should i get a kala, oscar shcmidt or a lanikai?

hybridnightmare

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 6, 2008
Messages
108
Reaction score
0
Location
San Jose, CA
judging from reviews on the OS that ive read, i would stay away. kala and lanikai are almost the same thing, since the designer for the lanikai ukes broke away from the hohner company and started his own line of inexpensive quality ukes. the resemblances are almost uncanny. the cool thing is, youre gonna be pretty good either way. both kala and lanikai make decent ukes for the money. but if you can spring out more money, i would go with a better brand altogether.
 
that ukulele (lu-21t) was the uke i bought after my £20 soprano wasnt enough, its a great uke for the money, and perfect to develop skills without spending a bomb. getttt ittttt
 
I've probably read all the same OS reviews that NukeDoc has read. The variability among the Oscar Schmidt's is rather high and skewed. A few times you get a gem. Often, you don't.

My understanding is that Kalas and Lanikais come off the same assembly lines. It's just that the distributors provide different specs. These differences seem to be more along the lines of which varieties of woods to combine rather than along the core designs of the ukuleles.
 
Os Ou5

I have a concert Oscar Schmidt OU5 model. Minus the binding (not sure what it is made out of?) the uke is actually really nice looking. The gloss is well done....grover mini tuners and a nice abalone inlay purfling and around the sound hole too.

With Aquilas, it is nice and bright. Just changed out my old Aquilas for Hilos and the verdict is still out on whether I like the Hilos or not..

I got it new for around $175 or so a couple of years ago.

My biggest complaint is that the nut was not cut perfectly and the 1st string is a bit too close to the edge of the fretboard........not then end of the world for a cheap uke though.

Hope that helps
 
hmm i think ill get the lanikai then. why is it though that the kala is more expensive? the store i go to is guitar showcase and they sell some kalas roughly around 200 while the tenor lanikai is only 105. is 105 a good deal? oh and can i change the guitar string on the tenor or is it best to leave it on? thanks for the help
 
I'd say get comfortable with the uke first becuz lanikai and kala tenors come with ghs c string wound and they are okay for the time being, as of now for my kala uke after having it for maybe 3 months i would like to get some other strings besides GHS. I really didn't want to deal with a few weeks of strings distending so thats why I haven't changed them yet, i'm a lazy bum. So depends on how it is for you once you get the instrument. good luck
 
Oh forgot about ur other question, lanikai and kala should be around the same pricing, but kala tend to be a little more expensive, the kala dude use to be a apprentice to i think the maker of kanilea not sure, but he broke away from the maker and adopted some of the guy's ways and made kala, and his motto was like "A great uke for a great price" something like that. And also it could probably be because of the wood. kala and lanikai both make mahogany which are a cheaper wood type to purchase, and koa, though the koa's are cheaper than other koa's becuz they are not "solid" koa wood, they are laminated koa. If it was solid koa like what kamaka, kanilea, and other 600+ pricing ukulele's then yeah those are solid koa. hope this helps and hope i didnt over inform u.
 
Oh forgot about ur other question, lanikai and kala should be around the same pricing, but kala tend to be a little more expensive, the kala dude use to be a apprentice to i think the maker of kanilea not sure, but he broke away from the maker and adopted some of the guy's ways and made kala, and his motto was like "A great uke for a great price" something like that. And also it could probably be because of the wood. kala and lanikai both make mahogany which are a cheaper wood type to purchase, and koa, though the koa's are cheaper than other koa's becuz they are not "solid" koa wood, they are laminated koa. If it was solid koa like what kamaka, kanilea, and other 600+ pricing ukulele's then yeah those are solid koa. hope this helps and hope i didnt over inform u.
wow thanks for the help i really appreciate it!
 
I have a Kala, and I enjoy it a lot! It is a good Ukulele if you want to bring it around to places! My best friend and I bring our Kala Ukulele's everywhere. It is nice and Loud! So I would consider a Kala.
 
Oscar Schmidt baritone

I have an Oscar Schmidt bari and a vintage Martin soprano. I paid $150 (used) for the Oscar and $25 (yes, $25!) for the Martin which I'm sure would cost between $300 and $500 to replace. The Oscar stays in tune better than the Martin, and is a great all-around instrument. The Martin has better tone, of course, but I have to tune it all the time and I never take it anywhere because I'm paranoid about hurting it.

My best advice is, do your homework and always buy the very best you can afford. It is almost always worth it.
 
ha wow 25 dollars for a martin, that was probably one of your best investments, those things are super rare nowadays.
 
Compare the sounds of the kala, oscar shcmidt and lanikai to a good vintage uke and see which you like best.
 
Top Bottom