Lanikai LM-C Solid Mahogany Concert Ukulele

Amazon.com and ebay have listed a Lanikai LM-C concert ukulele that sounds very cheap considering it is solid mahogany ($141.50 on ebay).

The odd thing is that instead of the normal name "Lanikai" being printed in gold at the top of the head, it has what looks like a plate that has been glued on with the name "Lanikai".

Do you think that Lanikai purchased some ukuleles not made by them, and then put their brand on them to sell?

If so, is this a good thing or a bad thing for a company to do? Do you think this is a great deal, or do you think you get what you pay for, and you shouldn't expect great quality, even though it's solid mahogany?

It's probably just as nice as any Lanikai.

There are so many things to keep in mind here. Lanikai is the ukulele division of Horner (the harmonica people), which is a huge company. Mike Upton, CEO of Kala, was the creator of that brand, too.

I have access to four Lanikai ukuleles, a gloss black concert which I love, even though it isn’t a great ukulele; a Spruce/Koa UkeSB Tenor that I use for recording to my iPad; a Baritone “gambler’s special” from eBay; and the Soprano banjolele that went on clearance in the summer of 2016.

All of them are okay; the UkeSB actually crosses over to being very good with some nice overtones.

The two things to keep in mind are that Lanikai dropped their entire line this year, and have really tried to “up” their game—the only thing is that while I have seen ads in places like Ukulele Magazine and videos from NAMM, I don’t know any local dealers that are carrying Lanikai anymore!

Therefore, if the ukulele doesn’t come with strap buttons (every Lanikai now does), you know that is old stock. That doesn’t mean “bad,” but there are newer and better Lanikai models out there somewhere.

Also, as per my “gambler” special baritone, Lankai would refuse shipment of ukuleles for flaws, which would then be sold to the lowest bidder. The flaws could be as small as rusted strings, or major problems. The manufacturers then sell those shipments to other buyers, who sell them. Some fix them up, some just dump them on the market.

I got lucky with my baritone...rusted wound strings was the problem (living waters on now), but it does buzz if I play it too hard.

A quick Google search using the brand and model will often lead you in the right direction.
I just did a search and found this online image by Lanikai from 2014, it was the first thing on the search results, you could probably find more. You should be able to get a good comparison by viewing.
http://lanikaiukuleles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/LM-C.jpg

I began my ukulele adventure with this exact model. I think it was one of those "B-Stocks" as described by Chiorguy (the tuners had been replaced). I think i paid $75 and for another $25 i picked-up a Lanikai Baritone in need of work. For that money, the LM-C was a great way to get involved learning the Ukulele. Yes, it is solid mahogany, looks real nice in matte finish, plays easily with fair intonation, but it's built like a tank and has that ugly sticker attached to the headstock. After 6 months of learning and playing I decided to get a higher quality tenor. I doubt that i'll go back to the concert size, but I keep the LM-C around for the grandchildren to play.

In my opinion, for less than $145 you should be able to find very nice Concert laminate Kala that would be built better, look nicer, and sound better than the Lanikai. I just purchased the Kala KA-TG for $127 for use in our desert home. It's not as nice in tone, or volume as my Pono or Cordoba solid ukes but it serves the purpose for which is was bought.

If this is your first uke and you're committed to the concert scale you might want to save up some addition funds and see if you can find a Kala solid cedar top/acacia B&S/Slothead. I owned one of these in tenor scale and kick myself regularly for selling it to my best friend. I think The Cedar Kala would satisfy much longer. Information here: https://www.theukulelesite.com/kala-ka-acp-ct-solid-cedar-top-concert-slothead.html

Good luck with your search.

Don