boards) is, 'what is the strum pattern to that song?'.

It niggles me. It shouldn't but it does. Now this post may actually cause a little debate to rage and it might even lead to a few people telling me I am plain wrong, but I dislike the idea of recommending strum patterns to beginners.

Don't get me wrong, I couldn't be anti anything as daft as strum patterns, and they have their place. The place they have is showing a player EXACTLY how to replicate a song to sound just like the original or the video cover they are learning from. My secondary gripe in this regard is, 'where is the fun in that?'. Where is the desire to try to put ones own feel and spin on a track. At the end of the day, I believe music is there to be sculpted, played around with, messed with. Put your own stamp on things, it's where you get really creative! If you want to cover a song what matters is you learn the words, the chords / notes, the melody. The timing is important too if you want to sound like the original, but timing can also be played with to put a new take on a song, give it a different feel (try it!). Going so far as mimicking strum patterns however, to me, just makes things too restricted and closed in. Music shouldn't be like that.

That whinge out of the way, I'll move on to my main problem with it. This blog is for beginners and away from the site I also teach a fair few people. It can be a struggle enough for a beginner to hold even a basic rhythm let alone knowing that this bit goes 'up down down up down down up'. If you are new to uke and have some key chords mastered, you would do better playing the songs you love in a basic rhythm until you have it down pat, and then start to really listen and feel what you are doing. Start working on your rhythm and your OWN strum patterns. Get your playing into a groove that YOU LIKE AND FEELS GOOD TO YOU. So long as you keep to the basic timing and beat of a song, many strum patterns will work, each putting a different style on the music. These patterns you create should sound far more natural and swingy than any forced pattern.

Don't get me wrong, when a beginner has advanced, has a sense of rhythm and can play basic stuff competently, sure, try to copy exactly then. It will probably teach you some nice new techniques, but try not to run before walking.

Imagine you get to the stage where you have a good range of songs you know and are playing with friends. Let's say a friend starts playing at a slower tempo, with a swingier style, something that changes the fixed strum pattern. Would you be able to adjust?

Rant over. And I never tell anyone on this site you MUST do this or that. Just think about what you are learning and consider becoming more comfortable with your own rhythms and playing styles first!

Good luck as always!

EDIT! Already had some people disagreeing! I am NOT suggesting there is anything wrong with beginners starting with up down up down strums, nor do I think beginners should get stuck in that rut - they should experiment! I just think it's more fun and rewarding to experiment by working out your own style!


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