I was chuckling throughout your review as I can so readily relate to everything you said. Long story short, after diligently tuning into your channel for over a year, and purchasing four ukes, each one successively more expensive than the last, I finally just bit the bullet and bought a Kanile’a ISL tenor premium in koa. Yes, $$$$$ at 2kUSD but worth every penny. A lifetime ukulele. I nearly fell over when I took it out of the case for the first time, stunningly, overwhelmingly beautiful. I wanted to put it in a case under glass and not play it. But I did and the sound, the feel, the overall esthetic...the best. It’s a pro level instrument but you don’t have to be a pro to play it (I’m most certainly not) and love it forever. Thanks for your great review. No hype, right on, spot on as usual!
I own a Kanile'a and man, you are so right about hearing something new everytime you play it. I also feel that I can't do mines justice. Beautiful instrument, extraordinary brand.
To be honest, i'm not a great player - and whilst I don't think I could justify this price myself, did treat myself to a more affordable Kanile'a Tom. The great thing is - even at their entry level price points the quality is still absolutely sublime.
Oh wow that Kanilea rocks . Then you picked it and I cried . This could even sound good under my fingers . It sounds like an entire orchestra in your hand . I however have more chance of getting a got a ukelele T shirt . 😘
Wow, what a beautiful instrument. Love the finish & wood! So nice that anything else around the sound hole (binding or purfling) would actually take away from it. Love the sound. Time for me to start putting my spare change aside and saving up!
fantastic review... I hope none of us Americans are complaining about a UK exclusive. I'm sure there are a lot more instruments only sold in the US, and as you said they're shipping!
I do hope to own a Kanile’a one day... and purchase it in Hawaii while on a trip there with my daughters. A dream of mine. What a beautiful instrument. Lovely in all aspects. :) Lucky you :)
Yeah - the photos were taken outside in daylight and light at the moment during the day can wash out colours. The video cam is under indoor light and at 4K.
That's a nice uke for my cat to sharpen its claws on. That's what he did to one of mine. I think it might have made it sound better. Now I don't worry abt a scratch or dent on it.
Beautiful instrument and love the sound. I am looking for a Tenor ukelele with a wide neck for his large fingers. He’s just learning and it’s important to have a very good instrument and I’d like buy him one with as wide a neck as we can find. What is the nut length and is there a Tenor with a wide neck- anywhere?!
I’ve got a tenor with a low G. It’s essential for some finger style tunes. However I do not like a wound low G. Like one this uke, it dominates the overall sound. Too boomy for me. I suppose in the hands of a truly talented ukulele player it can be tamed.
@@rephrase1 Not sure I would agree it's essential at all - just different. Some of the best melody uke players I know use high G. it's just an adjustment - in fact, not even that. - high G IS the original uke tuning. Low G is the adjustment!. Saying that - agree on wound strings and if I ever go low G I use unwound myself.
WONDERFUL so beautiful ! I like manacot or mango. It's not in my budget now but later, sûre. For to begin i hésitante between ANueNue T3 or Islander MOT4 (Mango). can you tell me your opinion please ? Thanks a lot. Sorry, my english i's not good !
Stunning! You might feel you weren't doing it justice. I have to say I heard more nuances listening to you play through your review setlist than any other ukulele review I've watched.
@@alexbeds8141 Aint that the truth... Remember that bit in our interview where you pointed out that I sometimes say 'why the fuck am I doing this.....'... Yeah, that.
@@nickiemcnichols5397 Three now? wow.. wonder if those three could share their own views on nicer ukes? (they never do of course) I think it's a value thing. I get far more down votes for high end ukes than any others. I think they think they should not exist.
I have some trouble choosing the size of my first uke. I went to a store to see and hold some ukes for the first time and the tenor felt really comfortable in my hands (I'm 1.91 m tall), but the concert had a brighter sound, which I liked a bit more. I think it's common for beginners to choose a concert, but most of the time I see people playing the tenor, so I wonder if its worth buying a concert, since it looks like it's quite possible that I'll switch to a tenor in the future, if I continue playing the uke. Due to the lockdown I can't go and see more ukes, so I must choose one and order it online without holding it first. Note: I listen to IZ a lot and he usually played a low G tenor, so I think that's another reason for me to choose a tenor (but with high G), to match his sound as best as I can. What do you think?
No other person can advise you - it's a totally personal thing. Personally I mainly play sopranos and tenors.. so work that out! Low G does suit a tenor more for me though - not so much to do with sound, but it's hard to get low G tension right on smaller scales.
Hot diggety that's a spicy price. Looks like an amazing instrument though! From this video, the actions seems really high though, especially on the G. Is that just due to it being hard to capture on video, or is the action on the high side?
Wow. That sounds and looks amazing. Question: when strumming, are you using your finger pad, nail or dark magic? Instead of watching this in slow mo, with a magnifying glass, I figure I'll just go straight to the source!
bit of nail and bit of pad. I try to keep strumming hand nails longer, but not super long. I can then adapt how I hit strings with either nail or pad depending on sound I want.
@@GotAUkulele Thanks so much! I'm trying to adjust how I strum and am checking in with various people to see how they do it. I'll then give them all a go to see which methods sound and feel the best. Thanks again!
@@coolbudukeforever7305 I am, definitely! This is mine: www.southernukulelestore.co.uk/kanile-a-manako-solid-hawaiian-curly-mango-tenor-ukulele-w-armrest-22913/
cool instrument, i like the position of the fret dots, its always something new and refreshing. I dont rly care where an instrument is build. It might be built in china at the back of the store, if ukulele sounds good, whats the problem? Have no idea why these ukes are so expenisve, ok its v good instrument but 2k? ehmm
Worth every penny. The bill of materials is the small part. You are paying for craftsmens time to build these by hand - not robots to cut stuff out and other people to glue them together. That takes time and skill. Add on top of that American taxes, power costs, accommodation costs etc. Easy to see where the money goes. Hand made luthier build ukes made by Chuck Moore on Hawaii go for many thousands of dollars more (many thousands). They take him months to make.
The ones I buy with blog donations I do, but the majority of instruments I review are only loaned to me and are get shipped back to the brand / dealer / shop (like this one was)
I keep asking Fender to send me models - they never do - I do feature Fender when i have blog funds to justify it but they have been well catered for recently. Don't think I will be putting funds into another Fender for a while myself - but if you message them as I have and say you want to see a review on GAU, maybe they will listen. (They don't ever listen to me though!0
@@GotAUkulele I’m sorry you hate them! I look forward to your videos and have learned so much. They really truly make me happy. Thank you so much for the education!