The Ukulele Trading Co Australia: Setup

THE OHANA STORY
Quality . Playability . Value

As an homage to the spirit of family and with a passion for music, Ohana was born. We are a small, community-oriented ukulele company best known for our commitment to quality—every instrument is individually inspected and set up before delivery to our authorized dealers around the world.

That’s because we believe that regardless of your skill level, your ukulele should be functional and immediately playable, so the places you go with it are marked by the experiences that awaken you.

Today, Ohana contributes to interesting lives everywhere, heading out to far reaches of the globe. Bands have formed. Songs have been played. Relationships have been built. Lives have been changed. And whether you are purchasing your first, next, or best ukulele, we’re here to help. Welcome to the family.

Quality, Playability, Value
Headquartered in Long Beach, CA, we at Ohana, believe in the importance of Quality, Playability, and Value. Since 2006, we have focused on making ukuleles from rich tone woods and constructions that yield the best-sounding instruments possible.

From Our Warehouse To You
We are passionate in what we do, which is why we make it our top priority to properly inspect and set up every instrument before being shipped. We believe that an instrument ought to be functional, playable, and most importantly, be able to inspire a person to continue to learn and create music.

At Ohana, we believe innovation is the key to any endeavor, tempered with an appreciation of those who paved the way for the ukulele before us. When conceptualizing a new line, we take everything into consideration— from sourcing and pairing tone woods, to the unique shape and construction of each model.

The Ohana Spirit
As a player, you deserve Quality, Playability, and Value, when purchasing a musical instrument. Thank you for choosing Ohana as part of your ukulele collection. We promise to continue to strive for excellence in our instruments and service.

Start Your Ohana Collection Today

Testimonials from Ohana owners - these instruments are getting a lot of love.

Pictures for comparison only.

Ukulele and Case Package $599
Concert Ukulele Kala KA-ASAC-C and Hard-case Package.

The Concert size Ukulele fits in between the smaller Soprano and the larger Tenor Size. It's the Goldilocks Size, not too big not too small.

A soprano has less Volume, has less Bass and has less Frets (notes) than a Concert. And a Soprano, being so small an instrument, may prove to be quite a squeeze playing chords.

Whereas playing the larger Tenor size you may find the neck getting too big for smaller hands.

So why struggle with the Tenor size ukulele when a Concert Uke offers the number of frets you need, with the full loud tone you want.

Includes;
KA-ASAC-C Ukulele ($595)
Polyfoam Hardcase ($80)
Clip On Headstock Tuner ($15)
Setup ($50)
Free Shipping (approx $45 value within mainland Australia).

Your Choice of
1. Aquila or Worth Strings.
2. Low or High G String.
3. Right or Left-handed.

MAX BANG FOR YOU DOLLAR
Kala have got a lot of things right with their acacia range of ukes. They’re obviously going after a more serious ukulele player but they’re keeping it affordable by using Acacia wood (a close relation of Koa and much cheaper) and manufacturing it in China.

'Definitely worth checking these Solid Acacia ukuleles if you’re in the market for a quality uke,
but don’t have a massive budget.'

Solid woods are usually reserved for high end professional luthier constructed ukuleles great to see a solid wood ukulele at this mid range price point. If you were looking for a beautiful, solid wood concert in this price range, then put this All Solid Acacia Concert from Kala on you short list, check out the pictures and the sound demo and you may find that the KA-ASAC-C may be just what you want.

SOUND DEMO

Pictures for comparison only.

SOLID WOOD AGES LIKE FINE WINE

Solid wood ukuleles sound better from the get go, but they get better with time, the wood ages like fine wine. Unlike Ply (which is a laminate of 3 slices of wood glued together) solid wood ukuleles will dry out over time.

As moisture leaves the wood the top, back and sides become stiffer and lighter, that’s a good thing as the lighter and stiffer the wood the more resonant it is.

The stiffer and lighter the wood the better string energy can be transferred, that means a better dynamic range of frequencies and more volume.

Ply Ukes will sound pretty much the same now as in ten years, solid wood ukuleles will improve every year you own it.

Pictures for comparison only.

A RELATIVE OF KOA WOOD

Solid Acacia trees are also called the Mimosa or Shower Tree; these tropical trees are cousins of the Hawaiian Koa tree. They have gorgeous striped patterns of light and dark brown and have a deep colourful tone that match their visual beauty.

My analogy for the Koa v Acacia wood is its 'Champagne if it’s made in France, sparkling wine if it’s made elsewhere'. Do not think that Acacia is inferior to Koa, it's not.

These solid wood ukes are trimmed with rosewood edge binding and classic herringbone purfling and custom position markers accent the fret board.

'This beautiful, all-solid Striped Acacia
has the WOW FACTOR,
that is going to get admiring looks from your friends at ukulele club'

Pictures for comparison only.

Some of the key features - a rosewood bridge and fingerboard, and ebony nut and saddle. Decorative features include custom abalone fret marker inlays, rosewood binding and vintage-style herringbone purfling.

With the all solid acacia wood construction this Kala is sweet and loud... a sweetness that ply laminate construction just cannot achieve.

DON'T BUY A LEMON

I never ship unopened boxes, every Ukulele I sell gets a thorough inspection for cosmetic flaws and a play test, every note at every fret, then is setup to play the best it possibly can.

SETUP IS INCLUDED

Mass produced ukuleles come with "factory settings" and to get more units 'out the door' they err on the side of Medium to High-action (ACTION = The Gap between the bottom of the string and the top of the frets).

The Higher the 'Action', the harder your ukulele is to play,
sadly some ukes I've seen you can drive a truck under the strings.
I don’t like that and you won’t either.

TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY CHANGES
Ukuleles are made in the Far East and travel to Australia via Bulk Cargo Container Ship. Sitting in 40 foot containers out at sea for months takes its toll on the wood, as it reacts to the changes in temperature and humidity.

That's why I never ever ever ship out an unopened uke box, every ukulele is checked, tuned and played and then Set-up for proper play.

SET-UP INCLUDED

I set up each instrument to ensure you get the absolute best feel possible from your ukulele for your money.

This includes, if required, altering Saddle and Nut heights/slots, Fret work and intonation checks, with levelling, re-crowning, fret end filing and fret polishing.

In Set up Ukuleles, the Fret ends will be smoother so your instrument feels more comfortable in your left hand, frets will be level and polished so you get the best possible contact between string and fret to extract every ounce of energy and tone.

Also fret boards dry out a little and shrink leaving the ends of the frets exposed and feeling sharp. I remove these rough fret ends and treat the board with lemon oil to hydrate and protect it.

You get your choice of

1. Aquila or Worth Strings.

2. Low or High G String.

3. Right or Left-handed.

Standard is Aquila High G Right-handed, let me know if you want something else.

Pictures for comparison only.

CAN YOU FEEL THE DIFFERENCE?
YES YOU CAN FEEL THE DIFFERENCE A PROPER SETUP MAKES

Just about every Ukulele can benefit from having a thorough setup. You can feel the difference between a non-set up uke and a uke that has been through the Set Up Process.

SPECIFICATIONSSize: Concert

14-7/8 Concert Scale (Distance from Nut to Saddle)

24-3/8 Overall body length

11 Body length

6 Upper Bout

8-1/4 Lower Bout

5 Waist

2-1/4 to 2-3/4 Arched Back Body depth

1-3/8 At Nut

All solid Acacia Top, Sides and Back

Rosewood Binding with herringbone purfling

18 Silver Nickel Frets