Glad you reviewed that Ka-T, which is the very first uke I bought at a local store a few years ago. Mine had the original cut kerfing, but it also had sharp frets. That 34mm nut was also a bit thight for my fingers. But, on the other hand, the sound was unbelievably resonant. So, although I don't play it often anymore, I kept it all those years for those times when I don't want to bring my other (solid wood) ukes outside. Another great review, Chris! Thanks
Thanks! I find myself shocked at Kala's continued moves to cut costs even with (relatively) high prices--and now they sell direct, too. It's an odd business model, but they have enough brand recognition that they can get away with it!
This Kala KA -T has a good sound but in my opinion it would be better with a bit larger nut. I got a Kala Solid Acacia Tenor and sounds very good but the nut is only 35 mm. It is a pity!
At some point, Kala even used laurel for the fretboard and bridge. I thought that was very cheap of them, similar to what Martin are doing using some completely random woods no one's ever heard of. I'm glad to see Kala went back to rosewood. The only pink strings I've seen are Uke Logic strings and those look remarkably similar so I wouldn't be surprised if they're the ones on the Kala. Great strings but really hard to get hold of outside the US.
These were installed before Joel started UkeLogic, so I'm sure they are not his strings...but they might actually be the same product. The string industry isn't talking, but as you know, there are a lot of rumors that 3 or 4 factories worldwide make up all of the fluorocarbon string that is sold in the world.
You can see my other comment-Tenors are actually not my preferred scale-I play concerts first and foremost. Even at $100, I’d save up some more to consider more options. In my other list, I said I would buy a ukulele with a purpose after you pass the beginner stage as other instruments will find themselves in your collection. This includes the Enya Nova Pro and the Outdoor Ukulele Tenor, both that can become travel ukuleles after you move to other instruments. There are “cheap” options for tenors, but the choices really expand around $200 to $225. And for many players I would still suggest saving for something like the KoAloha Opio Tenor-used. But that’s much more. Decent entry level tenors include Ranch, Donnor, Aklot, and Enya. You won’t find any “store” brands under $100 or at least not with the other things you would need (e.g. case) such as Kala, Ohana, Flight and so on. You might also want to save a little more and look at the Flight Iris or the Anuenue UT10 models.
I’d recommend the Flight. You’ll get a similar quality instrument plus a gig bag for less. But as I always say, I do some part time work with Flight and that does influence my experience with the company. When I have reached out to Kala in the past, I was not responded to.
I'm new to ukuleles and have been watching several videos on RU-vid on ukuleles. There was very limited selection of ukuleles at my local music store but they had one of these. I strummed it, sounded terrible but it was out of tune. I tuned it and tried it again... better but to my ears this sounds like a toy. It did have the high g string, so that probably didn't help with the sound. I am in Canada, so the price in Canada $224 + 15% tax = $256.60 I am not really hearing much of a difference between this and those $50 soprano bottom of the line cheap ones. This is also really tiny, I was expecting it to be a little bigger as they always look bigger in these videos. I guess I was surprised and disappointed, was hoping to hear something that sounded better.
This is Kala’s entry level ukulele; you really won’t hear a difference in sound until you move to a solid top. The big different will be space on the frets on a tenor versus that of a soprano.
Thanks Chris, I own one of these, it's my least played ukulele. Mainly because I prefer playing a soprano. It sounds good and plays well. Has a walnut fret board and bridge. No kerfing. Definitely falls in to the "would not buy again category", didn't know any better. I'm not a luthier, so.......... I'm not sure the scar joint placement is all that critical. But I do know the piano bridge is complex and critical to the sound . I see them with and without scarf joints. Vertically and horizontally laminated, solid too. Most have a laminated cap that the wire rests on. Laminated soundboards in a piano have never sounded good to me, but they were in inexpensive pianos.
Thanks for the comment, Gary! Wow...no kerfing on yours, either? That's inexcusable on a $125 ukulele that isn't made by KoAloha. I don't think the scarf joint is critical, but there is something to be said for trying to get every ounce of resonance out of such a small instrument, as the tiniest vibration could lead to a better sound. Most of all, like kerfing or other cosmetic issues, it signals "penny saving" on a ukulele that is no longer competitive.
