Customer Reviews

Lanikai LU-21 Soprano Ukulele

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(43)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Experienced ukulele players like to bag on the Lanikai, but it's been a great starter ukulele for me. The stock strings (aquila) have excellent play and once you get past the initial couple of days, hold it in tune very well.

It has a classic ukulele sound, but does have a full textured sound (it doesn't sound like a tinny toy).

This is a production model, so there won't be much of a sense of individuality. Every Lanikai LU-21 is the same, and since the solid wood top is made from a wood that lacks much grain, that sense is increased (you better put your name on it if you know you're going to be around other beginners).

The one thing that I don't like much is the tuning pegs. There's a bit of play in them which can get wearisome when you're close to being tuned but are making some fine adjustments.

I was skeptical on what ukulele I should get as my first, and I consulted plenty of things: uke owners, reviews and various other things. After plenty of searching, I came to the conclusion of getting this one because it was recommended by uke owners and its reviews were good. It was definitely a good choice. The strings are great, but in the beginning it takes a bit to get the strings to stay in tune. It's such a wonderful tone, and the size is just about right. If you're getting your first uke, I recommend this one.

After spending two days using a brandless ukulele from a music store, this little baby came in the mail, much to my delight. With Aquila strings, low action, and beautiful craftsmanship, the quality of this product is apparent before even the first strum.

If you're looking to start playing ukulele or are switching from a larger uke, this is the way to go. Love this uke!

I'm a guitar, piano and bass player, as well a private music teacher. I also received formal training in guitar-building and have been commissioned to build instruments for amateur and professional musicians.

I ordered this ukelele on the strength of the reviews here at Amazon, and I was pleased with this instrument when it arrived. I was really surprised at how loud this particular instrument is for its size. It's only about 19" long (approximately) with nylon strings, but it really puts out a strong volume and really nice tone. It has geared tuners, not peg-style tuners that seem to go out of tune easily.

Although I've never played ukelele, I was able to play songs like Brown Eyed Girl, Old MacDonald Had a Farm, and Do You Wanna Dance in about a 1/2 hour using the chord book that comes with the book. I did this drawing on my guitar-playing knowledge.

Also, my daughter, who is a piano player and 11 years old, picked up the ukelele. In about 15 minutes was able to play Row Row Row Your Boat, which is in the instruction booklet which comes with the uke. I see this as a good buy for beginners and a good starter instrument for young children who might like to move over to guitar eventually.

Two concerns though -- mine came with a couple small dents in the back of the ukelele -- nothing major, but I could see them -- looks like someone hit it on something. Also, most stringed instruments go out of tune for a short while after you put new strings on them. This one wouldn't stay in tune for more than one song when I started playing with it. I yanked on the strings to stretch them, kept retuning it and playing it, and it would still go out of tune. This is improving, and I'm trusting the reviews here that say it goes out of tune "at first". I'm expecting the tuning problem to disappear as the strings get stretched and the windings around the tuners tighten out any slack.

[note: Two days later, after about 8 hours of playing the instrument is staying in tune better and better; I expect the problem to correct itself as the string get stretched]

The little 5-page booklet has basic chords and songs-- Row Row Row Your Boat, Are You Sleeping, He's Got the Whole World in His Hands, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Amazing Grace, and When Irish Eyes are Smiling. There was also a blurb about a famous ukelele player who authored the pamphlet on how to play the Ukelele and is the founding member of Louisville Ukelele Association Unlimited (LUAU!)-- a ukelele band.

Overall, I'm happy with this ukelele, and fully expect the tuning problem to go away with use.

I am very pleased with this purchase. I was looking for a inexpensive Ukulele, but not a cheaply made toy. This model seems solidly constructed and sounds great. I use the Guitar Toolkit app for iPhone and it tunes it perfectly. I usually have to tune it before every time I play it, so if you don't already have a tuner, I'd suggest picking one up with the Ukulele.

I must admit though, I was really caught off guard when I found a "Made In China" sticker on the back. I thought Lanikai was based out of Hawaii, but I guess they outsource the production of their Ukulele's (or maybe just the lower end models) to China.

I'm a lefty, and had no problem flipping the strings. It didn't require filing down anything either.

I play a few stringed instruments, and ukulele isn't one of them. But after seeing so many great uke players lately- Jake Shimaukuro, Joe Brown- I had a hankering to try some ukulele playing myself. I wanted a playable instrument, and I didn't feel like spending a lot of money. I've tried $30-40 ukes in stores that were big disappointments- bad intonation, no tone, etc. After reading reviews here and elsewhere I decided to risk a purchase.

Result? This is a surprisingly good instrument for less than fifty bucks. Sure, it doesn't have the volume or the rich tone of a soprano with a solid top, but it delivers good tone, excellent intonation, and good playability at a very good price. It may not be a 5-star intrument- but it's a 5-star value.

If you're thinking about trying ukulele, but you're not sure you want to buy an expensive instrument right away, I would strongly recommend an LU-21. Even after you buy a better uke, this is a great one to keep on hand to shove into the hands of unsuspecting guests, so that you can play ukulele duets!

I received two of these. One plays well and sounds great. The other has a string that pops out of place (nut groove not deep enough and or neck out of alignment), it has a tinny sound compared to the other, when the two are placed back to back this one's neck is off center by about a quarter of an inch, there is a cut in the white binding on the back near the neck, and the fretboard has a finish with some cosmetic flaws.

It's hard to say if LU-21's are good or bad. If I only ordered one and it was the good one that showed up, I'd be happy. If I only got the bad one, I'd never give a Lanikai a second consideration. As it stands, I hope to get a replacement shipped and end up with two good ones. I really wonder about the factory tolerances when there is such a difference between two supposedly identical items.

Is a Lanikai LU-21 any good? - I guess it depends on your luck of the draw.

EDIT - It's pretty clear to me these things are mass produced junk with poor quality control and manufacturing tolerances. I received my third one today. It's a piece of crap too. The G string won't stay in tune. It keeps going flat. Over a period of about three minutes, I made almost a full revolution of the tuning peg trying to chase the in tune G. I tried stretching the string, leaving it alone, and tuned it back over an over again. It keeps going flat within a minute. The fretboard is all dried out and has whitish smears on it. The frets stick out and grab my fingers when I try to move them down the neck. There are a couple of gouges that were filled in with a much darker putty before sanding the head. The back of the neck had a poor blend of the two pieces that were glued together to make it.

So, I have three LU-21's. One of them sounds good. The saddle on it is centered, and the neck is too. One of them sounds tinny, has an off center neck, and a nut that doesn't have deep enough grooves, and has a cut in the white binding on the back. The third one is dried out, has frets that could almost cut my hands, has lots of excess glue on some of the frets, sounds a little tinny, won't hold a G, and has several cosmetic blemishes.

One has a centered saddle, one has it off center to the left, and one is off center to the right. All three saddles are of different heights - a range of differences of about a quarter inch from the shortest to the tallest. Two are angled slightly backwards, and one is angled forward. The heel of one neck is almost a quarter of an inch longer than the other two.

Mahalo for nothing Lanakai!

I have the concert model of this Ukulele and love it. The strings do take some time to stretch out. After a few days of playing, they work themselves out. I still tune mine before each session, usually just a little turn here and there.

What I wanted to share was how I tune mine. I don't have a great ear so I got a little clip on tuner. I'm using the Intellitouch PT10. I clip it over the logo on the end of the instrument so it faces me from the back while I'm holding the instrument. All I do is pluck a string, read the note value, make a small adjustment, and repeat. The face of the unit goes from red to green when you reach a whole note. Stock tuning calls for GCEA (from the top down). The G is actually higher than the C and E, but lower than the A. This is called re-entrant tuning. The G, in this case, is the same as the G (3rd from the bottom) of a Guitar.

This whole process takes about 30 seconds and my Ukulele is always in perfect tune.

The tuner uses vibration, rather than sound. This is great as I don't always have a quiet environment to tune in.

Here is a great video on how to tune a Ukulele. He uses a similar tuner in the video.

[...].

I'm getting this model Ukulele for my grade school son. He loves mine, but can never get any time on it ;-)

I hope you have as much fun as I,

-Michael

Pay no attention to the comments about tuning issues. Those people have never played synthetic gut strings. A little hand stretching takes care of it from falling out of tune. But anyway, now for my review. I bought this because I have wanted a uke for years, but every time I have been around uke players they all had handmade koa ukes and I just wasn't looking to spend 500-2300 on an instrument that I always thought was a toy with musical capabilities. I have had this Uke for 36 hours and I couldn't have been more wrong. Don't expect a handmade quality instrument for under 60 bucks and you will be pleasantly surprised. As an avid guitar player for the last 15 years, I find the action, sound and enjoyability of playing all to be 4-5 stars. It's just so friggin cute and playing chord progressions for songs I know on the guitar and translating them using my trusty uke chord guide(google is great) I have been able to pick out soprano versions of my favorite songs on this, and it actually sounds good. It has been less than 2 days since this little guy showed up at my house and I am already looking into getting my next. I am that happy with the performance and fun of the instrument. Honestly, the only flaw I have found with it, is that it is not finished as well as I am used to(bumps in the lacquer, sides don't match with the top evenly in some places). But I wouldn't expect a 60 dollar instrument to have the same craftsmanship as my Taylor guitars....So if you want to get your foot in the door and fall head over heels in love with playing uke, you can't go wrong with this lanakai.

This was an impulse buy. After playing the guitar for many years I thought a ukulele would be a fun addition, and I was right. This one proved that you don't have to spend big bucks for a nice instrument. It has a great sound, appears to be good quality and well made, all for a very reasonable price. At first it didn't seem to stay in tune for more than a day, I decided that it was likely due to new strings as it seemed to improve after a few months. If your a beginner and am looking for good quality without spending a lot, this is a nice instrument.