Lanikai 8-string
I had wanted a six- or eight-string uke for a while, to see what sort of sound it had and how it played (I used to play the 12-string guitar too). But I had been reluctant to invest in a good instrument at $500 and up in case I didn't like playing it.
I kept my eyes open for bargains and when I found a "factory second" Lanikai six-string offered at $100, I figured I could buy it, investigate the style of play, and if I liked it, move up to a more expensive model later. If I didn't like it, well I hadn't invested a lot of money to learn that, so I could sell it and not lose a lot.
Pardon me while I digress a bit: I innocently posted a question on the Ukulele Cosmos forum, asking what people thought of the Lanikai - build quality, tone, intonation, etc. Immediately two of the more acerbic members dumped all over me in post after post, attacking my intelligence, my judgment, this web site, my personal integrity, my reading skills, my ukulele collection - just because I dared to ask about a ukulele brand they deemed too "cheap" (their word) to be worth a courteous response.
Instead of a civil thread about the pros and cons of the Lanikai brand and that model, as I asked, the whole thing turned into a vituperative personal attack by two rabid members, an attack that stretched on through eight or nine pages of ichor (some of it still continues).
There are those, it seems, for whom anything less than a custom-built uke made from rare, old-growth trees tended from seedling by Buddhist monks, built by a hermit luthier whose output is perhaps one uke a year, and costing as much as a motorcycle or car is an irredeemable sign you are not serious about ukuleles. Therefore you must be deserving of a verbal thrashing for daring to post about anything as trivial as a factory-made instrument. One of these members even suggested I sell every instrument I had, then save up even more to purchase a ukulele she personally thought was suitable for discussion!
Such is the way of the Internet. Since this particular forum allows such attacks, I don't recommend it to anyone not looking for a fight. Other forums keep a tighter rein on their less civil members when such unprovoked assaults arise.
But in the meantime, a few members did provide a far more courteous and reasonable response, albeit somewhat drowned out in the angry din from the two harridans. I heard many positive comments from other ukulele aficionados about this brand, most sent in private to avoid being criticized online like I was.
Unfortunately for me, the instrument I had originally asked about was sold before I could get a fair response from my question. But the vehemence of the responses made me more curious about the item of their ire, rather than less. After all, if such annoying people dislike it so much, it's probably worth investigating by the rest of us! And so it proved: the Lanikai is a good instrument.
And for me as well as many other aficionados, $250-$350 is not inexpensive: it's a serious commitment and investment. It isn't "cheap" by my standards. There are good quality guitars out there around that price, or even less.
So I hunted online for another bargain and found an eight-string Lanikai O8-E, tenor, solid spruce top, with pickup and case, for about 60% its retail price ($260 plus $35 shipping).
Update, August 29: Back from a municipal conference and my Lanikai was waiting for me. Took about 15 minutes to get in tune, and the strings are still slipping a lot, meaning I have to retune every couple of minutes. But I like the rich sound and it's nowhere near as difficult to play - strumming and fingerpicking - as I had expected from some forum comments. Nice, clear sound, good build quality, too. The seller make a mistake and didn't ship the case, so it's coming separately. More to come.
September 1: Getting more playable, and the strings slip a lot less, although a couple are still shifting pitch a bit during play. The high C in particular keeps loosening. But it's a lot better than it was a few days ago. I keep a digital tuner attached to the head right now because I need to correct that string so often.
Some post-initial thoughts: The Lanikai is on par with the Kala. Nice build quality, no obvious flaws, gloss finish doesn't seem overly thick. This has a solid cedar top and laminated ovankol sides, rosewood fretboard. Ovankol, according to this site about tonewoods, or shedua, is from Western Africa near the Ivory Coast. It is in the same family as bubinga. It has yellowish brown color with some black stripes at times... Excellent tonewood similar to Koa." Bridge appears to be rosewood as well.
The heads have open-geared tuners, gold with while plastic heads. The slotted headstock is also quite attractive. Binding is white. Overall, it's a very pretty uke. Despite the extra equipment for the additional strings, it feels only minimally heavier than a standard four-string tenor.
The sound is quite nice - bright and cheerful. The doubled strings give it a ringing sound, a bit like a 12-string guitar. I had expected it to be a bit difficult to play the string pairs when fingerpicking, but that's not the case. I find it quite easy to pick them together or separately, although I'm still prone to make mistakes while I get accustomed to the spacing and grouping. It's tuned Gg-Cc-EE-AA (the first two sets in unison, the last two an octave apart respectively). Overall, I like this sound a lot and have been playing it almost exclusively for a couple of weeks.
September 20: The man who started Kala originally started Lanikai for Hohner, and both were built in the same factory for a while. He since moved on to his own company and, apparently, the two are built in separate facilities. Kala has gone on to a lot more innovation in design and woods, while Lanikai has stuck with what worked (and sold). Still, this is a fine instrument and I have really grown to like the sound. I showed it to a visiting ukulele aficionado last week and he too was struck by its bright, cheerful and rich sound. It reminds me a little of the music by the Byrds or perhaps the Rickenbacker sound of the Beatles.
The only problem with this uke: strings. Local music stores don't even list 8-string sets for ukes and one advised me to just buy two sets and string them together! That, of course, doesn't work because while the E and A strings are strung in unison, the G and C are an octave apart, requiring different diameter strings. It seems I have to buy my string sets online. But that's a small hiccup. And a small tip: carry a guitar pick in your case. Using the pick is much easier when tuning the separate strings. It's difficult to pluck just one of a pair when you're tuning. The pick just makes it easier.
I had originally thought that, should I like the playing style, I would start looking for an upscale model in 8-string design, perhaps a Pono or Mele.
Fall 2009: A hairline crack appeared on the surface at the place where the two top pieces were joined. It seemed to be a surface crack only, not through the wood. However, it extended from the bridge to the purfling just above the jack.
Would I purchase another Lanikai? Yes.
Would I recommend them to others? Yes, especially this 8-string.
Rating (0-5): ***1/2
Status: Sold (with full knowledge of the
crack).
