Kiwaya & Mainland side by side for toobacat

Hi Toobacat,

Choosing between the Mainland & Kiwaya, that's a tuffie. They both have their merits!

]Kiwaya KS-1
PRO: action & intonation were low which I really enjoy. No tweaking of the nut or saddle necessary. Frets are "skinny", bridge is compensated. Intonation is spot on even when I apply more pressure to the strings. Good intonation helps the uke really sing when strumming. Nice uke with balanced sound that I enjoy strumming.
CON:The tone is nice & full, however it will not improve with age due to the fact that it is a laminate (a very nice quality laminate though)

Mainland Mahogany Concert
PRO: All solid wood uke has a nice tone that even sounds good from the back. Bold sound that will improve with age, Beautiful Uke! I like this uke especially when I need to sprinklle in some melodic playing along with strumming.
CON: (Well not really... read on) Action of nut & saddle needed a little tweak.. . (Actually this is normal) But now it seems like a couple of 2nd fret notes are sharp. Is it the thicker fretwire? Too much finger pressure? Or did I tweak the nut & saddle too much? Probably yes to all three. After spending a lot of time on the Kiwaya & Flea, I thought a tweak was in order. No w I should see a accomplished tweaker to retweak or untweak. Not a Mainland problem... more of a tweak obsessed franulele induced problem.

Anyhoo, both are very nice ukuleles. Different strengths. Both are excellent values, and you can't go wrong.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Ukulele
• Uke
• Mainlaind
• Kiwaya
• Review

[franulele]

A Mainland will need a humidifier if you're in a dry climate or heat in the winter, b/c it 's solid wood, not laminate. Can be a Ziploc baggie with holes punched & anti-microbial cellulose kitchen sponge (google "o-celo sponge" to see pix) inside. Wet sponge, squeeze out the excess H2o, put in the baggie & inside the uke. Mainland is a very nice company.. If they're out, they'll get another batch. Just call Mike.Never bought anything from UU, but never read anything bad on UU either.

[Kenyora22]

So nice! *-* Would the mainland concert uke need a humidifier? Also, at the mainland website it is out of stock but at ukuleleunderground it is in stock. Would you think they are a good supplier? (sorry I am so paranoid :P)

Thanks so much!

[jinfuuu]

how much is the kiwaya concert?

[scx493x]

Mainland concert under my christmas tree I think,lot of help there.

Thanks

Craig

[smyrna5]

Nice comparison. Thanks for taking the time to do it.

[toobacat]

Thanks so much for this comparison.

[KenMiddletonUkulele]

Very clear. They both sound very good. How a uke sounds is more to do with the player than the instrument. You played them both really cleanly.

[deach69]

Nice comparison. Seems like the right answer is to get both.