I really appreciate Barry's review. I have found all of his reviews very informative and helpful. I thought I might add a few thoughts about the new Lava ukuleles, particularly about the value for the money.
I have had a concert Lava with special effects for a few weeks now and I really like it and think it is worth every penny I paid. After experimenting with different strings, I have settled on Oasis brights with a Fermont Soloist low G. No comparison to the other plastic composite ukuleles I have. Much richer, fuller sound. The metal frets on the Lava are nice—the ability to use wound strings without worrying about wear.
My go-to uke has been the Clara which I have had for five years. The Clara, of course, is much louder and lighter—the Lava may weight half again as much. Since changing the strings and lowering the nut to bring the action at first fret down to .5mm, the Lava plays much like my Clara in the first position. As one goes up the fretboard, the Lava’s neck does get a little deeper than the Clara as one approaches the body, but the feel remains quite good to me.
In terms of tone, the Lava with Oasis bright strings and Soloist low G is much more mellow than the Clara with the same strings and also seems to have a more note separation, that, is it does not sound to me as muddled as the Clara sometimes sounds when strumming.
I assume the Lava will be as durable as the Clara, perhaps even more tolerate of high temperatures which is ideal for traveling. Living in a very dry region of Southern California, it’s nice to be able to leave my ukuleles out of their cases and not worry about the low humidity.
In terms of sound, I really like the Lava. My wife, in facts, prefers its sound to that of the Clara. I now have two go-to ukuleles. I do enjoy the two Blackbirds tenors I have, but I prefer playing the concert scale and have had difficulty finding another concert I really like—wood or composite. The new Lava checks all the boxes for me plus it has special effects which might come in handy someday.
The case, while interesting, I find somewhat pretentious. Others, of course, really love it. I would rather have had a nice strap. None of this takes away from the value the ukulele itself has for me. Of course, cheaper is always better, but you get what you pay for. And in regards to the Lava, I feel I have gotten exactly if not more than what I paid for.
