koaloha silver tenor ktm-00 (ktm-25)

hawaii based koaloha announced a limited series of ukuleles for their 25th anniversary in 2020. before the pandemic started they set the numbers to a maximum of 500 tenors, 250 concerts and 250 sopranos to be built for this special occasion – but then the pandemic kicked in and slowed down everything. three quarters of the jubilee year are over and only roughly half of the serial numbers have hit the markets; chances are they will never be able to build all of the planned 1000 instruments…

anyway, i am venturing towards bigger: sizewise and pricewise this ukulele is a step above my usual ballpark. but it also is my first contact with one of the “4 k” lutheries (hawaii based kamaka, koaloha, kanile’a, ko’olau are said to be the top four ukulele manufacturers on earth)

koaloha is a family owned small business on the island of oahu where their standard koa line is carefully handcrafted. other popular lines are the intermediate “opio” (= junior), built from acacia in thailand and the entry-level “koalana” line made in indonesia. manufacturing and quality standards are the same across all their factories.

specifications

body: all solid premium koa (bookmatched), gloss finish, “musubi” soundhole – and the special “unibox” bracing inside
neck: sapele, cnc carved
fingerboard: ebony with ebony binding; 20 frets (14 to body); abalone dots & side markers on 5, 7, 10, 12
bridge: ebony
nut & saddle: tusq
5-pointed crown headstock with ebony faceplate and abalone logo inlay
closed geared (21:1) tuners with logo
strings: koaloha clear low-g fluorocarbon
weight: 604g
length: overall 68cm (21 ¼”), body 30cm
upper bout: 16.5cm
lower bout: 23cm
depth: 6cm at neck joint, 7cm at bottom
fretboard width: 38mm at nut
string spacing: 28mm at nut, 36mm at 12th fret (measured from outer edge g-string to outer edge a-string)
scale: 434mm (~17”) from nut to bridge
serial #177 (built august 2020)

first hands-on impressions

just wow. it looks and feels like a true piece of art, clear and pure with a nice grain and the typical 3d-effects. the weight and balance feel exactly right for the size, strings are comfortably “soft” without being floppy. these are not your average fluorocarbon strings, they are koaloha exclusive selected by “pops” alvin okami himself.

pictures (for the time being) shamelessly copied from andreas david where i once again got the instrument.