This is a special, luthier-made instrument from the USA, constructed by Brad, Ohana’s California-based builder. It’s an instrument that exudes class, with a brilliant blend of traditonal Hawaiian materials and a modern twist in the decoration and design choices.

This Custom Shop DT-KOA has a wider, 38mm nut width. Sometimes I find these a little clunky - having learned with 35mm, but the pairing with a flatter neck profile really hits the mark for me in terms of playability. It sees spacious, without being too much of a stretch, with that flattened profile allowing you to reach round easily with your fingers. It really is a delight to play.

The sound is a mix of sweet, warm koa mid-range, with added low G depth, plus a sparkle from the strings at the top end. Originally strung with D’addario strings, I have replaced these with low G aNueNue Blue Moon fluorocarbon strings, with feel great under the fingers, without being too hard, and yet delivering the treble sweetness to pair very nicely with the smoothwound low G.

The instrument is fitted with excellent Gotoh geared tuners and comes with a hard case and a thin gloss finish, which allows the high grade koa to sparkle, without dampening the sound. Talking of that koa, it has been made well with a thin, resonant top, avoiding the muffled tone you can sometimes get with more heavily built solid koa ukes.

As for the visual side, it’s a stunner, with the interesting headstock and shaped end to the ebony fingerboard. There’s abalone aplenty, walnut binding and ebony heel cap and tail graft. It’s everything you’d want in a high-end luthier made instrument, from a very talented builder indeed.

Although there’s a hard case with this uke already, there are other extras you can add easily at the bottom of this page, including strap button fitting. There’s a video demo of this Ohana DT-KOA ukulele if you click additional info below.