Kala Revelator NSL-B South American Bloodwood/Mahogany Baritone Ukulele (SUS EXCLUSIVE)

Back in January, we visited the Petaluma HQ of Kala. Spending the day with Mike Upton and Kala USA Custom shop luthier Markos was an absolute treat... seeing the love, care and creativity that is going into the present and future of the Revelator is really soul-enriching. Pete Howlett told us when he created the Revelator that he had hit upon something special and we are happy to have been the store that linked Kala and Pete up in the first place. 4 years on, the Revelator is hitting its stride.

We toured the California facility and selected the woods that would make our 2024 Kala Ukuleles. Bloodwood, English Pear, Hawaiian koa, cedar, cypress and more... top shelf, rare and vibrant woods that have now all found themselves on or part of world class ukuleles.

The Revelator design has been successfully passed over to Kala by Pete Howlett, and what a superb job they have done with this, Kala Revelators sound every bit as good as one of Pete's, and feels and looks the part too.

This limited edition baritone ukulele is part of a matching pair of Nautilus soundhole bloodwood top tenor and baritones. This baritone specifically is one of the very first baritone Revelators ever to be produced. I have to say, 16 years into my own ukulele journey having owned and played hundreds of baritones; this is up there with the 1% of the 1% in playability and sound. 

Visually, bloodwood has a stunning deep red colour to it with almost quilted narrow wood grain similar to ebony. Bloodwood is a tropical South American wood that tonally sounds most similar to quilted maple. It is bright but with a good amount of softness and sweetness, very dynamic and sensitive to different strengths of the player's touch. Frankly, it is a perfect choice of wood for the Revelator which is already a very open and sensitive sounding instrument. A fingerpicker would absolutely love this ukulele and its strengths are that it accentuates the mid frequencies which is basically the entire frequency range of a baritone. 

Pete has always described the Revelator as an 'acoustic anomaly'. Basically, he means that it has no right sounding as good as it does acoustically. If you have never heard a Revelator before you might see the slimline body and assume that there is going to be no acoustic volume or projection. And you wouldn't be more wrong! It is loud, lively and characterful, with a fuller tone than it has a right to make.

In the hand, it is so light (without ever feeling fragile), because it is not a solid body instrument. The body is routed out before the top is glued to it, so very clever acoustic chambers are created which pump out this supernaturally rich and vibrant sound. And when you plug it in, you'll notice a very high quality sound through the installed passive piezo pickup. We chose the premium specs for these customs as we have a fondness for the royal blackwood fingerboard and chrome hardware look of these Revelator models.

Highly recommended! Pictures show the actual Kala Revelator you will receive. If you have any questions about this instrument, please drop us an email. 

Specification:
South American bloodwood top (Selected by Alex with Markos at Kala USA)
Mahogany body
UV cured satin finish
Royal blackwood fretboard and bridge
Corian nut and saddle
36mm nut width, with 30mm D to E string spacing
Worth Brown trebles
D'Addario wound D/G strings
Passive Piezo pickup
Mother of pearl fretboard and headstock inlay
34mm body depth
490mm scale length
30mm padded gigbag