NUD: KoAloha Slimline Tenor

necessaryrooster

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I know, NUD again so soon?! It was posted on the marketplace and I couldn't resist. I've been wanting one of these for a while now, but they've been sold out everywhere except for Mim, who only has one with a pickup already installed, which I don't want. This was a great deal and Uke Up was a delight to do business with. Responsive, shipped quickly, packaged the uke up fantastically, and it came exactly as described; looks brand new. Great setup originally done by TUS.

This thing is amazing. It's hard to believe the projection and sustain that comes out of this thing. Listening to TUS sound samples comparing the slimline to the regular body, I couldn't tell the difference between the two, and in person it's the same. This little guy is a cannon. I don't know how KoAloha does it, but they really knocked it out of the park. The thin body is super comfortable to hold; neck is the standard comfortable KoAloha specs (I love their necks; they always fit perfectly in my hands). The back vibrates wonderfully against your body when strumming. Beautiful grain pattern (I'll add some pics this weekend, but if you pop over into the marketplace Uke Up already took some good pictures).

Really loving this uke; glad I finally managed to get my hands on one.
 
Congrats, necessaryrooster! I've been "thin line KTM-curious" for some time and saw the same uke for sale. Glad you moved on it fast because - otherwise - I was going to have a problem sticking my principles! Hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of this one. Koalohas are great musical instruments.
 
Nice! I’m pretty intrigued by thinline tenors too. Been eyeballing those Rebel thinline Cheesecake Tenors at TUS for a while. Congrats!
 
I wonder if anyone makes a case for thinlines. Probably not since there are so few. Be nice to have a slightly slimmer case for a slimmer instrument though.
 
Congrats. Those Koaloha slim lines have a great sound and are so easy to take with you wherever you go. It is difficult to hear the difference between the KoAloha slimline and regular production tenor unless you play them side by side. On their own, it is great. The first one I ever tried was Daniel Ho's when he came for a concert. The KoAloha Slim line was all he needed for a full day of ukulele workshops followed by a concert.
 
I wonder if anyone makes a case for thinlines. Probably not since there are so few. Be nice to have a slightly slimmer case for a slimmer instrument though.
This one came in a Kala thinline case. The body fits really well, but since Kala necks are thicker than Koalohas, the neck divot is a little too big and needs a bit of padding added.
 
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Nice! I’m pretty intrigued by thinline tenors too. Been eyeballing those Rebel thinline Cheesecake Tenors at TUS for a while. Congrats!
My curiosity for this was piqued after playing a Rebel thinline concert. I'm also a huge fan of those Rebels; almost pulled the trigger on one of those several times due to the lack of KoAlohas circulating.
 
My curiosity for this was piqued after playing a Rebel thinline concert. I'm also a huge fan of those Rebels; almost pulled the trigger on one of those several times due to the lack of KoAlohas circulating.
Well last week I ordered one of those slimline Rebel Cheesecake Tenors. I hope they do the slimline thing as well as KoAloha does (by all accounts I’ve seen they do). On the TUS comparison of the slimline vs regular KTMs I actually like some aspects of the slimline tone better than the regular (I hear slightly faster response and slighly more note separation).

That said, TBH, I’m a little nervous if I made the right choice. I just listened to sound samples and made my choice. I may call and chat with someone at TUS just to get their thoughts on the differences.

Assuming I stick with my slimline order I’ll need to find a case still. I don’t think kala sells those slimline cases anymore. Or I don’t see any online anyway. No biggy, I’ll figure something out.
 
Well last week I ordered one of those slimline Rebel Cheesecake Tenors. I hope they do the slimline thing as well as KoAloha does (by all accounts I’ve seen they do). On the TUS comparison of the slimline vs regular KTMs I actually like some aspects of the slimline tone better than the regular (I hear slightly faster response and slighly more note separation).

That said, TBH, I’m a little nervous if I made the right choice. I just listened to sound samples and made my choice. I may call and chat with someone at TUS just to get their thoughts on the differences.

Assuming I stick with my slimline order I’ll need to find a case still. I don’t think kala sells those slimline cases anymore. Or I don’t see any online anyway. No biggy, I’ll figure something out.
I'm pretty new to the uke game, but I have a good ear. Your assessment of the Koaloha and Rebel slimlines matches mine: a little faster response, a little more not separation ... and, I think, a little cleaner EQ mix as it minimizes just a touch of the Koaloha boomy-ness, without sacrificing much sustain. That's my read on it anyway. And, boy, do those Rebels feel good in the hand and tucked in against you. I don't think you'll be the least bit disappointed your purchase.
 
How shallow are they compared to regular tenor depth? I am actually looking for the opposite, a deep body tenor that is more suitable for low G. I am surprised that this is so uncommon.
 
I'm pretty new to the uke game, but I have a good ear. Your assessment of the Koaloha and Rebel slimlines matches mine: a little faster response, a little more not separation ... and, I think, a little cleaner EQ mix as it minimizes just a touch of the Koaloha boomy-ness, without sacrificing much sustain. That's my read on it anyway. And, boy, do those Rebels feel good in the hand and tucked in against you. I don't think you'll be the least bit disappointed your purchase.

Thanks for chiming in. Glad you hear what I hear. I do like the note seperation and I already have a regular thickness KTM so the thin body might make it a little more of a nice contrast. With this and the KTM I'll probably keep one setup low G and tune the other reentrant but drop it to Bb or lower. I think tenors sound great in Bb. With the slightly beefier mids and highs and the slightly reduced low end there is the conundrum of trying to determine if that will lead to more clarity or just less resonence. Of course, the low g on there seems to resonate just fine (with just a bit less low end and sustain then on the full thickness) so even if I dropped all the way to reentrant dGBE I think it would sound good and maybe even be a bit clearer than a full body. While I am pretty big person, I play a lot of sopranos and get used to that close to the body feel so I like the idea of a tenor with that feel. Finally, the other thing that makes me feel like I made the right choice is in the sound sample Kalei and Andrew have one of those moments at the end where they just blurt out how good they think it sounds. When that happens it a pretty safe bet that it's a damn good sounding instrument.

@necessaryrooster I sorta hijacked your thread here. Hope you don't mind. Was really just trying to followup on our previous discussion. Feel free to tell me to take a hike.

 
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How shallow are they compared to regular tenor depth? I am actually looking for the opposite, a deep body tenor that is more suitable for low G. I am surprised that this is so uncommon.
They a 3/4 shallower. So about 2" instead of 2 3/4".

Here is a fascinating read on the subject of body depth from a builder who took it to an extreme (on the thin end of things) to judge the impact.

 
@CPG You're good! It's all relevant :)
Well in that case.

I chatted with Joel at TUS/HMS. He basically said that our perception was correct. He said that the thinbody models are very similar to the full body version but you just lose a little of the low end bass and as a result the higher mids and treble usually come through a bit more. He said he often suggests the thinbody models when a player wants a bright, quick, punchy tone with a lot of projection and that while the sustain usually isn't quite as long with a thinbody, the projection usually increases a bit because the sound isn't lingering around in the body as long. This also mirrors what that thread I linked to seemed to say. Basically you lose a bit of bass response but gain a bit of volume and clarity.

So anyway, I very nearly changed my order to a a double cheesecake or double creme, but as I thought a bit about what I wanted with this uke I decided to keep it as is and stick with the thin body model. I placed the order about 8 days ago so I think it'll get setup pretty soon here. I'll post a NUD when I get it.
 
I have a Bonanza thin body mahogany tenor that has a such a clear tone that there’s almost no character. The full body on my other tenors adds a bit of reverb and complexity that muddies the tone, but not in a bad way.
 
Congratulations on your new KoAloha Thinline Tenor! I looked at the original marketplace listing, and your new uke has very pretty Koa!

By the way, your post reminded me of how much I like KoAloha Thinlines (a friend has one), so I went to Mim's website and bought the one she was selling.
 
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