Lanikai NK-C Natural Koa Concert Ukulele  

This ukulele comes equipped with Grover tuners, solid koa top/back/sides, and Aquila strings out of the box.  It's Koa, of course, which is ukulele 101.

My only qualm with the quality of this uke is that the label in the resonance hole states it was "Crafted in Indonesia"  by Lanikai Ukuleles "Hawaii." This information was not listed on musiciansfriend, (or anywhere else during the course of my research for that matter) and I am usually very skeptical about spending a lot of money on an instrument if it isn't crafted in the USA or Japan. (And trust me, this price is more than enough to spend on a decent player's level uke.) That being said...  Although this ukulele is only an intermediate level instrument, it feels extremely solid and powerful when playing, has great intonation right out of the box, and sounds like a million bucks.  The Grover tuners are nice looking and outshine the tuners on  20/24 of my other stringed instruments. (I like to try everything with strings on it).  The body shape of the ukulele is not only unusual, but AWESOME.  The profile shot looks like an hourglass... Really cool and different.  Overall, this thing is definitely nice.  Everyone who has played it doesn't want to put it down (myself included.)      

Like I said, I love stuff with strings on it.  I own guitars, ukuleles, banjos, mandolins, mountain dulcimers, lapsteels, dobros, zithers, bass guitars, etc.  I asked for musiciansfriend gift cards from everyone this Christmas with hopes of either purchasing a new ukulele (because I've become so involved in learning the artform, and only own beginner equipment) or a guitarrón mexicano (to use for recording, not being able to afford an upright bass, but desiring that type of sound.) They were both in the same price range. I went with the uke knowing it'd be put to much more use. (although the guitarron will someday be mine!!)   It was worth every penny and then some.

This ukulele has really grown on me.  It's become my favorite instrument.  It's unique, it's beautiful, and it sounds amazing.  For the money, this thing is tops.  There are hardly any reviews or videos online about this model, so my choice was basically a stab in the dark.  I had good experiences with my beginner Lanikai Ukuleles (LU-21/21p)... so I wanted to stick with what I knew.  I'm glad I did.  One thing... this ukulele has a VERY glossy (almost mirror) finish on it that is not listed in the description or (very) visible in the pictures.  I owned a Washburn D-10 acoustic guitar with a mirror finish on it about 10 years ago and hated it, but the finish really works on this ukulele.  It looks good, it feels good, it sounds good, it is good.  NK-C for the win.

Even if i decide to drop uke playing one day and never pick it up again, at LEAST this uke looks AMAZING on a wall or stand, like a surfboard!

The quality is top notch... period.  This easily compares and contends the quality and craftmanship of an authentic Kamaka uke.

This model is probably (after research of professionals opinions and combing them with my own) the BEST concert uke you could buy as beginner... THAT BEING SAID.... the beauty of a uke is that you can virtually pick up ANY UKE and if its tuned it will sound angelic, even a low priced uke, and you'll hear that from PROS!!! ... but like most products you get what you pay for quality wise and if you have TRU interest than INVEST in a good uke like this... at least your kids can enjoy it later on when you've handed it down.

The Koa wood on this uke is absolutely gorgeous, the photo doesn't due it any justice at all.  This is a must see in person to truely appreciate how nice this uke really is.

I'm new to ukes but I've been around instruments all of my life and have seen and played a lot of different quality instruments from very high end to beginner series and this uke is of great quality and much more than you would expect at this price.

I had gotten an even better deal for purchasing used and it was rated as gently used.  If there is a mark or scratch on this uke I haven't been able to find it. Which was a real bonus!!

The uke was delivered yesterday and I played it for 10 straight hours, I just couldn't put it down.  I'm having a little trouble playing the chords since the frets on a guitar is a little larger.  I would recommend to someone who has never played a uke or has never played a stringed instrument to maybe step up to a tenor size starting out.