Lanikai question

Lanark said:

Yeah, that guy's got a couple sopranos too.

Lanakai's LK series are the solid koa ones that Kanile'a built for them for a while. I've got the concert model. (LK-1C) I like it very much. I think they only made several hundred of them for Lanakai

Before I bought mine I emailed Kanile'a about them and Joe said :

"Our Kanile’a and Lanikai models were built the exact same way. The only difference is that we have stopped making the Lanikai’s which makes them all collectables. We did not sacrifice any thing with those ‘ukulele. They all got our UV cured finish along with the Aquila Corde strings, and Nubone nut and saddle. The only difference might be the bracing. We switched to our TRU bracing system after most of the Lanikai’s were built depending on the building date."

It's a nice way to get a Kanile'a ukulele for a lot less if you don't mind that it doesn't say "Kanile'a" on the headstock. As I said, I'm super happy with mine.

But, That being said, I don't remember ever coming across a tenor when I was doing all my looking. (but I also wasn't looking for a tenor.) They might be out there, but pretty rare.

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Lanark said:

Based entirely on the two instruments I've got, I'd suggest looking at the cross section of the wood around the sound hole.

On the LK-1C you can see that it's all one piece and solid.

On the cheaper Leolani laminate you can very obviously see where there's the nice veneer over a couple of other layers.

It's kind of like an oreo. There's the thin nice grained top layer and a solid very thin bottom layer and in between a sort of spit and sawdust plywood center.

In general though, when you're shopping around most sellers and retailers will go out of their way to let you know if something is solid wood since it is a big selling point.
If it's not otherwise noted, you can generally expect it to be a laminate of some kind.

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