Ukulele from Lohanu Spruce Top Zebra Wood Sides & Back With All Accessories Included! (Tenor Size)

Considering the cost I did not expect something that would rival a much more expensive hand crafted name brand ukulele. but with all the positive reviews of their Sampiel Mahogany version I did expect something better then what I received. I will start with the good and work my way down from there.NOTE: I am a rookie ukulele player at best, but I have 30+ years experience in wood working and a meticulous eye for detail, fit & finish. Occasionally in this review I will use one of our 3 other ukulele’s in comparison; these are also all budget Chinese imports, none cost more than $100 new, in fact the tenor and Dolphin cost less than $60.I apologize for the length of this review; I point out some negative issues and thus I feel it only right to justify those claims with as much detail as I can. If I get too wordy, just zip through to the pictures 🙂The numbers you see along the way correspond to the photos I have included for that issue.THE GOOD:The Ukulele arrived with both the outer and inner box damaged, however the slightly padded gig bag/case (I’m guessing 5mm of padding) did its job and spared the instrument from any visible damage. PHOTO #01The instrument is attractive looking with nice accents.Overall construction appears to be solid.The Aquila strings are of good quality, and the kit includes an extra set.The chromatic tuner seems to work right, makes tuning much easier, and comes with a spare battery.The strap is of decent quality and, with the pre-installed posts, makes it easier to practice when standing up or chasing my 5 year old.NITPICKS:The rosewood bridge has a rough rustic look which stands out in contrast to the effort they made to make the rest of the instrument look so polished & attractive. PHOTO #02For big guys with large hands, like me, a tenor sized uke may be more comfortable to play than a soprano. The overall size of this tenor is larger than a soprano, and there is indeed a bit more room in the frets for my fellow fat finger syndrome sufferers but, the width of the strings, from G to A, at the saddle/bridge is even less than both a soprano ukulele we have as well as my other tenor. I would have welcomed a little more space between the strings when plucking, Though the body is a bit smaller than my other tenor ukulele there is still plenty of room for it. PHOTO #03The Chromatic tuner works well but one of the pivot points to allow you to turn it towards you, after only a month, is already so worn that the head flops down when you stand the uke up on your lap to tune it. There is no adjustment to tighten it. PHOTO #04There is some slight tearout of the veneer on two areas of the top where it was cut for the binding. The cutter might have been getting dull or was moving too quickly. The clear finish fills the small gaps, it doesn’t affect the instruments performance at all, most people wouldn’t give it a second thought. But it’s there. PHOTO #05When I proceed to the finish sanding process on my own projects my fingertips are a vital gauge for measuring my progress. I can feel the texture of the wood grain on the back of the neck of this ukulele. I checked two of our other ukes along with two electric guitars and one vintage banjo we have at the house and the necks are glass smooth (I omitted the Dolphin because, except for the bridge & fret board, it is entirely covered in a thick layer of glossy smooth paint) Maybe they ration sandpaper?Someone went the extra step to apply protective decals to the back of the tuners, but even that wasn’t done with care. PHOTO #06THE NOT SO GOOD:Looking at the entire kit, there are so many half-fast, sloppy small details that could have been done better including: multiple long threads (I’m talking 4-6 inches long) hanging from the zipper and seams of the case which should have been trimmed short. PHOTO #07The nut has machine marks and a burr from when it was cut to size. PHOTO #08The satin finish had two small blemishes on the top face from where someone or something had touched it before the finish was dry. PHOTO #09The felt discs between the strap mounting posts which both protect and isolate the instrument were way off center. It takes just a fraction of a second when screwing the post into place to hold that disc straight and, like trimming the threads on the case, to do it right. PHOTO #10THE UGLY:The body has a angular ridge on its side. My first concern was that this was a defect caused by either the laminated material not being properly prepared before being shaped around the template or poor clamping. However, after looking more closely at that area inside of the Uke, I think that it might be just a sloppy job finish sanding after the binding was installed. My guess is that they probably use a drum sander and the instrument was allowed to come to rest a moment against the drum during that clean up process. PHOTO #11The rosewood fret board, this one had me gritting my teeth, it has definite machine marks. The strips for fret boards are cut on a band saw from larger stock and then are sanded smooth to remove the grooves/lines left by the saw blade. Reading reviews of their other models, I recall some that seemed to reference a similar issue with theirs, so chances are these aren’t isolated incidents. Whomever was responsible for this task did a terrible job. PHOTO #12A & 12BQuality Control had no problem giving these issues a pass; either no one really checked or it is just considered normal. PHOTO #13IMHO, this thing should have been flagged as blemished, a factory defect, and the instrument sold as a ‘second’.HOW DOES IT PLAY?OK, so, now that I’ve bashed its construction, how does it play?Challenging would be one word to describe it. Painful would be another.Lohanu has said in response to some reviews that the action, the space between the strings and the fret board is within industry standards, I find mine to be too high; certainly higher than our three other ukes.When trying to play an F chord or a Cb, where you’re pressing on strings in the first fret, I have had to apply excessive force to get the strings down flat and make a clean tone. Even after a month of practicing on it every day it can be uncomfortable after a while and I’ll switch to one of our others which are easier to play.One of our older sons has been playing acoustic guitar for many years now and when he comes over to visit he likes to take one of the ukuleles and strum for a bit. He doesn’t grab this bright shiny new one though. The others are more fun.As for the sound, that is such a subjective thing; what I like might not be what you want. Since I bought this instrument without hearing it, which is my bad, I can not condemn its sound or tone quality too much and thus it doesn’t carry much weight in my review, but….. Ehhh. I am not saying that it’s bad, its just not really what I was hoping for.It certainly is loud, but to me there isn’t really a warmth to the sound. When I strum the strings with the pad of my thumb I find it thin, a bit twangy. When I switched to the included plastic picks my wife commented that it sounded almost like a banjo. Hey, if you’re looking for something loud to bang away on during a wild jam session, you might love it.Strings can make a big difference and I’ll probably replace them with a more mellow sounding set, perhaps ones made by ‘Living Waters’, which I put on my Kohala tenor when I changed it to a Low G setup. They totally changed the whole sound for the better.CONCLUSION:If this had had a serious structural failure I would have of course sent it back. The fit and finish leave a lot to be desired but it is solidly built and I bought it to learn to play and not to look at. I bought it without hearing how it sounded so that part is my responsibility. I’ll experiment swapping out the strings and I have some real good musician friends who can show me how to rework the nut to improve the action. Live and learn.Lohanu has some attractive looking instruments, their cut away version looks nice and the “Spalted Maple” is a stunner. But I have my doubts that the build quality is any better than what I have already.I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it. I could understand if there had been just one thing, even something major; goofs occasionally get through in mass production and things also get mangled in the mail. But I think the vast amount of issues here, even the small ones like numerous dangling threads and a cheaply constructed tuner who's head flops around like some head banging guitarist, found throughout this ensemble may say something about the expectation of standards the vendor has made on their supplier(s). I’m still looking for a uke with that more traditional sound, I’ll have to look elsewhere, and I can not recommend these to my friends.

Item received was much nicer than expected. Simply outstanding! This well built uke's tone and volume are as pleasing as is its appearance. Price was very attractive, more so considering all the additional items accompanying the instrument and coupled with Lohanu's unconditional lifetime guarantee. Instrument was well packed and shipping time was "Johnny-on-the-Spot", too. I LOVE this thing! Two weeks later: I play for about an hour or more a day and it's really pleasing how well this stays in tune--much better than two other ukes we have. I am definitely getting more than my monies worth and like I said earlier, I LOVE this thing!2/20/2019: With well over 100 hours of playing this particular uke, it has proven to be worth every penny I paid for it. It has become my favorite of seven ukes. It's getting well broken in and the newness is wearing off. Any thing that I would term a flaw has yet to be discovered. No runs in the coating, no chips, file or sand paper marks. The satin finished spruce top is starting to take on a very mellow shade of blonde which I find attractive and more pleasing than when it was unboxed. The tuners stay put like they should and it seems like the Aquila strings seldom require tuning. One item that was thought to be unnecessary has become a "must have" and that's it's strap. Never really needed on before for my sopranos and concert ukes, but It really stabilizes this tenor when playing in a standing position for me. Glad Lohanu included it. Two months old and still a dream!9/24/2019 Purchased my second Lohanu spruce top tenor ukulele in less than a year. That's because I don't like sharing my fav uke when others want to play along. I know that there was a rather a dismal review early on, but I don't feel that you can beat these solidly built and well finished ukes. The price is more than agreeable, particularly considering what you get. The tone is nice and they make wonderful ukes for the first timer and in my opinion, too attractive to just throw in the back seat for a trip to the beach or a barbecue. They stay in tune extremely well once the strings have settled in, which by the way, does not take weeks. The tuner is tops and the lager tenor size is great for my old, fat, arthritic fingers. The multiple communications from Lohanu checking up on my satisfaction is commendable and shows that they are customer driven. For me, it's like a lady has stated: "This is the ukulele you want to buy!"

I have a nice soprano, and a concert, which is a (Locahu) also. I wanted a spruce top in tenor configuration, so bought this Locahu to give myself some flexibility. This instrument is much more alive than the concert size, and I play it every day to improve my skills and techniques. It produces a full and complex sound, and is easy to play, making the experience very pleasant. I work the instrument hard, and chord it with force on the strings to get the full notes. I would say that the price is nearly a give away, for what you get. I plan to buy another tenor, perhaps a koa bodied one from Oscar Schmidt, and see if another $100 spent equates to a much better sound, and better wood and finish. I love this ukulele, and will continue to use it daily, since I now know how to coax the correct sounds from it, and am sure that this ukulele is just perfect for a beginner or intermediate player. After receiving my premium ukulele's, from Amazon, this Lokahu is still the best playing, with the best sound. Don't spend more money, unless you just like the surface elegance of the Koa, or premium selections. This Lokahu Tenor spruce top is the superior instrument.

I was totally satisfied with this uke. I bought it to leave at my son's to avoid having to take a uke on a plane. It was very convenient that it came with all the needed accessories. The instrument itself was a great deal for the price. A complete outfit, plus nice sound and intonation and very attractive. I prefer low G, so had to switch that out. If I were to improve on anything, it would be the strap--it was too slippy for me. I prefer cotton because it stays in place.I bought from Lohanu because I like the willingness of the company to make sure the customer is totally satisfied. I felt I could trust the company to attend to anything that might not be right.

A few months ago I ordered this Lohanu tenor uke for my girlfriend. That zebra wood and spruce top combination creates just the perfect sound.I was very impressed with the sound and the quality and decided I wanted one as well.I already have a couple of tenor ukes, but this one not only sounds brighter than the others, the finish is also much better...the edges of the frets have been carefully polished away, so moving my left hand up and down the neck does not leave scratches in the palm of my hand, like with the other ukes.On my first uke I replaced the high G with a low, wound G to get a deeper base sound.But on this one I left the high G in place and I do like the higher sound as well...it is unusually open and clear and rings like a set of tiny bells.I'll recommend this particular one to my fellow musicians at the weekly, Monday night Scarborough Uke Jams.Thank you for creating this high quality tenor uke.Cheers,Bernie

Beautiful instrument, great sound. Not much longer than my Kala concert ukulele, and I would say about the same quality. But as the strings are brand new, you need to stretch them before the ukulele stay tune.Great bundle with everything you need. The tuner is great. Love it. Very nice added feature is the strap. Even if ukelele is small and light, it might be usefull when you are standing.

Only ukulele I've ever purchased, or for that matter even held in my hands, but seems to me the positive reviews are well founded. Great build quality, and sound. Can't go wrong with this package. For me, though, with freakishly fat fingertips, the 35mm nut puts the strings too close together to get my fingers between. I've ordered a Washburn OU6W wide neck with a 44mm nut. If I can't play that one, then I'm not built for stringed instruments. Freakishly fat fingers crossed.....

At first, because the strings were still stretching, I wondered whatever I got! The more I play this laminated Spruce top and Zebra wood sides and back, tenor ukulele, the more I think it's a well made and excellent instrument worth what I paid for it!! Shishie ni!

I'm very happy with my ukulele as it looks good, plays well and with the accessories included makes this a great value. I had a minor issue that was resolved promptly by the team at Lohanu. Their customer service is excellent! Thanks again.