May | All About Kala

When you walk into Enumclaw Music, you’ll be greeted by a large wall of Kala products—numerous ukuleles, guitars, and even some U-Basses! So, what makes Kala special, and why should you invest in one of their instruments? We strive to stock our store with quality products we believe in, and Kala is definitely one of them.

Let’s dive in and learn a little more about Kala—a Hawaiian word that means “free,” “release,” or “unburden.”

Kala is the most popular ukulele brand, offering a wide range of styles, sizes, woods, and tones. They are family-owned and operate out of Petaluma, California. Fun fact: they are the founders of the original U-Bass!

While all Kala instruments are designed in California, only the Kala Revelator™ Nautilus Series and California U•BASS® Series are built in the United States at the Kala USA Workshop in Petaluma. The rest are manufactured in countries like China, Indonesia, Portugal, Vietnam, India, and Brazil.

Mike Upton, the founder of Kala, first fell in love with the ukulele while living in Hawaii in the 1990s. Outside the islands, he found very few options between expensive, high-end instruments and low-quality toys. When he returned to California, he founded Kala Ukulele to offer people an affordable, high-quality instrument and to make the ukulele more accessible. The first team of Kala techs was formed in 2005, and their flagship model, the KA-15, was crafted from satin mahogany.

Before long, Kala began gaining attention from the music industry. They expanded their ukulele lineup and began using internationally sourced woods that were uncommon for ukuleles, such as Pacific Walnut, Striped Ebony, and Ziricote.

In 2009, Kala introduced the U-Bass, the original short-scale bass. This innovation came about by adding thick, lightweight rubber strings to a baritone ukulele body, producing a rich, deep tone that gave rise to an entirely new instrument.

In 2013, they launched the Waterman Ukulele, a plastic, all-weather instrument designed to support schools with limited budgets and to help students learn music. Since then, Kala has donated over 30,000 Waterman ukuleles (and others) to schools and charities to support music education. Today, it’s the most common ukulele found in American classrooms.

Kala’s principles are simple: provide people with high-quality, affordable instruments that feature inspired designs to suit every player's taste.

They also offer free video lessons on their website and a play-along app that you should definitely check out!

We hope you enjoy your Kala as much as we do! Don’t forget—when you buy a ukulele from us, your first month of small group lessons is just $25. We’re here to help you learn your new instrument at an affordable price.