Kala KA-EMTU-T Travel Tenor Ukulele - Exotic Mahogany

I've never figured out why the Kala travel ukuleles (concert and travel) made of "Exotic Mahogany" are less expensive than the other Kala travel ukes.I've played a Kala travel soprano (spruce). I have both the concert spruce and mahogany models. And now I have this Kala KA-EMTU-T Travel Tenor.These travel ukes are light and thin. They don't have the tone of a full sized Kala of comparable material, but I'm only getting these for travel. And my 2 concert travel ukes have traveled indeed... Italy, Spain, Hawaii, DC, and Colorado. However, my partner asked for a tenor, so I delivered. Time will tell whether she goes back to the concert size for her travels. I find the first fret barre chord (B flat) is harder to press fully than I'd like. Above the first fret, things are okay. Playing "Soul Sister" is difficult with a tight barre B flat.The case is nice and robust. The cases that came with my other ukes travel and wear well. There's a tiny pocket in the lid for extra strings or a capo.I've also traveled with a full sized concert. I like the thinness of the travel uke fitting on top of my pack in the overhead compartment of airlines, and that I can strap it to my backpack, or put it inside my pack, when hiking (the top still sticks out).I also have the Kala Waterman, which I've taken on river trips. It's also a small uke, but I wanted something nicer when sitting on a park bench on the city wall surrounding Lucca, Italy.

The sound is crisp and punchy and rivals that of a regular sized tenor ukulele. “Got a Ukulele” even did a review of a thin body Kala and absolutely loved it. The thin body is also sleek and easy to hold. It’s an amazing product and it makes sense that “The Ukulele Teacher” also almost always does his tutorials with a Kala. I’m very pleased with this purchase.

I'm generously giving the KA-EMTU-T 4 stars. I am usually astounded by Kala ukes and have had many. Their quality per price point is top notch. Unfortunately I was underwhelmed by this travel tenor. The craftsman on my instrument was un-Kala-like. Not horrible but the neck set was not up to their standards and a very minute but visible gap where the heel meets the body. The tuners on this model are the most crap tuners I've ever seen on a Kala (why the change?).Finally we get to the sound quality. Realizing this is a sandwich thin travel uke with all laminate construction I was not expecting it to equal a full bodied tenor. Unfortunately it sounded literally dead with no resonance. I've had the solid spruce top travel model and it is miles ahead of this instrument. My advice, pay the extra 30-40 dollars and get the solid spruce top model.

Wanted this to work. Tuning pegs slipped or got hung up. Grrrr!

This ukulele was ok for a beginner but as light as balsa wood. The picture of this ukulele will vary, the one that I received was nothing like the one pictured color wise with no dark colors just a light kaki color no striping. Would not stay in tune even after stretching the strings. The best part is I wanted to return it. I shipped it back and after two weeks I was told that this particular seller has 30 days from the date they receive your shipment to issue you a refund for your item.

It's a nice sounding Ukelele. I thought the uke was kinda stuff at it's regular tuning of GCEA, so I tuned it down a half step to D# B F# G#, and that works better.

Looks and Sounds great however it doesnt look as good as it does in the pictures.

I really like the size of this Uke. I travel in an RV, and it is easy to store with it’s padded case. Kala’s quality ranks high with me! The sound is full even though the body is not as deep as a standard tenor uke. Kala also offers a great website for tuning, chord charts and easy to follow tutorials for all levels of play.

Good quality, slim design and easy to play.