KoAloha Ukulele
RatingsKoAloha started making ukuleles in 1995 and have quickly become very highly respected. There are an impressive number of top ukulelists using KoAloha ukuleles including Herb Ohta Jnr, Daniel Ho, Britt Paiva and Victoria Vox.
KoAloha ukuleles are all made of solid Koa wood (hence the name: koa+aloha=KoAloha) and built in their factory in Hawaii. As a result they are fairly expensive instruments, usually upwards of $400. They do also have a budget range called KoAlana which are built in China and finished in Hawaii. These ukuleles are in the $100 - $200 range but are hard to come by right now.
It can be quite tricky to get your hands on a KoAloha. From what I've heard, they're not easy to come across on the US mainland. Certainly, they're not easy to get in Europe. However, MGM usually has a good selection of them up on eBay and is always the first on the net with new models.
On Video
CNBC talk to Alvin 'Pops KoAloha' Okami.
On eBay
 KoAloha tenor ukulele  US $510.00
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 New KoAloha Concert Ukulele US $755.00
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 New KoAloha Tenor Ukulele Free Shipping Free Hard Case US $945.00
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KoAloha Signature Series
At the moment, KoAloha are working their way through a seven part Masterpiece Collection. This signature series will be seven individual and distinctive new designs of ukulele.
The first was the KoAloha Pineapple Sunday which takes the idea of a pineapple ukulele and takes it to its logical conclusion.
The second in the series was the KoAloha Sceptre. This is an absolutely incredible ukulele design. Here's a video of Alvin Okami doing a little mythologising about the instrument and displaying its incredible sound.
9 Comments
hello
my son Bastien live in Bordeaux and he play ukulle
So for his birhday i want to buy
KOALOHA SCEPTRE CONCERT UKULELE tweed
i live en france
can you give me a good price all included wih shipping
for this birhday its old of 25 years
i pay with CB
Thanks for your video and the song of charlie chalpin on the
KOALOHA SCEPTRE CONCERT UKULELE tweed
buathier: I don’t sell any ukes myself I’m afraid. The Sceptres are hard to come by – particularly in Europe. The only place I know selling one is musicguymic on eBay but don’t hang around because they tend to go quite fast.
I LOVE KoAloha! Some great people there in the factory and the ukuleles are an incredible work of art. Very cool.
I got my KoAloha soprano back in 2000 at the Ala Moana Mall ukulele kiosk. Sadly, it sat around, gathering dust, for 7 or 8 years, until I finally turned to it as my travel instrument–airlines can make a cheap guitar very expensive. I kick myself for the lost time. This baby has serious tone and volume! When I let someone check it out, I tell them, “Treat it like a gun, brah: Dis no toy!” No ka oi!
BTW, my Korg AW-2 tuner makes precise tuning a breeze! Now I have no excuse for not picking up my uke and learning more song.
Mahalo nui loa, KoAloha!
–Dave Eriksen
I bougth an koaloha super concert by MGM on ebay in july 2010. I love the great loud sound, intonation perfect and art. Now, i,m junt waiting my new koaloha soprano (by MGM again), to make another sounds! Any other uke is so good!
(Fabio – Brasil)
I’ve had a Koaloha Concert for about three years. It sounds as good as everybody claims. It has held up to many, many hours of hard use, and still been perfect for concert performance. I play it with Worth Clear fluorocarbon. These give it a darker sound than any others I’ve tried. I’ve had a K-Spot pickup installed and I did have the friction tuners replaced with Gotoh Mini tuning machines. Although the instrument always held very well, the Gotohs make accurate tuning very easy. I know Koaloha has some models with geared tuners. They would be my preference. Unless you want to have an ukulele custom made to your liking and needs, you can’t get any better than a Koaloha.
The best so far in sound and looks, I’m very please.
A few years back, I bought a Pineapple Sunday Concert Ukulele here in Hilo. I just love it and have a lot of compliments. I wish I can have Pops autograph it for me. What are the chances? Mahalo
I went looking for a Kamaka-quality tenor uke, and the only one I found was a gold-label vintage tenor that was dead sounding… must have been a second-quality instrument when new and store in a dry home with no humidifier. But the shop had a pretty KoAloha concert. I was trying various tenors and a couple sopranos when I tried this KoAloha… wow! It played so easy and had the sound of a beautiful jazz guitar. I pulled out all the hundreds and fifties I had for the tenor and bought the uke, a humidifier and a hardshell case. It is still my number one, go-to ukulele. I found I disliked the tone of Aquila strings but prefer the tone of Worth Browns over the factory-installed Worth Clears… but the clears would be second choice. I am rethinking buying a high-end tenor unless it is as good or better than my KoAloha concert.
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