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The Sonorous Union of Guitar and Ukulele – Kanilea GL-6

Kanilea has perfected the Guitarlele with their Koa GL6. It is a ukulele with two lower strings (ADGCEA). For guitar players this is like a capo on the 5th fret. In this new and exciting instrument Kanile’a has utilized their t.r.u. bracing system to give it that crystal clean tone Kanile’a is known for. As you get into the higher register, you get beyond the guitar in range, and bell-like tones ring out more like a piano than a guitar! As Kanile’a’s master luthier, Bill Griffin notes, “It’s like a guitar with a capo on the 5th fret, however instead of having 7 or 8 frets left to the body, you have a full 16 frets to the body to go, so it allows guitarists to expand, not only their scale, but their creativity as well.”

A visit to Kamaka and an original from Kalei Gamiao

In the past few years I have gotten to know Fred Jr, Casey, and Chris Kamaka, at least a bit, from the few occasions I have gotten to talk with them. I have seen Chris play upright bass and sing a few times and was really impressed with his musicality. Chris quality controls every ukulele that goes out from Kamaka. He is there every day making sure Kamaka’s look and sound just right. Casey I had met over 10 years ago at a Guild of American Luthiers convention (guitar building seminar and workshop). Casey does the custom shop work for Kamaka, and is truly a master luthier. His work can be seen and heard in this video. Fred Jr. runs the business side of Kamaka. He is who I deal with for the store, so luckily he is a fun and friendly guy. In fact all three brothers truly have aloha and it shows in the quality of their product.

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The first ukulele I built…

About 15 years ago I set out to make my first ukulele. The creative possibilities had me buzzing with thoughts and pictures in my mind. I knew I knew I had to build a “regular” ukulele before I could try weird shapes or bracing. Picasso painted real before surreal. So I set out to make a regular mahogany Tenor ukulele with three fan braces pointing to the neck, the Martin style. Some would argue this as the “wheel” of ukulele building. I would mostly agree, but you can always improve.

What a cool uke for just over 100!!

We finally got in the brand new Luna “tattoo” model Concert ukuleles! I knew, based on the style and performance of it’s younger brother- the pineapple “tattoo”model, these ukes would be a great value! Value is factored by quality divided by cost, and these new Luna’s are way too cool for this entry level price range. The value is apparent when you strum them.

Corey serves up a Fingerpickin’ Lesson- 3 popular techniques for the uke

Corey Fujimoto from Hawaii Music Supply gives us a few fingerpicking patterns for the ukulele that we can pretty much spend the rest of our lives trying to master. These are the type of exercises you need to work through though, if you really want lasting musical prowess of the ukulele. If you want to play whats in your head you need technical skills.

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Best ukulele for $300- Kala ASAC-T All Solid Acacia Tenor

What is the best ukulele 300 dollars can buy? Well, it’s not exactly a calculus equation anyone can prove, given the fact that personal taste and opinion exist. But we thought we would put our 2 cents in the pot anyway, and who better to judge than people that sell ukuleles every day, us. After discussing it at length, the Kala ASAC-T came out slightly ahead of the competition. As John Gonzalez, one of our guitar instructors put it, “The intonation is always on, and they sound good!”. With a nice looking slotted headstock and the swirls of pearl inlay on the fretboard, the look is right on point for what many people like. The Makai LC-80R was a close second and is also all solid wood -Cedar top, rosewood sides and back. It may have won, because the sound is HUGE, if it didn’t come with friction tuners . It may have also lost because it is a concert, and pretty much all of us here are bias to the tenor size, most of the time. Any ideas for reviews or ukes you were wanting to hear and see more of? Leave a comment.Thanks for the look. Enjoy the video!

Core Fujimoto gives a chilling performance on a Ko’olau CS cedar/rosewood Tenor – “Close to You”

The Ko’olau CS (contemporary series) is a slightly rounder body shape from the traditional Ko’olau shape, which is closer to a Martin tenor shape. It also differs from the regular Ko’olau by having a tapered headstock, which provides a straight string pull, making it easier to stay in tune. Also unique to the CS model, the fingerboard and saddle have a slight radius similar to a hybrid nylon string guitar.

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New Pono Pro Classic Ukulele – Custom shop quality at an affordable price

Pono is a production model version of the custom shop Ko’olau, but when you look at the build quality, and attention to detail, you can tell that only very skilled and experienced craftsmen could have such a critical “artist eye” for this precision and beauty.John Kitakis, owner of Ko’olau, didn’t want to just “move boxes” with a cheap import line. He wanted to make the quality and depth of a Ko’olau instrument available to you at a price. And even though their is an unsurpassed refinement to the Ko’olau custom models, Pono is built the same quality, design, woods, and most importantly, there is meticulous oversite by the builders at Ko’olau, and it shows!

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10 ukuleles under $200 – Sound Sample and review

recently I have been amazed at how affordable a good ukulele can be. We took ten ‘ukulele, three under $100, and seven under $200, and gave you a video/audio sample of what can be yours for…..well lets just say you might not even have to ask your wife.