[Purchased in Hawaii] A beautiful, high-quality handcrafted ukulele, a KG custom model, made on the island of Oahu by master builder Rob Cross.
Kotaro Guitars & Ukuleles, commonly known as KG, is made by luthier Rob Kurose of Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii. The brand name Kotaro is taken from Rob's middle name, who has Japanese roots.
Rob was a US military pilot and graduated from the prestigious Gallop Guitar School in Michigan in 2015. He started making ukuleles in his workshop that year and has been making a limited number of high-quality custom ukuleles every year ever since, mainly using wood native to Hawaii.
In 2018, his guitar, the K-3 model, made with curly koa, won first place in the instrument category at the Hawaii Wood Show. He has some of the best skills among Hawaii's luthiers. He is a great luthier who pursues perfection in tone and playability without compromising on any detail.
Using the finest materials and putting a lot of time and effort into his instruments, he produces only a dozen or so a year, so it is rare to have the chance to see one in person. I was lucky enough to be able to purchase one in Hawaii this time. I hope you will feel the aura that you get when you hold the instrument.
The body is made of master grade Hawaiian curly koa, with tight curly hairs and beautiful book-matched vertical stripes running parallel to the left and right.
Jet black ebony binding on the front and back, with matching ebony bridge and end pieces, accentuate the golden color of the Hawaiian Koa body.
The gorgeous rosette, with its gorgeous paua abalone shell sandwiching a maple vine inlay, is extremely intricate and gorgeously crafted. The unique side sound port design, with a nautilus motif, reflects Rob's sense as a surfer and ocean lover.
The Honduras mahogany neck is reinforced with a truss rod, making it extremely strong and stable.
It is painted with nitrocellulose lacquer and finished in gloss on the body and satin on the neck.
The slotted headstock is beautifully veneered with cocobolo on both the front and back. The pegs are equipped with Waverly tuners, which are said to be the finest in the world, offering excellent operability and accuracy. The peg buttons are made of snakewood, which is beautiful to look at and smooth to the touch.
The fingerboard has a curve (16R) that allows for comfortable fingering. It is particularly easy to play in the higher positions. It is really fun to play and the tone is great. It has a perfectly balanced sound from the low frets to the high frets. It is currently set to Low-G. Please take a look at the product explanation video made by our supplier, Ukulele Friends, which is very helpful. We also have our regular sound demo videos.
Size: Tenor Body: Master Grade Hawaiian Koa Neck: Honduras Mahogany Fingerboard: Cocobolo Bridge: Ebony Headplate front/back: Cocobolo Binding: Ebony Tuners: Wavery snakewood buttons Nut & saddle: Bone Nut width: 36mm
Scale: 432mm
Side position marks: 5 7 10 12 15 17
Sales price: ¥600,000 (excluding tax)
comes with a hard case and 1 year warranty
