Lanikai LU-21TE Tenor Acoustic Electric Ukulele  

on paper it has all you'd want to get into ukulele

there is much better out there for the features.  The NATO wood is truly a new low in cheap woods for me.  The eletronics are horrendous.  This feels like a cheap toy

ok value if the quality would have been at least on an ok level

Guitarist for a few decades getting my first uke.  I don't have the luxury of hitting a uke

filled shop as I work a 3rd shift, and live far from one, so I relied heavily on reviews and

tried  to stick to my budget of 200 US dollars for one.  I'd have gone 100  higher than that if the features REALLY spoke to me.   I wanted an  electric in case I needed

it for jam sessions.

The Lanikai was reviewed favorably on musician's friend.

Mine  had issues both in quality control and in general.   No sustain.  It's  like someone has a compressor / limiter on it, cranked.  Low acoustic  volume.  From a production standpoint the G string would not be picked  up by the horrible

amplification system which I found odd.  The rest of the strings were amplified ok but had a strong plucky sound and was not

at  all pleasing through the PA system.   Borderline worthless for plugging  in regardless of eq tweaking. The fretboard edge on the G string side  was in dire need of sanding, from the 8th fret up. The action was  deplorable.  It held tune comically bad in my opinion even for nylon  strings.  The wood? Wow.  NATO ("eastern mahogany," lol) must mean  garbage in some foreign land.  I realized going in it wasn't a high  quality wood and was ok with that, but it was far worse than any type of  cheap wood or laminate I've ever experienced.    I'm not a fan of  returning items and not being an experienced uke guy I wasn't sure if my  instincts from guitar were creating unrealistic expectations.  Well, I  got the Chinese made Cordoba 20TM-CE instead (basically same price  point) and was blown away.  The mahogany (I guess this is "western  mahogany?" hehe) felt like a fine baseball bat wood in comparison to the  Lanikai.  Very solid with better weight.  It had great action.  It held  tune 100x better.  Nice sustain.  Louder despite the cutaway. The  electronics sound great.  It looks nicer.  Just a night and day  difference for only a few bucks more.

The most important  thing here for a new uke player, and in my case very relevant, is:  Had I  kept the Lanikai, and even had all its flaws fixed by a luthier, I'd  have not been inspired to play.  It didn't excite me.  It felt like a  poorly made toy.  But with the Cordoba I will often be inspired to pick  it up.  It feels so nice in your hand by comparison.  I now "get" what  players mean when they call the uke addicting.  In my opinion anyone  praising this model hasn't tried the Cordoba.

The electrical guts buzz

I bought this ukulele because I needed one to plug in for my live shows. First, the not so good:

The intonation on this instrument (out of the box) was not very good, due to a poor fitting saddle -- however, a thin cardboard shim on the front side of the saddle fixed it. The instrument now has perfect intonation. Also, the internal electrical guts tend to buzz/rattle a bit when you play. I had to tighten up the zip tie holding the wires to get it to quit being so loud, but it is still noticeable when playing acoustically. After playing it for several months, I've gotten so I can ignore it, but it drives my husband nuts when I practice...

That said, it is a solidly made instrument! It's not exceptionally pretty as wood choice goes (I graffitied mine with sharpies to give it some 'flair'), but it plays nicely, the tuners are good quality, and it has decent resonance (for having wires and electrical guts cluttering up the soundbox, lol). It has a nice, rich, throaty tone; very well-rounded for those who aren't a fan of super "bright" ukes. With a set of "low G" aquila strings, she sounds wonderful. As far as the electronics go, the piezo pickup doesn't give a true representation of the instrument's sound but it's passable, however, the adjustment panel gives you a fair amount of control over things (treble/bass controls, as well as a volume). I have played several 2-3 hour shows with this uke and I still have not had to replace the 9 volt battery.

I would not hesitate to recommend this ukulele to the gigging musician looking for a decent acoustic-electric uke at a friendly price point. This instrument is a workhorse! If you're looking for a thoroughbred, however, this one might not be for you.