Kala KA-SSEBY-C Solid Spruce top/striped Ebony Concert Ukulele

Kala were extremely excited to showcase the new striped ebony/spruce models to us way back at winter NAMM in January. I knew that they already produced a fantastic range of solid spruce models at this price so wondered why they were investing in more of the same sort of ukulele. I should not have been so sceptical.

The new KA-SSEBY-C Kala concert ukulele is great. It has a brand new look, exciting new voicing and several unique features Kala's older models lack. It is more than worthy of our attention.

The KA-SSEBY-C has a solid spruce top and lovely thin laminate ebony back and sides. It is one of the only Kalas out there to feature an upgraded striped ebony fingerboard and bridge too. The satin finish on this ukulele and the classical guitar inspired herringbone binding and rosette really grab you.

The sound it produces really goes against the curve of other solid spruce top instruments. This concert ukulele has lots of depth and a deeper more finger picker-friendly tone. When strummed, you get a good amount of bark but there are definitely instruments out there more suited to that than this.

This concert has a quiet confidence and charm about it and will definitely appeal more to those that like to hear each note, want to play dynamically and hear some ukulele with some character.

Specification:
Solid spruce top
Laminate striped ebony back and sides
35mm nut width
Herringbone rosette
Herringbone front binding with black and white purfling
Mahogany neck
Striped ebony fingerboard
Aquila super nylgut strings
Kala open back tuners
Graphtech nut and saddle
Satin finish