Got A Ukulele | Kala Pan Pacific Deluxe Soprano Ukulele (KA-F8D-KOA-S) – REVIEW | YouTube Version
Barry Maz this week reviews a new Kala I’ve been enjoying for about 6 weeks, after being blown away by one of the first to arrive at Uke Republic around the end of August. It’s a limited edition model, part of Kala’s 20th Anniversary celebration, and it’s a koa soprano that seems to hit way above its $499 pricing. There are two models, the Deluxe with maple and rosewood rope purfling, wood binding front and back, an ebony fretboard, and gold planetary tuners, and a Standard model that sells for $100 less without the upgrades and with silver tuners.
They’re called the Pan Pacific because they harken back to the ukulele as it existed at the time of the San Francisco Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915, which essentially introduced Hawaii and the ukulele to continental America. It’s a Figure 8 body with a narrow waist and a 12-fret fingerboard that ends at the body. Strings are by Savarez, and both models include a custom, well-padded gig bag with red lining and an emblem that matches the headstock (two men arm/wrist wrestling, a nod to Kala’s home town of Petaluma hosting the sport’s world championship),
Barry in a nutshell says Kala “knocked it out of the park” with this one, and tips it as an early candidate for his ukulele of the year. He gives it a 10 out of 10 for value.
It’s a very lightweight instrument, and the back tapers to the neck. The tuners are from Der Jung, and they combine the old-time rear tuner look with modern gearing for quick, easy tuning.
I don’t know exactly how to describe the Pan Pacific’s sound, but it projects very well and it just sounds “put together” in a way that again, I can’t really describe. There are songs I play where the resonance makes certain chords feel like this little uke is kicking me in the forearm. There are a couple of clips of better players than me playing it linked both above and below. Barry hits all the good ukulele tone words: “punch”, “bark”, “shimmer”, and even “sustain.”
I was at Uke Republic on Saturday, and Mike said he thinks he’ll get in one more Standard and one more Deluxe, and that’s it for this run. If you love sweet-sounding sopranos, you should seriously consider hopping on one of those.
Barry mentions in his review that Kala is considering adding a similar solid mahogany model after this limited koa edition, and I guess we’ll see how those stack up (and how they compare to Ohana’s similar mahogany SK-28) when they appear.
The provided case is one of the best padded gig bags I’ve seen included with an instrument. Nevertheless, I bought a standard Kala soprano hardcase for my Pan Pacific. I had to customize the fit a bit, by using the supplied spacer blocks and gluing them to the narrowest part of the waist inside the case. With that modification, the Pan Pacific fits snugly in place.
Some other links with sound samples:
Uke Republic | Kala KA F8D KOA S Solid Koa Figure 8 Soprano Ukulele Demo by UKE Republic
Southern Ukulele Store | KALA 20TH ANNIVERSARY UKULELES – Limited Run Koa Specials