PRE-ORDER Kala Revelator Night Owl - Solid Top Mango/Okume Slimline Tenor Ukulele w/Gigbag

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER - STOCK DUE LATE JANUARY 2025. PHOTOS IN LISTING SHOW A TYPICAL EXAMPLE

The Kala Revelator is one of the most exciting ukuleles out there right now... It's hard to believe it but we were there the day Kala owner Mike Upton first got his hands on one of Pete Howletts Revelator Ukuleles and had a supporting hand in what would eventually become an important transition for Pete's most famous design. For many, the sticking point up to now has been the price which understandably retained the retail costs associated with luthier built designs and manufacturing. It was only a matter of time before Kala produced an import model and 2 years later after a few different prototyping stages we can proudly offer a much more affordable, far east made Revelator Night Owl!

Whether your Revelator was built at the hands of Pete, Kala luthier Markos or in the Chinese Kala facility; the original thick and full Revelator sound and feel is there. 

The Night Owl retains the Revelator sound very well with lots of depth and volume but a slightly brighter attack. The high gloss finish does colour the sound slightly; making the instrument a little bit stiffer than the US made models and the proportions of the body feel a little bit less curvy and smooth. Given that these instruments are only 25% of the price of a normal USA made model, that feels like a perfectly reasonable trade off and I would anticipate that this ukulele will be the most important thing to come along in the uke world since the Flight Fireballs and AnueNue Moonbird Ukuleles. 

The tops all look very quirky and wavy with nicely figured Mango tops (we individually photograph them so you can choose the one you want). The backs are a much plainer, light coloured Okume wood which has similar tonal properties to a conventional hardwood like mahogany. The most important thing to note that differentiates a USA made Revelator from this newer more affordable import model is the back/sides of the body which are seperate pieces on the Night owl but one carved piece on the original Revelators.

The factory strings on this first batch were Aquila nylgut strings and we weren't particularly impressed with how they represented the instrument itself. Future deliveries of Night Owls should come with Kala's Revelator Strings which give the Revelator its more native and natural sound and feel under your fingers. If you want a low G; we recommend pairing this instrument up with a Fremont Soloist.

Each Kala Revelator night owl ukulele comes in a deluxe padded gigbag and have a very impressive passive undersaddle piezo pickup. The end pin socket doubles up as a strap button.

Kala were early innovators in the Ukulele world but some criticism had been heaped on them in recent years for not keeping up with what the modern Ukulele player wants. The Revelator and the Night Owl's with the wider nut widths and innovative designs really serve to re-frame and reset Kala for the years ahead... This model is an early indication of what is set to be exciting times!

Specification

Size: Tenor
Top: Solid Mango
Back and sides: Solid Okoume
Binding: ABS composite
Neck: Okoume
Finsih: Gloss
Nut Width: 38mm w/29mm string spacing at nut
Fingerboard: Indian Rosewood
Headstock: Beizier curve
Headstock inlay: White mother of pearl
Bridge: Engineered wood
Nut and saddle: Bone
Tuners: Black open gear
Truss rod: Yes
Strings: Aquila nylgut tenor low G
Electronics: Passive piezo
Cutaway: Florentine
Strap button: Chrome x1

Scale length: 17.1875 inches, overall instrument length: 26.0 inches, body length: 12.25 inches, number of frets: 22, width at upper bout: 7.125 inches, width at lower bout: 9.5 inches, width at waist: 5.75 inches, body depth: 1.625 inches, , fingerboard width at neck/body joint: 1.75 inches.