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Original Post By:
Chuck Sullivan
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Date: 11/7/2013 12:17:47 PM |
| Does anyone know if William King is still producing ukuleles? His Chantus site shows only a "retrospective" of his instruments, not the usual showcase of products. Also, if anyone owns one of his ukes, any feedback would be appreciated. |
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Posted By:
Ukebug
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Date: 11/7/2013 8:19:05 PM |
| Hi Chuck. I just checked William's website the other day too to see if anything was new, and went through the photos of all of the ukes he's made. Mine was one of the last ukuleles he completed. In my last communications with William, which were in July & August of 2012, he said that he was moving, and that he was also going back to his software business. He said that he may not be building much at all after Sept 2012. I have one of his earlier ukuleles built in 2007, which is a long neck soprano. It's not only beautiful, but a great player. I absolutely love it. He makes/made wonderful instruments. It's too bad we haven't seen anything new from him. I always enjoyed looking at this latest work.
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Posted By:
singndance
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Date: 11/8/2013 12:34:36 AM |
| Yes, there's nothing like a William King. i have his soprano 6-shooter you can see in his journal. Fabu sound.
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Posted By:
steve-o-reno
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Date: 11/8/2013 10:37:30 PM |
| I've played several of William's ukes and I have one of the last tenors that he made. He also built classical guitars and his tenor bodies were usually a little bigger than most tenors I've played which gave them a full, rich sound. Every one that I've gotten my hands on was a fantastic player and absolutely gorgeous. William is a wonderful craftsman and a truly nice gentleman.
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Posted By:
Jazmo
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Date: 1/27/2016 9:17:21 PM |
| I had an urge to look up William King�s website Chantus.com. The site is no longer active and redirects to a YouTube clip of Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole playing somewhere over the rainbow and ends with Israel�s cremated remains being cast into the sea. William made some great ukuleles and anyone who owns one has an instant classic. Aloha, Jazmo
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Posted By:
dsummers
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Date: 2/6/2016 8:56:39 AM |
| I have 2 William King ukuleles. One is a claro walnut b/s, adi spruce top, nunes style body shape, concert scale, and peg head tuners. The other is a large body cut away tenor scale, Koa b/s, adi spruce top, abalone bling, MISI pick-up, peg head tuners. They are superb ukes! Both are so easy to play, the sustain is as good as it gets. I wish his journal site on his builds were still up so you could review and I think you would agree!
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Posted By:
Juke
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Date: 3/21/2016 11:49:23 PM |
| I also own two of Williams spectacular instruments. These are like no others. I mean all of his. The craftsmanship, materials and build quality are at the top of the heap. Many others do come close, however. The playability and tone are superb. I am lucky to have them.
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Posted By:
lakesideglenn
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Date: 3/23/2016 1:02:54 PM |
| I agree with all the praise for King ukuleles....I am fortunate to own one of his super sopranos. Flawless construction, beauty, and playability and rings like a bell!
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Posted By:
Jazmo
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Date: 6/20/2016 8:11:51 PM |
| Update! He is building again. See his two new charmers on the Marketplace.
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Posted By:
mLKauai
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Date: 12/1/2016 3:59:04 AM |
aloha! I'm glad to see William King's name being posted again.
We were so lucky to have such a bright star of a luthier grace us with his ukulele's.
I have bought quite a few (I tend to obsess) back in the day (2006 and on) until he stopped, and have to say that the 2 tenors I kept are the greatest treasures I've ever had and made so much use out of. I play my tenors for at least an hour every day for the last 10 years.
At least once I year or so I get a bug to just see if anything has posted about William King Chantus ukuleles on the internet; so sorry I missed at least seeing what he put out in June this year!
FYI you can see a bunch of his work at Shawn's site Ukulele Friend site in the archives; all sold units.
I only "need" 2 but I would be so tempted if one to my liking came around for sale. I settled on his long scales tenors with flat fretboard.
I consider myself a frustrated guitar player who found 4 strings a bit easier to play around with, love jazz, and players like Craig B will attest, with his Koolau's, only the finest tone on an uke will do for that clean clear sound with all the attributes.
Its really hard to find that in a ukulele, and since I cut my teeth on a King, tried many Kings, its the only brand that I cherish due to my experience with them..
I'm sure theres quite a few great ones, and wow I was looking at Lardys site have to think that there's been an explosion of ukulele builders over the last 10 years.
William if you're back in the game man, even on a limited basis, I'm thrilled! Please post, or shoot me an email brother, I'd love to be titillated with news and details.
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Posted By:
UkeFluke
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Date: 1/10/2017 11:46:07 AM |
Back at the beginning of this millennium I picked up a Fluke and got hooked. Clueless to what I really liked in a
'ukulele resulted in spending way too many $$s on trial and error. The quiver is down to 4 sopranos and one concert Uke.
The Uke played the most is the "stock" William King soprano. #008. Just a sweet, clean sounding instrument. I actually prefer it over the custom King soprano owned. If the house catches on fire #008 would be the Uke that I grab.
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