Comparing Lanikai and Kala

[toumorokoshi]

I have been learning guitar for around 2 years and am new to ukuleles. I would like to choose my very first ukulele. I have browsed through the website of the music stores at my area, and picked a couple based on my affordable price range.

• Lanikai CDST-C (Solid Cedar top, Mahagony laminate back and sides)
• Lanikai MAS-C (All Solid Mahogany)
• Kala KA-ACP-CTG (Solid Cedar Top line features Acacia back and sides)

Since I am new, not sure if anyone can share me any insights on the brands or the 3 models. I am trying to see if they can let me try it out, not sure if there are any things I should pay attention to when I am picking the one among these 3?

 

[man0a]

Both Lanikai and Kala have a reputation for coming from the factory with too high string action at the nut. A good store will usually inspect and fix that for you for free, but Amazon is not a good dealer.

That particular Kala model sounds pretty nice for the price. I have no experience with those Lanikai's. Lanikai is carried by few local dealers around here. One thing to look for is that newer Lanikai models usually have a slightly wider neck than Kala (not including the made-in-California Kalas, which are even wider than Lanikai). People with thicker fingers often prefer a wider neck, while people with shorter fingers often prefer a narrower neck.

 

[SurferJay]

I have a Kala and Concert KA15 ukes. They sound great and I still give them a play now and then.
The action on both of mine is ok. Amazon we’re great for me.. They even gave me the Concert version for free when I had an issue with delivery.

 

[Rakelele]

To my knowledge, Kala was sort of a spin-off from Lanikai, and they still use some of the same Chinese factories for their ukes. Therefore, in many cases, the ukes from the two companies will differ only in labeling.

 

[man0a]

To my knowledge, Kala was sort of a spin-off from Lanikai, and they still use some of the same Chinese factories for their ukes. Therefore, in many cases, the ukes from the two companies will differ only in labeling.

I'm pretty sure that is false. Quality levels may be similar between these 2 companies, but the specs are noticeably different. One very obvious difference is that Kala uses a 35mm nut width on all of their low-to-mid-priced instruments while Lanikai mostly uses 37mm (at least for the last few years).

 

[Ziret]

Wasn’t Lanikai part of Hohner? I don’t think Kala had anything to do with either company. But they may all source their Chinese ukulele from the same factories. Probably do, but with different specs.

 

[Dohle]

To my knowledge, Kala was sort of a spin-off from Lanikai, and they still use some of the same Chinese factories for their ukes. Therefore, in many cases, the ukes from the two companies will differ only in labeling.

Not exactly. The founder of Kala used to work at Lanikai/Hohner before he started his own uke business but other than that there's no relation. Whether or not they use the same Chinese factories, I can't say. Wouldn't surprise me if they did.

 

[KohanMike]

When I got my head out of lower cost ukes about a year after I started playing in 2013, I called Mim and she recommended the Kala cedar top, acacia body (mine is a tenor cutaway with pickup/preamp). It's been my go to gigging uke ever since. Also, because of nerve damage in my neck, I had to switch to thinline ukes, two are Lanikai and one is a Hricane (because I couldn't find a Kala Travel tenor cutaway). The Lanikai action is a little high and they don't have quite as good projection as the Kala Travel that members of my group have, or the Hricane (which I firmly believe is the exact same uke as the Kala Travel from the same Chinese factory).

---

Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
4 tenor thinline cutaway ukes, 3 thinline acoustic bass ukes, 5 solid body bass ukes
•Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
•Member Cali Rose & The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

 

[Rakelele]

Not exactly. The founder of Kala used to work at Lanikai/Hohner before he started his own uke business but other than that there's no relation. Whether or not they use the same Chinese factories, I can't say. Wouldn't surprise me if they did.

That's pretty much what I was trying to say: Mike Upton left Lanikai to found Kala -- and took a large junk of business relations with him, both to manufacturers as well as sellers such as HMS, as Andrew Kitakis recollected in 2011:

Lanikai or Kala?

Let's first go back in time to the year 2003 and see how this story starts. Mike Upton worked for the Hohner company and was heading the design and production of a new line of…

www.theukulelereview.com

In the following years, Lanikai almost disappeared and has been rebuilt in a more recent effort (by a different ownership who took over the brand name, I think). At least, this is what I could grasp, having followed the news from these ukulele builders over the past two decades.

 

[Ukecaster]

The Lanikae ukes almost always have wider nuts and string spread. The Kalas (except for the Elites) seem to have standard 35mm nuts with 27mm string spread. Not important to some, but worth mentioning.

 

[merlin666]

In the following years, Lanikai almost disappeared and has been rebuilt in a more recent effort (by a different ownership who took over the brand name, I think). At least, this is what I could grasp, having followed the news from these ukulele builders over the past two decades.

I was not aware of that. I think the only time I have seen Lanikai uke was years ago in the Lihue Costco. Was a starter box with tuner etc. I checked out the one on display and while it was pretty was of course out of tune and for the price felt it was borderline between toy and instrument. Something to outgrow quickly. On the other hand Kala are common in most uke and music stores. I probably tried a few dozen in stores over the years and while none of them appeared particularly bad, none of them appeared particularly outstanding either to the extent that I would want to take one home. They are as generic as it gets.

 

[badhabits]

Lanikais look to have the same slightly bigger lower bout like kalas (used to be more like ohana). They do put a strap button on the heel, which is a huge turnoff for me. They also have slightly wider spacing than kalas these days.