I was in down-town, near Waikiki and I decided to ask Google if there where any ukulele things nearby. Turned out that 2 short blocks away was the Koaloha ‘factory’ and showroom. Koaloha is one of the big three ukulele makers in Hawaii. So, of course, I walked over.
Had a nice time looking at their instruments, talking the the guy in the showroom, seeing how Koaloha instruments are made (rather differently from other instruments), etc. It came out that I was a builder, which helped take the conversation to the next level about how things are done. In the middle of this, out from the back came the guy who founded Koaloha, “Pops”. I was introduced, and we got to talking. He is very interested in how I do my finish with TruOil because of some side projects he is working on. We talked wood (I’m going to send him some Port Orford cedar and redwood) and we generally had a great time. Got a behind the scenes look at the shop, he showed off his fret slotting machine which he built, etc. He went upstairs and brought down two latest instruments which he says are the best sounding he has ever built (and he claims to have built 15,000 ukuleles). He had a fantastic local artist decorate these ‘pineapple’ shaped ukuleles with pineapple, via incredible wood burning. I was invited back the next time I’m in town, and he was particularly interested in seeing and more importantly hearing my instruments. I got to be friends with one of the ukulele greats, and what with wood and finish we will have some on-going contacts.
