Kala

Kala
Kala is probably the biggest Ukulele Brand at the moment. They were founded in 2005 by Mike Upton and they are one of the brands with a head office in California but most the Ukuleles are made in China.

When Mike Upton first started his own Company he used the brand name Lahaina but it was decided, (After a run of more than 500 Ukuleles), that this was too close to Lankani, (his previous employer), so it was changed to Kala.

The currant Chinese made range is very large and covers all scales of Ukulele, including Minis, Giraffes and Ukulele Basses, Banjoleles, Resonators, Double Gs, Lili'us and Taropatches with a lot of different solid and laminate wood finishes. Kala make a range of Ukuleles they call "Travel" Ukuleles. In reality they are the same size and shape as ordinary Ukuleles, they just have very thin bodies, (a concept Hofner started in the 1950's with their "Verithin" Guitars). There is a regular yearly rotation where some ranges are dropped and new ranges are added.

Kala are also the brand that started mass producing the Ukulele Bass, (invented by Road Toad with whom they work in conjunction), as U-Bass and have gone on to bring out, (again in conjunction with Road Toad), a range of solid body 4 and 5 string Ukulele Basses that they call S.U.B. (Solid U-Bass). In 2013 they added a new cheaper U-Bass that used the thinner steel wound strings developed by Pyramid for Stevens Guitars and called this the U-Bass Rumbler.

In 2012 they started production of a solid body U-Bass in the US they called the California S.U.B. range. In 2014 they expanded local production to include Banjoleles (which they hadn't had in their catalogue before), then Ukuleles. They call these locally produced ones "the Elite" range and they have stopped production of Elite Banjoleles. Whilst these Ukuleles are supposedly hand made, there are no options for customisation.

Other branding used by Kala includes a budget range of laminate Ukuleles called Makala and this range spans all sizes except Mini and includes the part plastic ones, the Dolphin and, (starting 2013 to counter all of the fake Dolphins that have been made), the Shark. In 2015 they added a range of fully plastic Soprano Ukuleles, calling them Makala Waterman. They also have a very colourful range that started out with the Ukudelic by Kala branding when it was launched in 2011, but in 2014 they have added extra designs and reclassified this range as Makala Ukudelic. Adding new designs to this range, (and discontinuing others), has become an annual occurrence with this branding.