OHANA CUSTOM USA - DTK-2 Deluxe Hawaiian Koa Tenor Ukulele w/Hard Case #170201

This very ukulele was reviewed by Barry Maz at GOTAUKULELE and received 9.5/10. One of the best scores he has ever given!

Ohana have really impressed us with these custom deluxe Hawaiian koa tenor ukuleles. There is something so romantic about Californian ukuleles. Whether its the general vibe or history of ingenuity and manufacturing Cali gives off, I don't know but its undeniable that California made musical instruments have a certain lustre about them and many of the worlds best brands, builders and workshops come from this particular part of the west coast of the USA. Da Silva, Deering, Blackbird, Ben Bonham, Tyde, Kala's US custom shop and now the one and only Ohana Ukuleles are producing custom made ukes straight out of their long beach headquarters in Signal Hill, CA. 

Ohana Ukuleles is owned by Louis Wu, an underrated historian in the ukulele world who has been working closely with some of the worlds best musical instrument factories for decades. With Ohana being a US company, they have been keen to produce high end instruments in house with a prototype being quietly shown off to dealers at the NAMM show as far back as 5 years ago. Louis became very impressed with the work of in house technician and New York born luthier Brad some years ago, with the two designing and tweaking designs as side projects within the Ohana family as far back as 2016. Now with much refinement and efforts to keep the traditional Ohana shape and aesthetic qualities; we are honoured to be the first dealer in Europe to showcase these fantastic instruments.

The DKT-2 is Ohana's US made deluxe Hawaiian style ukulele with an all solid high grade Hawaiian koa body and an instantly iconic and memorable rosette bangle inlay made of walnut, myrtle and abalone.

The instrument is incredibly light and resonant with a gorgeous light modern polyurethane gloss finish. Of the Hawaiian K brand ukuleles with which it will likely be compared - it resembles a traditional Kamaka the most but with some of the playful, brighter sub harmonics you expect from a KoAloha. The more ornate models such as the DTK-2 definitely have that Kanile'a cosmetic WOW factor. We definitely need to talk about the bracing which has been refined, designed and tweaked to the limit of weight reduction, stiffness and musical tuning. Much like the famous Kanile'a TRU-R bracing but with more of a single luthier, workshop quality to them.

The ukulele is finished off with a gorgeous Ohana Custom Shop headstock design, faceplate and Ebony/Abalone trim and Indian Rosewood binding. The DTK-2 benefits from custom off-set side markers on the fingerboard as well.

These ukuleles retail at the same kind of price as the Hawaiian made equal ukuleles from the major K brands but what excites us is that they offer something different... this feels more indie, more punk rock like the single luthier built ukuleles they are. It is my hope these ukuleles become 'the thing' that Ohana become known for in the years to come because there is no denying the talent is there from the builder, the fantastic hand selected tonewoods are there from Ohana themselves and its made in a part of the world known for fantastic manufacturing, forward thinking and innovation.

Want a review from someone else? Check out the GOTAUKULELE review for this uke now

Specification:
DKT-2 #170201
Tenor size 17'' scale length
All solid deluxe Hawaiian koa
Myrtle, malnut and abalone rosette inlay
Ebony fingerboard and bridge
Ebony heel cap and end graft
Ebony and abalone headstock inlay
Gotoh geared tuners
38mm nut width
Bone nut and saddle
D'Addario EJ87T with NYL031W low G
Comes in an Ohana hard case