Darin Leong – Hawaii Guitar
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Browse > Home / Album 1 « Gallery 3 « Photos

Photos

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Paul Okami, our gracious host, met us in the showroom. I'm holding a KoAloha Tenor. It's clear, balanced and loud. Also, check out the the multi-topped uke on the right! Their craftmanship really blew me away. Paul and his crew make beautiful ukes.
Paul showed us a mini-ukulele, built to scale. You can even play it if your fingers are small enough! Pictured: Paul, Lynette, Andy (of taropatch.net fame), Lou (professional sound engineer, me and Jack (classical guitarist) (Carol not pictured).
We sanded our very own KoAloha koa keychains to commemorate the tour!
The raw wood on the wall was carefully selected for consistency of grain and visual beauty. Lots of customs in this stack of koa!
These pieces will be cut and sanded into tops and backs. Notice the striking colors in the wood. After these pieces receive the final finish, the colors will really stand out.
This contraption prepares the ukulele sides for bending. You can see pieces of straight wood in the hot water. The forklike contraptions are used to pick up the pieces of koa.
Ben showed us how the sides are bent. He's holding a hot pieces of wood, straight from the water!
The sides are ready to be bent around the mold.
Here's a closeup of Ben bending the ukulele side. This takes some serious hand skills!
More bending!
Ben is bending the sides around a mold. He has to do this step relatively quickly, so the wood doesn't crack.
closer shot of the mold
The roller holds the sides in place.
Here's the mold with the sides held in place.
After the sides are bent, the top is glued on. You can see the bracing system that will eventually be hidden inside the uke.
KoAloha bodies are so strong, you can step on them! Ben is standing on one foot! Don't try this at home!!
This custom uke is like a mini guitar, spruce top and rosewood back and sides.
These blocks are destined to become ukulele necks.
This piece will eventually become a neck on a standard ukulele.
Andy "taropatch" Wang is checking out the standard neck.
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