I own a OU5-LCE and I would say that it is a very nice laminated koa uke. The wood is pretty. The laminated top is thin and the uke is plenty loud enough to play acoustically. I love the neck on mine. I also love the fact that it is a tenor-scale neck on a concert body. The UK-2000 pickup is the same on the above recommended Ohana. The Ohana has a solid mahogany top, laminated back and sides.
One more thing about the OU5-LCE, it has open-geared Grover tuners that work very well and it stays in tune very nicely. It is a good stage and recording uke because the pickup is very nice for the job.
On the down-side, it is not a solid-wood uke and a lot of people will tell you to buy only solid-wood instruments or at least solid tops. Laminated ukes are less likely to crack in dry conditions and often hold tune better with changes in humidity, temperature, etc... so solid wood, laminated arguments don't matter as much to me, I have some of the finest ukes made and some like the OU5-LCE. This one does get played a lot. That says something.
