Kala Travel Ukulele
RatingsThe ukulele is already a very transport-friendly instrument but the Kala thinline travel ukulele takes it one step further by reducing the depth of the ukulele's body (to 1 and a quarter inches). The ukulele comes in soprano and - strangely considering they're aiming for compactness - tenor size. They have a solid spruce top with mahogany, maple or lacewood back and sides.
To gimmick up the idea even further, some of these ukuleles now come with a compass in the headstock.
I don't leave my cave very often so I haven't invested in one of these. However, I do have a Kala Lacewood - which has the same specs as the travel lacewood apart from the body width. It's my favourite soprano so I have confidence that these will be great too. You can read my full Kala Lacewood review here.
Kala Travel Ukulele Review
I have two Kala travel ukes – a lacewood tenor and a cedar top tenor. They are fantastic, I don’t play anything else at the moment. They are quite different and I might have to keep both. The cedar is more mellow and sweet and seems to suit Worth strings, which don’t work so well on the spruce (sound a bit brittle), which is really grunty with Aquilas (I prefer concert gauge, and I’m going to try a set of sopranos when they arrive) I have had a concert travel concert too, but it didn’t seem to sing as well as all the tenors.
The term “travel” is a bit silly really – they are still too long to fit in a backpack. Slim body would be a better description. For me the attractions are the less boomy, more balanced tone compared to a standard tenor, and just the comfort of the slimmer body (sadly not like mine).
Here is a clip of my lacewood/spruce.
By plink freud.
On Video
Mike Upton of Kala ukuleles discusses and demonstrates a number of their travel ukes.
On eBay US
US $298.00
On eBay UK
Kala Soprano Travel Ukulele Review
Models
KA-SSTU Spruce and Mahogany Soprano
Size: Soprano
Construction: Solid Spruce top. Mahogany (laminated) back and sides.
Fretboard: Rosewood
Bridge: Synthetic bone
Neck: Mahogany
Binding: Black
Tuners: Geared, die-cast chrome.
Finish: Satin
KA-SSTU-T Spruce and Mahogany Tenor
Size: Tenor
Construction: Solid Spruce top. Mahogany (laminated) back and sides.
Fretboard: Rosewood
Bridge: Synthetic bone
Neck: Mahogany
Binding: Black
Tuners: Geared, die-cast chrome.
Finish: Satin
KA-SSLWTU Lacewood Soprano
Size: Soprano
Construction: Solid Spruce top. Solid lacewood back and sides.
Fretboard: Rosewood
Bridge: Synthetic bone
Neck: Mahogany
Binding: They call it red, I call it pink.
Tuners: Geared, die-cast chrome.
Finish: Satin
KA-SSLWTU-T Lacewood Tenor
Size: Tenor
Construction: Solid spruce top. Solid lacewood back and sides.
Fretboard: Rosewood
Bridge: Synthetic bone
Neck: Mahogany
Binding: They call it red, I call it pink.
Tuners: Geared, die-cast chrome.
Finish: Satin
KA-SST-FMCP Flame Maple Soprano
I believe this one is a limited edition and
Size: Soprano
Construction: Solid spruce top. Flamed maple (laminated) back and sides.
Fretboard: Rosewood
Bridge: Synthetic bone
Neck: Mahogany
Tuners: Geared, die-cast chrome.
Finish: Satin
3 Comments
it’s a great uke (I’ve got the standard travel soprano, and played the tenor). amazing value, and the gig bag is great. my only problem was I didn’t like the geared tuners, which knackered the balance of the instrument entirely. swapped for friction pegs, and job’s a good ‘un. that said, Kala, and in particular, Southern Ukulele Stores, are so into making everyone happy, that I think you can order friction pegs OR geared tuners, whichever is your preference.
perfect for stashing in your drawer at work or taking on your travels. highly recommended, either your second uke, or as a great starter instrument.
I got one of these travel Kala soprano’s for Christmas, and it is a lovely sounding instrument. Agree completely about the geared tuners. My local music shop supplied me some friction tuners, but they didn’t fit. So they got the holes plugged with bushes to make them work (thanks, Alistair’s Music!). In saying that, I got in touch with Kala and they recommend Grover Champion dulcimer friction tuners, which are available from Stewmac.com. Friction tuners are definitely the way to go with this uke.
i think the kala travel ukulele is a great uke. it definently is easy to travel with because of its size. i took it one a trip to kauai once and had no problem with it at all. i own a tenor kala travel ukulele and it is perfect.
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