bornagainjeeper
Well-known member
About 3 months ago i ordered the Lanikai O8E 8 string tenor uke. It never showed...I ordered it from a local music shop and apperentely it was a very special special order...but they cut me a deal, let me pay it off over time, and i love supporting my local community...Evenually i just asked for my money back that i had paid (which immediately went to the rent an food i was forgoing for my uke) and today (about a week later) got a phone call that it had shown up. I said put it on the self and try to sell it, but i stil intended to buy it...Retail on the uke is approaching 400 and they matched the best online price i could find of 269...nice fellas.
So today after class i went in to play my long lost love. It was a dream. It was the first 8 string i'd ever played, and found it immediately playable, no issues with fretting both strings at once (a 8 string is just like a regular uke, except you push down two very close together strings at once, still tuned lowGCEA...the strings are gG cC EE AA meaning the low strings have octaves, the E and the A are simply the same gauge twice)
This uke is a Solid spruce top,
laminate Ovankol wood sides and back (a relative and similar in most ways to mahogany)
rose wood fingerboard
cutaway headstock
gold geared tuners
and a belcat preamp and pickup
I sounded amazing, as i'm not a soloing kinda fella too much at this point, and mostly play uke to sing with, the full sound of the 8 string compliments me, and my voice very very well.
the intonation seemed spot on all the way up the neck, something i was worried about with a less expensive uke, though it was hard to tell as the nylon strings of course were stretching, and would be for quite some time.
I had the opportunity to plug it in to a small roland acoustic amp and way blown away, it sounded full and warm, and lacked the constant buzz from low quality electronics that my ovation soprano has (the worst uke choice i've ever made) The amp had a built in reverb which just made this uke pop (i'll likely be buying that amp at some point as well)
The action of the strings, unset up and out of the box, was uncharateristically perfect, better than many ukes i've played, with it being moderately low.
and finally the looks are perfect, though spruce has almost nothing i would call grain, the semi gloss finish made it look beautiful, and the ovangkol wood laminate was breath taking, ovankgol grain being very pronouced parallel markings. Though i'm not a cutaway headstock nut like some of ya'll, the cutaway portion revealed three beautiful layers of wood, most wonderful looking on the countersunk portion between the tuners and nut.
the feel of it in my hands way also wonderful. the owner of the music store noted it was one of his favorite uke necks besides my mainland, and i would have to agree, though i think it was equally as good. I prefer a fairly thick neck and an ever so slightly curved fingerboard, both of which this had. It was also quite heavy, but balanced, which i also prefer as it stays put when rocking out (and simply feels more...substantial?)
In summary:
Pros- its and 8 string, at an amazing price
beautiful wood grain
very full sound
great feel in the hands
cons- the tuners were open geared and seemed a little cheap. they were no very responsive to tuning and the gear ratio seemed also TOO low, i felt like i wasn't tightening the strings at all. The low G is also a wound string, which causes it to stick and then suddenly jump up 30 cents when tuning, but that is fairly common, a little sanding of the nut can help that
the spruce sound board (top) was a little too thick also. I felt it impaired the sound a little, giving it a slightly dead sound, compared to what it might have if the soundboard were a few whatevers thinner.
other than that, i can't give anything but a resounding accolade to this uke and highly recommend it, especially for a first 8 string
so
Looks 8/10 Feel 9/10 value (at 269) 10/10 Sound unplugged 7.5/10 and plugged 9/10
go out and get yaz one
oh and i can't afford it anymore so....is santa wants to come late....haha
So today after class i went in to play my long lost love. It was a dream. It was the first 8 string i'd ever played, and found it immediately playable, no issues with fretting both strings at once (a 8 string is just like a regular uke, except you push down two very close together strings at once, still tuned lowGCEA...the strings are gG cC EE AA meaning the low strings have octaves, the E and the A are simply the same gauge twice)
This uke is a Solid spruce top,
laminate Ovankol wood sides and back (a relative and similar in most ways to mahogany)
rose wood fingerboard
cutaway headstock
gold geared tuners
and a belcat preamp and pickup
I sounded amazing, as i'm not a soloing kinda fella too much at this point, and mostly play uke to sing with, the full sound of the 8 string compliments me, and my voice very very well.
the intonation seemed spot on all the way up the neck, something i was worried about with a less expensive uke, though it was hard to tell as the nylon strings of course were stretching, and would be for quite some time.
I had the opportunity to plug it in to a small roland acoustic amp and way blown away, it sounded full and warm, and lacked the constant buzz from low quality electronics that my ovation soprano has (the worst uke choice i've ever made) The amp had a built in reverb which just made this uke pop (i'll likely be buying that amp at some point as well)
The action of the strings, unset up and out of the box, was uncharateristically perfect, better than many ukes i've played, with it being moderately low.
and finally the looks are perfect, though spruce has almost nothing i would call grain, the semi gloss finish made it look beautiful, and the ovangkol wood laminate was breath taking, ovankgol grain being very pronouced parallel markings. Though i'm not a cutaway headstock nut like some of ya'll, the cutaway portion revealed three beautiful layers of wood, most wonderful looking on the countersunk portion between the tuners and nut.
the feel of it in my hands way also wonderful. the owner of the music store noted it was one of his favorite uke necks besides my mainland, and i would have to agree, though i think it was equally as good. I prefer a fairly thick neck and an ever so slightly curved fingerboard, both of which this had. It was also quite heavy, but balanced, which i also prefer as it stays put when rocking out (and simply feels more...substantial?)
In summary:
Pros- its and 8 string, at an amazing price
beautiful wood grain
very full sound
great feel in the hands
cons- the tuners were open geared and seemed a little cheap. they were no very responsive to tuning and the gear ratio seemed also TOO low, i felt like i wasn't tightening the strings at all. The low G is also a wound string, which causes it to stick and then suddenly jump up 30 cents when tuning, but that is fairly common, a little sanding of the nut can help that
the spruce sound board (top) was a little too thick also. I felt it impaired the sound a little, giving it a slightly dead sound, compared to what it might have if the soundboard were a few whatevers thinner.
other than that, i can't give anything but a resounding accolade to this uke and highly recommend it, especially for a first 8 string
so
Looks 8/10 Feel 9/10 value (at 269) 10/10 Sound unplugged 7.5/10 and plugged 9/10
go out and get yaz one
oh and i can't afford it anymore so....is santa wants to come late....haha
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