Lanikai LU22CGC Concert Ukulele Natural

Most Liked Positive Review

A no frills players instrument

I have been playing guitar for 25 years, and I have experience building and setting up guitars. I recently became interested in ukuleles when I grabbed a $25 one during the black Friday sale. It was enough to pique my interest, and I went back to find something a little nicer. The Mitchells and Cordobas were also $99, and looked really fancy with some nicer looking wood, abalone inlays and what nots. At this price range I didn't trust all the ornamental stuff. What impressed me about this uke is that it is simple, basic, and has sealed tuners. To support my theory, the version of this uke that has all the fancy stuff the others had, cost more than twice as much. I didn't really intend to get a concert size uke, and didn't realize I did until I got home. Hey, I know guitars not ukuleles. (I just recently learned to spell ukulele correct lol) With that said, I really like the concert size. It is much louder and fuller sounding, the longer fretboard makes it easier to fret chords, and the longer scale puts more tension on the strings, which gives it a more vibrant tone, and I think it makes it easier to strum without accidentaly digging your thumb in. This uke comes with a set of top of the line, Made In Italy, Aquila Nygut strings installed. Which is ironic, because I bought a set of the same strings with it that I was going to put on first thing. Since I had the extra set of strings I installed them on the $25 uke, and jeez, what a difference they make. So I believe much of the bright responsive tone comes from the the strings. The uke itself has a warm rich tone, and I suspect with lesser strings it may be a bit dark sounding, but with the included strings, the tone is nicely balanced. That is my one complaint is that it actually sounds a little too good. At times when plucking individual notes, the tone almost reminds me of a fine classical guitar. Makes me feel as if I should be sitting up and playing properly instead of laying in bed and fiddling around as I've been doing. In other words, it feels like less of a novelty and more like a "real" instrument. While we're on the negative side of things, the first one I recieved started to develop a buzzing A string. About the same time something started rattling around inside of the tuner. The important thing here is Guitar Center took care of me even though I lost the receipt, and the uke that I recieved in exchange actually has nicer looking wood, so I'm satisfied. The saddle on both ukes had a sharp edge left over from the mold, which tears up the bottom of the strings. I'd recommend cleaning the molding line off the top with a piece of 400 grit sand paper. Overall, I'd say it is a great instrument for the price.