Smp-tca, szw-tca, or ka-kte-c?

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Ayo Woozy

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I'm looking to buy a new ukulele and I'm most interested in these ukes. I understand a lot of the times two identical ukes can sound different, but have any of you used these ukes and prefer or recommend one of these over the others. I am very interested in these for their all solid body, cutaway body, tenor size and the electric input. Any other recommended ukes are welcome as well. I've only owned a Lanikai LU-21, but I made due with it and learned a bunch of Jake Shimabukuro interpretations of songs.

So what do you recommend? Lanikai SMP-TCA or SZW-TCA; or the Kala KA-KTE-C.
 
I don't think the Kala has a solid top. The Lanikai's are solid wood. For Kala's, I'd look at their solid acacia uke's before their laminate Koa ukes.
 
I have the SMP-C (concert no electronics) and love it. Beautiful woodgrain but it takes a while for the wood to open up. Another UU member has the SMP-TCA and also speaks highly of it.
 
I would say the SMP before the SZW. The Zebra Wood grain can be more succeptable to cracking, so I only offer the Monkey Pod for that reason. I am with the previous poster, if you can at least go for the all-solid I would do that over the all-laminate Koa. So, basically, my vote would be for the Monkey Pod all the way!
 
I would agree go with the solid wood Lanikai's over the laminate Kala. I got a SZW concert a while back and love it, but it is very bright sounding, the SMP seem a bit more mellow sounding. I love the looks of the Zebrawood, though I have heard it may be a bit more prone to cracking, but living here in the high desert all my solids and solid tops live in their cases with humidifiers.
 
The Solid Monkeypod with Ko'olau Alohi strings, low g if you are inclined in that direction.
 
What do all you UUers think of the Lanikai S-TEQ then? A really cheap, yet good quality, alternative in my perspective. But, how much of a difference is the sound of the Spruce Top compared to the Monkeypod?
 
I own a SMP-TCA (and I used to have a KA-KTE-C) and it projects a fair volume if you've got the right strings on it. When i put Aquila strings on it, it didn't sound very great acoustically, i actually thought it sounded dead but once i slapped on some Daddario extra hard tension pro artes, it started singing better than the Kala KA-KTE-C that i had previously owned.
It is true that you will have to wait some time for the sound to truly come out but since i'm not one of those people who have extra money lying around, time was all i had so this Uke was perfect for me.
You should be careful though, my uke got shipped to me and it had a small crack (i fixed it though).

The only thing i dislike about the SMP-TCA is that it has a satin finish, i'm personally a glossy finish lover.
 
Last edited:
Hey Bao, i heard the fret board is kinda wide. Is it uncomfortable to play, or hard to play?
 
Yes infact the neck is wider than most ukuleles (including the KA-TE-C) but it allows for extra string spacing for picking and etc.
I didn't really find it uncomfortable, if anything i prefer this fret board size over the KA-TE-C
 
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