Members g6120 Posted August 16, 2015 Members Share Posted August 16, 2015 I have a 2004 Koaloha solid Koa ukulele that I bought in Hawai'i when it was new. It's a tenor size with the crown shaped bridge. My wife picked up the case which was not shut properly (my 10 year old boy has been using it). So the uke hit the floor and got some cracks in the end and in the top. I took it to Hawai'i with me and while there I took it to the Koaloha factory for repair. They looked at it and said it's one of the rarer models because they don't make the crown bridge anymore. They gave me a price of $200 to do all the repair work and completely refinish the entire uke. That's what I call a bargain. I paid $800 for it new and the Koaloha guys said I got a very good deal. Was fun to see where it was made. While there I picked up a $250 Koalana uke for my boy. It's laminated mahogany but built to Koaloha specs and it sounds great. He plays it every day now. Here's a photo of the type of bridge mine has: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted August 16, 2015 Members Share Posted August 16, 2015 Sorry to hear about the damage to your uke but I'm glad everything turned out okay. I have a very old Harmony uke I inherited from mom and I need to get it put back in playable condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Two hundred bucks to fix a cracked top and then refinish the entire instrument does indeed sound like an excellent deal! Good on you for getting your boy his own uke and encouraging his musicianship! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mickey Maguire Posted August 22, 2015 Members Share Posted August 22, 2015 Paul Okami is a great guy. I have worked closely with KoAloha over the last few years. Paul sent me a KoAlana uke and I did a review of it on YouTube. They are well-made little ukes. In my review, I mentioned that they were laminated and talked about durability and affordability. The necks are made with CNC machines and they are really nice. The frets are also dressed perfectly on the sample Paul sent me. If anyone is heading to Hawaii, and you want to see their factory, they give tours to visitors. Paul sent me lots of factory shots for an article I wrote about their factory and line of ukes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mickey Maguire Posted August 22, 2015 Members Share Posted August 22, 2015 BTW... KoAloha is working on a baritone uke, but, I don't have a date for roll-out. I hope to get my hands on one of those when they finally hit retail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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