All the Kala and Lanikai tenors with spruce tops I have played were loud and bright with good action and intonation. I often find the Lanikai about $50 cheaper than the Kalas (at least for the electric models), but I don't know why since they seem like very similar models to me. At least one member here said he found the Kala tenors had too much resonance (and that wasn't a complement) than the Lanikais, but I really can't speak to that. Spruce is also easier to put dents in that laminates.
About the only downside I can think of to a solid spruce top is that they are softer and more prone to crack than something like my old Kala laminate. In other words, you have to take reasonable care of them. Others say that they don't like the brightness of the spruce, and prefer the mellow tones of mahogany. What people mean by "brightness" is always hard to define, but I define it as having stronger tenor tones than a ukulele that is more balanced across the spectrum. When I recently bought a guitar, I chose a cedar top, because I didn't really like the brightness of spruce, but most people prefer the spruce on a guitar. You have to play and listen to some (or preferably record some) and let your ear tell you what you like. I don't think I would choose spruce, if I was going for some sort of "traditional" Hawaiian sound, where only Koa and Mahogany will do.
With the usual caveats about drawing too strong a sound conclusion from YT videos here are comparisons. Its hard to argue that Dominator and Craig Brandau don't make beautiful music with spruce tops. Of course both have better ukes than Kalas or Lanikais, but you can still hear what spruce at its best sounds like. These are both serious ukers, so their choice of spruce for performance instruments tells you something. However, their style tends more towards contemporary and jazz and classical to my ear.
Here is a less expensive thinline travel Kala sprucetop being jammed. The spruce cuts through the bass and the guitar nicely.
Here is some koa for comparison.
Finally, here is a well played solid mahogany tenor, although its difficult to know on these samples how different the recording setups were.
I played a spruce top Lanikai baritone yesterday at Sam Ash, and while it sounded great, I was a little disappointed by the sloppy work on the fret board. They had painted the edge where the fretboard meets the neck and they paint edge was no where near straight and even. That said, I had to repair a fret on my Kala TA-TG when I first got it, because it was not properly seated. With any mass produced uke, its often hit or miss on the quality, and important to check out the actual one you are buying if possible. I know that is not possible with mail order, so MGM, UkeRepublic's, and Mainland setups and guarantees become more important.
I'm glad to hear that maybe the price differential between Kalas and Lanikais may be disappearing, although in many stores the Lanikais are already about the same price (the price of the Lanikai rising, rather than Kalas falling). In short, I think they are both nice ukes with great sound. I would just find the one I liked the best in person and buy it.
The
current musiciansfreind.com deal for $99 on the solid spruce top Lanikai with gig bag and tuner, is very hard to resist if you don't want or need a setup.
