Lanikai UO-8 question

Being a 12 string guitar player, I love the sound of multiple strings as they give a much fuller tone, I've been looking at the 8 string Ukes and especially the Lanikai UO-8, without the pick-up.
There is a offer on these online, but before I take the plunge and order one, is there anyone who could give me their opinion on one? Sound and quality is what I'd like to know...
Many thanks
Nige

Nige52 said:

Being a 12 string guitar player, I love the sound of multiple strings as they give a much fuller tone, I've been looking at the 8 string Ukes and especially the Lanikai UO-8, without the pick-up.
There is a offer on these online, but before I take the plunge and order one, is there anyone who could give me their opinion on one? Sound and quality is what I'd like to know...
Many thanks
Nige

Click to expand...

The O8 is great! great sound.

I have an OU-8E ( with pickup), and an LU-6, and love them both. All the Lanikai's I've had have been quite well made and play very nicely. The OU-8 is one of my favorite players, the sound is great, kind of like playing two ukes at once! and having low and high g at the same time.

Reports I've heard have all been great. I have a good friend with an LU-8 (I think that's the model) and it sounds beautiful. Another friend has an 0-8.

Contact Mim - see if she has any or can get one for you. She does a top-notch setup before sending it to you so you know it will come right.

Marvelous!
I contacted the shop that is advertising them to ask if I could come and look at one, not in stock, but they could order me one in 4 days, or if I paid extra, 24 hour delivery.
I would rather have actually picked one up and played it before parting with my cash but decided to order it anyway as all the reports were good and your replies on here were good also.
I phoned the shop with my card ready, and the assistant said she'd phone me back shortly.....they can't get one till at least the end of April..maybe.
Why do these places advertise goods they haven't got or worse still can't get?? I've searched around and I can't find any other shops that advertise them....as Homer would say.....DOH!!

Nige52 said:

Marvelous!
I contacted the shop that is advertising them to ask if I could come and look at one, not in stock, but they could order me one in 4 days, or if I paid extra, 24 hour delivery.
I would rather have actually picked one up and played it before parting with my cash but decided to order it anyway as all the reports were good and your replies on here were good also.
I phoned the shop with my card ready, and the assistant said she'd phone me back shortly.....they can't get one till at least the end of April..maybe.
Why do these places advertise goods they haven't got or worse still can't get?? I've searched around and I can't find any other shops that advertise them....as Homer would say.....DOH!!

Click to expand...

Basically this is the classic drop shipper. They never stock anything but they put on appearances like they do. When she said it would take 4 days, she would probably call, order it from the Lanikai warehouse, and have it shipped to your door. No one touches it, or makes sure it is set up properly, and it can lead you to a ton of trouble. I know the conditions my O-8s come to me in and it can be hit or miss. It may come in decent shape, or it may come with a lot of nut and saddle work and rarely frets (on that model), but sometimes frets.

BUT... as far as the uke... when set up properly, it is my favorite 8-string. I only offer Lanikai 8 strings right now because I think they are the best bang for your buck. I prefer the spruce over the laminate mahogany because I love the full bright sound. I have had customers perfer the laminate mahogany because it has more of a lower tone, but just as full sound. Just not as bright. It all comes down to sound preference.

If you have any more questions feel free to PM me, I have had a lot of these come through my shop and have some on back-order as well and am quite sad I dont have any in because I love them. They are a great uke! They add a whole new deminsion to the sound of the ukulele.

Here is one of my customers playing one in my shop ... gosh... forever ago. That is my first 8-string I sold. Ahhhhh... the memories:



And Uncle Elvis playing the LU-8E on front street in Bermuda... I sold him that uke... I am international yo!

Wow,
Thank you for the replies! I am now convinced more than ever that I NEED this baby
I'll just have to back-order one and wait patiently for it's arrival, I can get hold of the Lanakai 6 string, as they're in stock....hmmm :drool:

Nige52 said:

Wow,
Thank you for the replies! I am now convinced more than ever that I NEED this baby
I'll just have to back-order one and wait patiently for it's arrival, I can get hold of the Lanakai 6 string, as they're in stock....hmmm :drool:

Click to expand...

It's worth the wait for the 8 string. At least in my opinion.

nige52, trust me: 8-string lanikai is worth the wait. i bought my lu-8 from mim and it is the one i play the most when i'm playing out. personally, i think everyone should own an 8-string uke

Well...at the risk of being tarred and feathered my experience with a Lanikai OU-8E (the A/E version of what you're looking at, I think) was less beautious. I got it from a drop-shipper off eBay because I have the tools and experience to do setups. Much to my surprise it came in with the best factory setup I've seen on any low-to-mid-priced instrument. All 8 of the nut slots were cut perfectly - there were no measurable intonation issues at the first fret (edit: actually, it's been a year and a half - I think one or two strings might have been off by a needle quiver - in any case, I didn't feel like I needed to touch up any of the nut slots). The plugged in sound also rocked.

Unfortunately, unplugged it had all the character of paper-mache - I think I could've got better tone playing a wet dog!

It was bad enough that I couldn't bring myself to stick someone in the marketplace with it so I gave it away. The guy I gave it to loves it - but the only other uke he has ever played is a real POJ bottom-of-the-pile thing that is little better than a toy - in fact, he got it as a toy when he was a kid many years ago.

I think in this price range tone, volume, and playability can be extremely variable from sample to sample regardless of the brand name on the headstock. If at all possible, play before you buy. If you can't do that, buy from someone who knows ukes and has a sterling reputation for customer support - hopefully those folks won't ship a uke that is disappointing to play.

John