Lohanu's Spalted Maple

Bought this as a gift and wanted something with serious visual appeal. This is it! I opened the box and even my wife (who's not as enamored by stringed instruments as I am) was impressed. A close inspection of the build only raised my opinion. Good setup from the factory, nicely finished frets, every seam perfect, no finish flaws. A very good build for the price.First problem, though--the onboard tuner didn't work. It turned on, but didn't respond. So I threw on a clip-on and tuned it up (the uke actually comes with a clip-on tuner in the box, but I didn't want to open the bag since it was to be a gift). Acoustic sound was as good as you can expect from new nylon strings and the neck and fretboard played very nicely.Next test--amp it up. And my heart fell. The pickup, like the tuner, did not work. There's a problem with the onboard electronics.I contacted customer support and received a reply the next morning. They asked me to try a couple quick things, but no luck. They then said they'd send me a replacement immediately--and that I should keep the defective instrument with their apologies. No BS, no jumping through hoops--Lohanu stands behind their product!The replacement arrived about two days later, and was just as gorgeous and well-built as the first one (I'm including photos of each), and this time, the electronics work as designed. The tuner is responsive and accurate, and when you turn the tuner on, the pickup is turned off, so your audience won't hear you tuning through the amp.The pickup actually impressed me! Not only does it seriously amplify the nylon strings (remember, a typical magnetic pickup like on your guitar won't do much with nylon strings), but the built-in equalizer really lets you adjust to your desired sound. (With bass and treble set to the middle, and the midrange turned to about 1/3rd, the little beast gives a perfect picking sound--clean with just enough distortion to manipulate at the amp.)Bottom line--gorgeous wood, great features, and a quality build backed up by excellent customer support. I give it a very satisfied 5 stars.

This is my 2nd ukulele from this company and my 3rd uke over all. I've had this one for several months now and it has become my absolute favorite ukulele. Aside from its gorgeous appearance and useful accessories, it just sounds great and is fun to play. Its slightly wider neck makes it more comfortable to play than it's predecessor. Also the fact that the stings are low to the fret board as they should be, helps you to hit chords more accurately. The smooth armrest on the body also helps make this the most comfortable ukulele I own. I also really love that the Spalted Maple pattern makes my uke completely unique, giving it a personal touch you just can't get at this price point. In fact there are several features that you can't usually find at this price point. But don't take my word for it. Google how much it cost to get ukuleles with the following:1. An arched back for a deeper, richer sound and longer sustain.2. A built in armrest on the body for comfort3. Beautiful, glossy Spalted Maple combined with Mother-of Perl trim4. Built in tuner5. Built in electric Pickup6. Built in 3 band EQ7. Two installed strap pins (which alone can cost around $25 between the hardware and labor)8. Super Aquila Strings Installed (Plus an extra set)And this isn't even counting the cost of the case and other accessories that are included in this bundle. So if you're looking for some high-end features but don't have a high end budget, this should be a nice fit for you.HOWEVER, my experience with this ukulele has NOT been all roses. I didn't deduct a star for this because what happened to it had nothing to do with Lohanu and EVERYTHING to do with Amazon's lack of care in shipping. This has become a recurring issue with Amazon and nothing is ever done about it, no matter how many times I've reported it to them. When I got the ukulele via UPS, the box was visibly damaged. When I picked up the over sized box, I felt the smaller manufacture's box sliding around freely inside with the slightest movement. When I opened the damaged box, I saw nothing but single sheet of paper as the only "padding" provided by Amazon. Even the manufacture's box had been damaged. This single sheet of paper Amazon included, provided ZERO padding for my uke, especially given the over sized box they chose to ship it in. After seeing the condition of both boxes, I wasn't at all surprised to find some kind of damage to the instrument itself.Luckily, the damage was minor. The wires for the electric pickup, which were supposed to be securely adhered to the wood inside the body, had been jarred loose causing them to flop and rattle around whenever I'd move it. While I'm sure Amazon and Lohanu would've been willing to fix or replace it, I simply could not trust the shipping process. I've been down this road with Amazon several times before and they will NOT change their poor shipping methods, even when the replacement was made necessary due to their poor shipping methods. I was actually surprised that the damage wasn't worse than it was. So I wasn't about to push my luck and send it off to anyone and risk getting it back in worse condition.Instead I took it to a local music shop, where they were actually kind enough to fix it for free. It's also worth mentioning that the owner and employees of this music shop, which sells more expensive ukuleles than this one, were all very impressed with this uke, without any knowledge of the price. They even plugged it into an amp in the store, just to check it out. And now my ukulele is perfect. :) While I am very happy with this ukulele and I would gladly buy directly from Lohanu in the future, I will NOT be buying any more instruments from Amazon, since they've proven to me that they can't be trusted to ship items with care.

I was recently struck by the urge to buy a new instrument and set my sights on ukuleles. I ordered two--an ebony Kala soprano uke and the spalted maple tenor from Lohanu. Ireceived my ukulele a couple days ago. It came very well packaged with enough paper to keep the smaller box from sliding around in the oversized, Amazon box. The spalted maple is truly lovely to look at. It's really a very lovely instrument to look at. I checked the electric tuner and it seems to work well. I was only able to get the clip on tuner to work once, but that wasn't a big deal. Between the built in tuner and an app on my phone, I'm not worried about it. It has a lovely tone. The open strings ring clearly and are almost harp like when plucked. The chords aren't quite as clear, though I'm quite sure that's a result of my own inexperience rather than anything to do with the instrument itself.However, as I started playing I noticed the intonation seemed a bit off as I went further up the neck. I contacted the company about the issue and discovered they really do stand behind their product and want to satisfy their customers. Within twenty four hours of sending the e-mail, they replied letting me know that a new bundle was being sent to me, and that I should keep this one, too. The new one should be coming tomorrow and I'm very optimistic about it! It really is a beautiful instrument to look at with a lovely tone, and it's nice to find a company that stands behind their product and offers such incredible customer service.If I ever want to expand my collection, I'll certainly look into another ukulele from Lohanu. The fact that they really do stand behind their warranty makes it easy to buy with confidence.