Officially this is the Kala KA-20TH-KOA-C, but we’ll go with the longer but easier to manage Kala 20th Anniversary Concert ukulele I think. It’s a nicely made, smart-looking concert uke with a solid koa top, and solid mahogany back and sides. And who would have thought it? It was brought out to celebrate Kala’s 20th anniversary! Everytime these have been mentioned to me by Kala I’ve heard that it’s a limited edition, alongside such phrases as “when they’re gone they’re gone!” etc. It worked on me anyway! But seriously, there have been ‘limited editions’ before that are limited only in that when people stop buying them, they stop producing them… and this is not one of those.

The KA-20TH-KOA-C concert uke gives you some sweet koa warmth, but the addition of D’addario fluorocarbon strings and a nice, light contruction and thin top make it very resonant - with a brightness and clarity added to that sweetness that’s very pretty, together with good sustain and a more articulate nature than some koa ukes. Add in the fact there’s solid mahogany back and sides and a very reasonable price, and this seems a well-thought out and good value package.

The nut width is a standard 35mm and the fingerboard is made from ebony. They’re nice to play but during my set up process I’ll get the action at a very playable height and attend to anything that needs attending to (including oiling that ebony, which is a little dry from the factory). The tuners are good quality geared units too.

There are whole host of visual additions to add flair as well, with this celebratory Kala concert uke. Abalone appears down the sides of the fingerboard, around the soundhole and around the top in the form of purfling, for a very sparkly effect. The dark faced headstock and Californian poppy motif at the top is very pretty, and there’s a gloss finish and a nicely chamfered comfort edge.

At the bottom of the page you’ll find a range of optional extras that are easy to add on. These are standard to every page and include a gig bag - something you don’t need here as a good quality padded one is supplied.