Fake ukulele?

Adi_Oldschool13 · Apr 10, 2014

Hi, I just bought a Lanikai LU-11 at a local music store a few weeks ago and I just noticed something odd with my uke. The Lanikai LU-11 has two white circles outside its sound hole which mine doesn't have. I am starting to doubt if my uke is an original. It does come with aquila strings though.

John Colter · Apr 10, 2014

Don't be too sure - there are fake Aquila strings out there, also.

OldePhart · Apr 10, 2014

Adi_Oldschool13 said:
Hi, I just bought a Lanikai LU-11 at a local music store a few weeks ago and I just noticed something odd with my uke. The Lanikai LU-11 has two white circles outside its sound hole which mine doesn't have. I am starting to doubt if my uke is an original. It does come with aquila strings though.

It's probably not a fake. As I recall, most of the LU-11 ukes don't have any adornment at all while the LU-21 is basically the same but with a little more eye candy. I can't imagine anyone bother to counterfeit the LU-11 - it's the bottom of the line for Lanikai so there wouldn't seem to be much point.

The LU-11 ukes are decent ukes, though. I've given them to my grandkids so I've purchased a lot of them. A few were tolerable out of the box, most needed at least one or two string slots lowered a little for good intonation. Not powerhouses and tone just okay but quite playable after less tweaking than many ukes in that price range need.

John

Skinny Money McGee · Apr 10, 2014

I hear they are putting fake Lanikai's on Aquila strings now

but seriously:

Ukejenny · Apr 10, 2014

Adi_Oldschool13 said:
Hi, I just bought a Lanikai LU-11 at a local music store a few weeks ago and I just noticed something odd with my uke. The Lanikai LU-11 has two white circles outside its sound hole which mine doesn't have. I am starting to doubt if my uke is an original. It does come with aquila strings though.

How does your ukulele play/feel/sound?

UkerDanno · Apr 10, 2014

take it back if you don't like it.

OldePhart · Apr 10, 2014

Skinny Money McGee said:
I hear they are putting fake Lanikai's on Aquila strings now

but seriously:

Ahhh, that's right - the LU-21 has the plastic body binding and no rosette. I was thinking the LU-11 was completely plain and the 21 had both the binding and the rosette.

@Adi if you paid for a LU-11 and got a 21 you got a pretty decent deal. The ukes are very similar in most respects but the 21 costs more. Quality/setup/sound/etc. are about the same on LU-11 and LU-21.

John

ichadwick · Apr 11, 2014

They charge extra to erase those rosette lines, so you got a bargain... ;-)

LanikaiLeon · Apr 11, 2014

Strange! If anything it sounds like you've got a mislabeled LU-21!

If you want to be sure, just send me a picture and I"ll be glad to verify for you - straight from the source

Adi_Oldschool13 · Apr 25, 2014

Its actually my first ukulele so I'm not good in comparing it to other ukes yet… But it pretty much sounds great!

hoosierhiver · Apr 25, 2014

Lanakai (which is a division of Hohner) has their ukes in China. My guess is that the factory had some other orders from another company that included the rosette and made a mistake. Hohner is such a giant, they might not have even noticed or cared about the difference.

Adi_Oldschool13 · Apr 25, 2014

Skinny Money McGee said:
I hear they are putting fake Lanikai's on Aquila strings now

but seriously:

On my uke, it actually says LU-11 but it doesn't have any white bindings at all. So its basically a LU-11 without the two white circles on it

Adi_Oldschool13 · Apr 25, 2014

LanikaiLeon said:
Strange! If anything it sounds like you've got a mislabeled LU-21!

If you want to be sure, just send me a picture and I"ll be glad to verify for you - straight from the source

I can't take a picture of it but I found one in google that looks exactly like mine.Here's it is:
http://shop.absolute-guitars.co.uk/ekmps/shops/absoluteguitars/images/lanikai-lu11-soprano-ukulele-[2]-2982-p.jpg

ukeeku · Apr 25, 2014

Adi_Oldschool13 said:
Hi, I just bought a Lanikai LU-11 at a local music store a few weeks ago and I just noticed something odd with my uke. The Lanikai LU-11 has two white circles outside its sound hole which mine doesn't have. I am starting to doubt if my uke is an original. It does come with aquila strings though.

First, most likely not a fake. sometimes one production run will have a little extra or a small change. OR, as many dealers will tell you, it is a little different model. They are famous for making a "Special" model for places like Guitar Center. The only difference is some little inlay or logo change. (OH and it is $80 less than the local shop)
You are fine. play it, enjoy it.

Fake ukulele?

Adi_Oldschool13

New member

John Colter

It ain't what you've got, it's what you do with it

OldePhart

Well-known member

Skinny Money McGee

Well-known member

Attachments

Ukejenny

Well-known member

UkerDanno

Well-known member

OldePhart

Well-known member

ichadwick

Well-known member

LanikaiLeon

Active member

Adi_Oldschool13

New member

hoosierhiver

Well-known member

Adi_Oldschool13

New member

Adi_Oldschool13

New member

ukeeku

Well-known member

Similar threads