UkeSA Masterpiece Solid Pine/Hawaiian Koa Tenor Pineapple Sunday Ukulele (Hand Painted Top)

Pops began making ukuleles in the early 90s by producing miniature ukuleles for Japanese tourists. Rather than drawing inspiration from the companies that had already made a name for themselves, he would build the miniature ukuleles with precision watch making tools. His spirit for the unique and wonderful continues in the work his sons Paul and Alan do today at KoAloha and in his retirement years, we are absolutely delighted to be the first European dealer to stock his Pops custom ukuleles (also known as UkeSA).

The pineapple Sunday is Pop's own quirky way of progressing the traditional pineapple ukulele design. It's unique body shape is actually slightly more inspired by a pineapple than the original Kamaka pineapple and the body shape offers are slightly warmer sound than a traditional shaped ukulele. We were over the moon when Pops agreed to make another masterpiece collection model for us to accompany the Thai made Thai-Pi models produced by the team behind Rebel and the Opio ukuleles. 

This Pineapple Sunday is the only one we have ever had with a hand painted top. The hand painted flower under a satin finish on the top makes for a truly stunning heirloom quality instrument. This ukulele sounds clean and clear as well as having a side sound port which allows the player to hear everything wondefully.

These ukuleles are fabulous and use wood from Pop's private stash but they are not immune to cosmetic flaws. Pops is producing them in his own workshop at KoAloha so they have a similar workshop rustic vibe to instruments like Ana'Ole, Sumi, Naturel or smaller custom shop builders. A certain element of Wabi-Sabi (loving them in part, because of their imperfections) is required.

Pictures show actual instrument. It is not an optical illusion, this ukulele is slightly asymetrical by design as Pops wanted to feature a certain section of the hand painted top. The neck angle and bridge are perfectly aligned and the intonation is spot on. It's just angled slightly off centre and everything else is adjusted accordingly.

Specification:
Solid Pine top 
Koa back and sides
436mm scale length
37mm nut width
Mahogany neck
Flamed Maple headplate
Ebony fretboard and bridge
Maple fretboard inlays
Planetary geared tuners
Uke-Reka high G clear fluorocarbon strings
60mm body depth
28mm G to A string spacing
Satin finish
NuBone nut and saddle

Trying to condense the entire story of Alvin 'Pops' Okami into a couple of paragraphs is impossible. The story of how Pops came to found KoAloha ukuleles alone is a fascinating journey that inspired a documentary in 2008 called 'The KoAloha story'. Dozens of whimsical legendary stories, have been picked up from the KoAloha family, friends and the man himself over the years - his legend and the legacy he leaves the ukulele world at this point in his life is undisputable.

Pops produces these ukuleles by himself from his personal workshop in the heart of KoAloha's factory in Hawaii. Although some of them have arrived with minor cosmetic issues. It is a real treat to have a ukulele from the grandfather of KoAloha, a true Hawaiian music legend and spiritually one of the people that truly embodies Aloha spirit. I found playing these ukuleles that they share the DNA of the current crop of Hawaiian made KoAlohas. The sound and look beautiful and unlike anything else on the planet and it's just extra special to be able to try these ukuleles and trace KoAloha back to the companies roots.