Shady uke companies? Leolani/Kumu

Kaelrie

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Maybe 10 months ago, I saw a Leolani ukulele for $144 at Sam's Club in Honolulu. I was kinda curious about it, but no way was I going to buy a uke without knowing anything about the company. I'd never seen the brand in any local music store, which would be weird for a Hawaiian uke.

So I started googling and asking around, and nobody anywhere had heard of Leolani. Not even google knew anything about them. I wrote them off as maybe a Chinese importer trying to get a foothold in the islands or something.

Now, nearly a year later I see them in The Ukulele Site branded as either Leolani or Kumu. They generally don't sell crap ukuleles, so I started googling again and now Leolani has a website. https://www.leolaniukulele.com/

Looks nice, but they're actually claiming to be Hawaii's #1 importer of the best ukes since the early 00s. A company nobody anywhere had even heard of a year ago is somehow selling ukes on the islands for almost 20 years? What? I KNOW that's not true lol. I live here. I looked up their website and it was created in 2019 and the site owner lives in California, not Hawaii.

If it weren't for TUS carrying some of their stuff, I'd just think they're a complete fraud. But I guess they must make ok ukes? Confusing.
 
I wouldn't really say they're being fraudulent.
They really are riding on the technicality that the founder lives in Hawaii. Other than that, just another Made in Asia ukulele company

Are your instruments made in Hawaii?
Our ukulele our not made in Hawaii. There are many great homegrown factories in Hawaii doing just that and we love it! Our approach is to bring the most affordable ukulele while keeping to the highest quality standards. Based in Hawaii we know what a good ukulele is. And we know that a good ukulele is made from Hawaiian Koa. This is why we go through great lengths in securing Hawaiian Koa and crafting them into our KUMU series! All of our import ukulele our designed in house by our team. Check out our Instagram to meet some of them.

As for claim of being "Hawaii's #1 importer of the best ukes since early 00s".
That's just typical hype marketing? #1 by what standards, "best ukes" by what standards?
Easy to fall back on saying it's an 'opinion'.

Worst case scenario, a Chinese importer with some contacts in Hawaii to be their "face" for marketing purposes.
End of the day, they're just another ukulele company. I don't see anything inherently evil being done.
I would have preferred a more down-to-earth and plain marketing approach, rather than them claiming to be "genuine Hawaiian ukulele".
By some interpretations, all ukuleles (even my $10 Mahalo) is a genuine Hawaiian ukulele since that is indeed the instrument.

They also seem to use mostly (or entirely) laminate Koa, which is rather common across all ukulele manufacturers.
 
Isn't the principle underlying this thread the hypocrisy of the ukulele world? Scads of people want quality instruments, but they won't pay for it. They don't want made-in-China mass-produced ukes, but they keep on buying cheap ones. People need to make up their minds. Either they should be okay with assembly line instruments like Kala or they should put their money where their mouths are and support luthiers. And it is hard. I'm not rich but I am saving up a little from every paycheck to buy a baritone. That means saving up $4000 or so, and have a gifted human make an instrument for me. It is going to take years of saving and years on a waiting list, but I'll get it done.
 
$450 for a laminate uke seems pretty crazy to me.

https://www.leolaniukulele.com/kumu-series

Arguably it is also a bit 'cheap' to be a solid Koa top/all solid Koa.

Nevertheless, the website confirms laminate Koa construction

Top: Laminated Hawaiian Koa Wood

Back & Sides: Laminated Hawaiian Koa Wood

Neck: Okoume Wood

Fingerboard: Reconstituted Rosewood (ECO)

Bridge: Reconstituted Rosewood (ECO)

Binding: Reconstituted Rosewood (ECO)

Logo: KUMU Abalone Inlay
https://www.leolaniukulele.com/prod...r-hawaiian-koa-tux-finish-with-x1-pro-ukulele
 
Maybe it's just that Koa doesn't mean anything special to me so I'm not willing to pay crazy dollars for it as a laminate.
 
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Sure, they are another "brand" ordering their stock from China and using some pretty misguiding marketing speech to trigger buyers' impulses. But to be fair, the brand names Kumu and Leolani have been around for at least 12 years. A quick search reveals that they have been discussed here on the Ukulele Underground forum from the very beginning in 2008:

https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/search.php?searchid=11260617

For more video testimonials, you can track the timeline for "Kumu Ukulele" on Youtube back to 2011 and for "Leolani Ukulele" back to 2010:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kumu+ukulele&sp=CAI%3D

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=leolani+ukulele&sp=CAI%3D

Among these videos are several from HMS/The Ukulele Site and Uke Republic, showing that they have been sold from some of our most trusted stores throughout the years.

Perhaps they are just recently trying to step up their game, or the ownership may have changed?
 
The thing is, many people, like me can’t afford to pay thousands of pounds for a ukulele, and with a family to look after, I never will be able to afford to do so. I have a Kala KAT and I love it. For me it will always be a mass produced instrument , a bit better one in time I hope but there is a limit. But I agree that there are so many makes around its hard to know what is what. Are many being made in the same Chinese Or Korean workshop with different names put on ?. I think we must always take what makers claim with a pinch of salt, they are there to sell them and make a profit, it’s as simple as that. I do enjoy reading everybody’s comments , so please the more the merrier.
Oldden.
 
The thing is, many people, like me can’t afford to pay thousands of pounds for a ukulele, and with a family to look after, I never will be able to afford to do so. I have a Kala KAT and I love it. For me it will always be a mass produced instrument , a bit better one in time I hope but there is a limit. But I agree that there are so many makes around its hard to know what is what. Are many being made in the same Chinese Or Korean workshop with different names put on ?. I think we must always take what makers claim with a pinch of salt, they are there to sell them and make a profit, it’s as simple as that. I do enjoy reading everybody’s comments , so please the more the merrier.
Oldden.

Korean overhead is too high for the mass produced stuff, albeit they were doing it a couple decades back. China rules in that area but SE Asia and Taiwan is certainly nipping at their coattails.
 
Korean overhead is too high for the mass produced stuff, albeit they were doing it a couple decades back. China rules in that area but SE Asia and Taiwan is certainly nipping at their coattails.

I agree. While Korea isn't huge in the Ukulele manufacture globally, they have stepped up their game in instrument making standards in recent times.
While not quite up there in price with Japan yet, but certainly a cut above Chinese mass production. The labour is certainly more expensive in Korea compared to China.

Korean Ukuleles are seen from time to time, especially if you explore the domestic market.
Guitar production has a far larger market share.
 
The thing is, many people, like me can’t afford to pay thousands of pounds for a ukulele, and with a family to look after, I never will be able to afford to do so. I have a Kala KAT and I love it. For me it will always be a mass produced instrument , a bit better one in time I hope but there is a limit. But I agree that there are so many makes around its hard to know what is what. Are many being made in the same Chinese Or Korean workshop with different names put on ?. I think we must always take what makers claim with a pinch of salt, they are there to sell them and make a profit, it’s as simple as that. I do enjoy reading everybody’s comments , so please the more the merrier.
Oldden.

Nothing wrong with a well made inexpensive ukulele.
I think the most important thing is to live within your means and enjoy to the fullest.
With a bit of market research and setup know-how there is a great instrument at any price range.
An over $1000 uke is definitely pleasant to have, but not an absolute necessity to enjoy ukulele. If it is within your means, certainly nice to have though :)
 
All marketing is hyped to some extent. How much just depends. But even the big custom uke builders, they market their mystique. They can't get out there and just say, "I build really really good high quality ukulele by hand, I hope you will buy one." Good or bad, they all have to have something that sets them apart and gets people's attention, and makes them want to own one.
 
Maybe 10 months ago, I saw a Leolani ukulele for $144 at Sam's Club in Honolulu. I was kinda curious about it, but no way was I going to buy a uke without knowing anything about the company. I'd never seen the brand in any local music store, which would be weird for a Hawaiian uke.

So I started googling and asking around, and nobody anywhere had heard of Leolani. Not even google knew anything about them. I wrote them off as maybe a Chinese importer trying to get a foothold in the islands or something.

They have been around for ages selling cheap ukes to tourists on Oahu, and several booths at the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet as well as ABC stores tend to have them. Your google search should have pointed you to old reviews on sites like:
http://www.theukulelereview.com/2010/12/22/the-leolani-ukulele-company/
or
http://ukulelehunt.com/buy-ukulele/brands/leolani-ukulele/

There are also threads on UU about Leolani going back more than 10 years!

https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?4388-Leolani-Ukuleles
 
I purchased a Kumu from Uke Republic about a year ago. Nice sound & and appeared to be a decent build. I returned it because it was listed as a satin finish & the one I received was high gloss. The neck was also on the chunky side. Uke Republic has been selling them for several years & they gave me a full refund on it. I had seen a few reviews on YouTube for Kumu, and they were all positive reviews. If I remember right, they were at NAMM last year and someone posted their video on UU???
 
Isn't the principle underlying this thread the hypocrisy of the ukulele world? Scads of people want quality instruments, but they won't pay for it. They don't want made-in-China mass-produced ukes, but they keep on buying cheap ones. People need to make up their minds. Either they should be okay with assembly line instruments like Kala or they should put their money where their mouths are and support luthiers. And it is hard. I'm not rich but I am saving up a little from every paycheck to buy a baritone. That means saving up $4000 or so, and have a gifted human make an instrument for me. It is going to take years of saving and years on a waiting list, but I'll get it done.

I took a marketing class a few years ago for my own business. It was actually sponsored by Facebook. But one of the things the instructor talked about was that whether it was intentional or not intentional, building anticipation builds value. He said that the old axiom, easy come easy go, was true today as it ever was. That when we have to wait in anticipation for the product that product can become more valuable to the person who purchases it. He said that studies in the auto industry has shown that persons who order a car and have to wait to get it will keep that car longer than someone who just buys a car off the lot, even if they both had the same options. He said that in these times were we expect to get everything delivered to our doorstep in three days, marketing techniques that can provide for customers who savor that exclusiveness are sometimes more effective. In the case of publishing, pre selling books is a good plan. He showed instances of people writing positive reviews for books that were a month out from publishing. The people would write in their reviews how excited they were to read it. Of course different people are affected by different marketing approaches, so a business can't just take one approach and think that you are going to sell products. In fact he stressed that it takes a combination of approaches. But that was one of them You're post just made me think about it. I don't know, it probably applies to marketing ukuleles as well.
 
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My mom bought a Leolani ukulele from Costco 15 years ago. It is still going strong. Quality is comparable to Kala for the price, but it has the wider neck that is popular in Hawaii.

In the past, Leolani has not done much online advertising, but I do see them regularly the big box stores as well as tourist stores and music stores in Hawaii. I expect their #1 claim has more to do with sales volume than any customer service claims.
 
Sheesh, I've never thought Leolani was shady. They've been around for a long time doing what everybody else in the business does, making budget instruments. I've seen them in my beginning 'ukulele classes at Leeward Community College every semester for the past decade or two. They certainly lack the market genius and reach of Kala but that doesn't make them shady, just less known.
 
"#1 importer" is kinda vague. Did they import more than anyone else, or are they just a #1 company (really good)? They could be importing large numbers of ukes from China under all different brand names and then passing them along to retail sellers.

Their web site is nicely done, but the ukes don't impress me. Maybe Baz will do a review of one some day.
 
They have been around for ages selling cheap ukes to tourists on Oahu, and several booths at the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet as well as ABC stores tend to have them. Your google search should have pointed you to old reviews on sites like:
http://www.theukulelereview.com/2010/12/22/the-leolani-ukulele-company/
or
http://ukulelehunt.com/buy-ukulele/brands/leolani-ukulele/

There are also threads on UU about Leolani going back more than 10 years!

https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?4388-Leolani-Ukuleles
Is it possible that before their increased web presence, Google's algorithm just didn't show these to me? I swear to God those results weren't there in the google search 10 months ago.

The thing is, many people, like me can’t afford to pay thousands of pounds for a ukulele, and with a family to look after, I never will be able to afford to do so. I have a Kala KAT and I love it. For me it will always be a mass produced instrument , a bit better one in time I hope but there is a limit. But I agree that there are so many makes around its hard to know what is what. Are many being made in the same Chinese Or Korean workshop with different names put on ?. I think we must always take what makers claim with a pinch of salt, they are there to sell them and make a profit, it’s as simple as that. I do enjoy reading everybody’s comments , so please the more the merrier.
Oldden.

I'm fine with cheap mass produced ukes. One of my favorites is an Enya and I noodle the hell out of that thing. I was just sort of gobsmacked by this company coming out of nowhere and claiming to be the premiere company in my home town for decades lol. Even at my local ukulele club, which sometimes boasts attendance over 200 at once, I couldn't find anyone who'd heard of Leolani.
 
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