Kanile’a Debuts 2 New Ukuleles at Winter NAMM 2018

Joe Souza who founded Kanile`a Ukuleles with his wife Kristen in 1998, shows off two of the Hawaiian company’s new models.

The big news is the company’s (and Joe and Kristen Souza’s) 20th anniversary and they’re celebrating it with a special model. The 2018 Platinum edition tenor ukulele includes unique features on its all-koa body, with an ebony cutaway, armrest, bridge, fingerboard, and headstock. With the couple’s dedication to reforesting Hawaii with koa, they decked the Platinum model with nods to indigenous wood favored for ukuleles for over a century. The rosette shows 20 koa leaves, while the side soundport is in the shape of three koa leaves (for their three sons).

https://dev.ukulelemag.com/stories/koa-ukulele-wood-reforestation