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Friday, 3 January 2014

UKULELE REVIEW SK-350G Ohana Soprano Solid Hawaiian Koa Wood Uke

OHANA SK-350G SOPRANO UKULELE LIMITED EDITION.

 Sadly the Ship Has Sailed on this Limited Edition Ohana .. no more are left in Australia.

The top of the range Ohana SK-350G is from Ohana Ukuleles 'Limited Edition' range of ukuleles, and what a truly awesome instrument it is.

SPECIFICATIONS
Solid koa top, back & sides
Abalone inlay, top, rosette & head
Rosewood fingerboard & bridge
Mahogany binding / headstock overlay
Premium geared tuners
Aquila strings
Bone nut & saddle
Gloss finish

Construction.
Beautiful hand-detailing makes it a knock-out  looker, and as with all Ohana ukuleles they are hand-crafted. All solid Top, back and sides of select Hawaiian Islands Koa wood with a 15 fret rosewood fingerboard and rosewood bridge.   Mahogany neck with koa headstock overlay. Abalone inlay, bound body, glossy finish, deluxetuners and Aquila strings.

The Abalone Inlays and Rosette wont improve the sound, but it does give it that 'Wow Factor' when you take the ukulele out of its case.  It looks the business and a bit of bling never fails to impress your friends.

The Clear gloss finish has that "dipped in glass' quality, very shiny and quite hard to photograph.  Obviously lots of sanding and spraying involved to get such a high gloss finish.

This Ukulele looks so good with its wonderful honey hued figured Hawaiian koa wood that you could hang it on the wall as a piece of art. Too good looking to hide in a case.


 Woods.
Hawaiian Koa Back Sides and Top
This very beautiful wood comes exclusively from The Big Island of Hawaii, making supply very limited. Its weight varies somewhat from medium to heavy.  A tropical hardwood, koa's tone blends the midrange of mahogany with the top end of maple. Due to its density, a new koa instrument tends to start out sounding a little bright and tight, somewhat like maple. But the more a koa ukulele is played, the more the sound opens up, expanding the midrange and rewarding the player with a richer, sweeter, more resonant tone.

Anyone who has ever seen a nice piece of koa would be hard-pressed to deny its' stunning good-looks. Highly sought after because of its' beauty and tonal characteristics.

Rosewood Fingerboard
The most popular fingerboard wood!  Rosewood has the warm "rock-n-roll" tonality.  The warm tone is also a favourite amongst blues players. The feel is smooth and fast.

Neck Wood.
Mahogany is the neck wood most associated with Gibson guitars. Mahogany is known to provide the warmest, fattest tones. An open grain wood requiring more work in finishing to fill the open pores. The neck is very nicely shaped and fits in the left hand well.

Fretwork and Fingerboard feel.
Fretwork and fingerboard workmanship is immaculate and it plays smooth as butter.  The dark coloured rosewood board is smooth and tight grained and coupled with the smooth highly polished frets, make bending notes a breeze.  This Ukulele is as good for finger-style picking and lead work as it is for comping rhythm chords.

This one goes to 15 (frets)
Most Soprano ukuleles are fitted with just 12 frets (a one octave neck) or you can get 'long neck" Sopranos, but the long neck means larger fret spacing and the body to neck weight balance is drastically altered.  Long neck sopranos are an acquired taste.

This ukulele falls in-between these two types.  The OhanaSK-350G is fitted with an extended fretboard with 15 frets. Not a 'long neck" soprano as such, so the feel and balance of the instrument is still that 'small familiar soprano'. Its great to have the extra frets, when you are playing lead you need those extra frets!

Nut / Saddle material and workmanship.
The Nut and Bridge Saddle are of very traditional material, bone.  Bone is a hard material to work with, but it has that funky vintage look.  But bone must be cut cleanly to keep strings from binding in slots. Bone gives a sound that is bright, clear, and detailed. Not an easy material to work with, but well worth the effort, 'props' to the person who shaped and cut the nut.

Intonation.
I checked the intonation at the 12th fret and it is spot on. A pleasant surprise as proper intonation on the short scale soprano ukuleles can be problematic. Being such a small scale instrument any misplacement of nut/bridge/fret by even fractions of a millimetre can have a large effect on intonation.  Lets imagine the worker has a bad day and the bridge is glued on with a half a millimetre misplacement fault, this will have much less of an effect on a larger scale length tenor or Baritone Ukulele.  On a soprano the results are disastrous. The nut, bridge and frets are obviously all exactly in proper position.

A small detail to specify good quality tuners but very welcome.
Tuners are of a ratio that tuning is fast when restringing, but still smooth and accurate in fine tuning. Often a penny or two is saved in specifying cheaper tuners that are either too stiff or too slack.  Poor tuners are frustrating as they seem to jump from being either too flat or sharp.  The tuners fitted to the Ohana glide up to proper tune well, no fiddling back and forth. They are also of an interesting shape, very oval in length but not very wide, with gold coloured screws and metal enclosed body. From the rear they look modern, from the front the black buttons and gold grub screw look proper vintage.

Summary The SK-350G Soprano Ukulele:
A well-appointed 15 Fret Koa Soprano, nice sounding uke of fine craftsmanship, one to play, enjoy, and show off.  Plays as nice as it looks, sure to have the "Ahh and Drool" factor at your local Ukulele Club or on-stage at a gig.



ABOUT OHANA UKULELES
"Ohana translated from Hawaiian means "Family" and their ukuleles do embody that comfortable homely feel.  Ohana Ukuleles offer many models - from soprano to baritone, mahogany to selected koa from the islands of Hawaii, conventional to vintage models, plus unique ones for those who are looking for something different.

At Ohana Ukuleles their goal is to provide the highest quality hand-crafted ukulele at a reasonable price. Every ukulele that leaves the Ohana warehouse is carefully inspected and set up for maximum playability.

Yes that's right — EVERY UKULELE, regardless of model and price. Should musicians compromise on quality just because they need an entry-level ukulele? Ohana don't think they should.

Ohana Ukuleles believe in the basic concepts of QUALITY, PLAYABILITY, and VALUE. As a player you deserve each of these when you purchase a musical instrument.

Meanwhile, have fun, share the Aloha spirit with your loved ones, and Happy Strumming!"




Cheers CC.

Christopher Carr 
The Ukulele Trading Co Australia
Purveyors of Ukulele Workshops & Private Lessons + Fine New and Used Ukuleles.
Want the Mobile "Popup" Music Store at your Business, Corporate or Community Event?
EMAIL            chrisfromukuleletrading AT gmail.com
Phone 0432 306 920












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