Lanikai vs Kala (solid concert)

Hi,

Although I am less active than I should be, I'm still here, and yet again Id like to ask your opinion about two ukes.

About a year ago some great people of this community had convinced me to go for a Brunswick soprano and I was not disappointed. Now, however, I feel that maybe it's time to acquire a solid concert.
As always, this results in watching lots and lots of videos, as unfortunately I am barely able to try a few brands live.
The result? Yet again a Kala, this time an acacia model, and due to availability a Lanikai ck-c.

This could be far fetched, as it is not really possible to judge an uke based on a video (too many factors), but I'm really missing the distinct tone of the Kala. Have a listen:

Kala ka-c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CILUxjnzTCk
Lanikai ck-c (a bit out of tune)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsWLZB85bLU

From the start I never understood why the Lanikai is so popular, ever since I heard and tried them I had various issues (mostly intonation) and tone.
Also I heard the ck-c has a notoriously buzzing C string.
Does anyone have any experience with a ck-c? Would you swear by a Lanikai over a Kala?

All replies are greatly appreciated.

Erion

The Lanikai ck-c is a laminate not solid. Solid wood Lanikai concerts would be: Mahogany - LM-C;
Spalted Mango - SM-C; Monkey Pod - SMP-C; Zebra Wood - SZW-C.

I had a Lanikai LSM-C which was the predecessor to the LM-C. It had a very muted tone. I felt it was overbuilt. I tried probably 5 brands of strings, none with satisfactory results and I sold it. I have a tenor Lanikai Spalted Mango (SM-T) and after trying a number of string brands found that Femont Blackline Tenor Low-G strings really make it sing.

I has a LaNAKAI cK-c and with Gold strings, it sounded very nice. Sold it only to concentrate on tenors.

Hi,
Thank you for the great replies.

Hmm, I didn't know that the ck-c was not solid. So does it cost that much because it's handcrafted? If I consider this it actually sounds nice for a laminate.

Erion

erion said:

Hi,
Thank you for the great replies.

Hmm, I didn't know that the ck-c was not solid. So does it cost that much because it's handcrafted? If I consider this it actually sounds nice for a laminate.

Erion

Click to expand...

It is not handmade. It probably cost that much because it is a koa laminate. Lanikai does make a solid koa top uke, model NK-C that cost a little more than $100 more than the CK-C. They also made a Guitar Center Exclusive acoustic/electric solid koa model (SKECGC) that sold for between $400-500. It's going to be tough to find a solid koa concert for much less than $500. Add another couple of hundred dollars for a hand-made Hawaiian instrument.
I recently bought a solid acacia KPK concert for less than $200 from www.pilikoko.com and am quite happy with it.