Lanikai ACST-B

Baritone ukuleles do not come my way very often, so it is always exciting when I get to try a genuinely large ukulele. This is not an entry-level instrument either, as it has a solid acacia top. That is where the model name comes from: ACacia Solid Top — Baritone. It is practically a miracle that I managed to decode that . This baritone Lanikai comes from the factory with the usual DGBE string set.

The playing experience is very different from — and very special compared with — standard GCEA ukuleles. Your fingers slide differently over the two lower metal-wound strings, and finger noise is more audible too: placing, lifting and sliding your fingers on wound strings produces that characteristic squeaking sound .

I wrote in a little more detail about baritone tuning and how its chords relate to shapes played on a GCEA-tuned ukulele around the middle of the blog post titled “The Baritone Ukulele I”. This Lanikai also comes from the factory with two strap buttons and includes a premium soft case.

It probably goes without saying that playing a uke like this feels sensational. The natural wood grain makes the instrument genuinely beautiful, so I can confidently recommend this model to anyone who likes natural-looking ukuleles and is looking for a premium baritone. In fact, it forms a genuine bridge between ukulele and guitar not only in tuning but in sound as well.

If we asked a friend to close their eyes and guess whether we were playing a ukulele or a guitar, they might not be able to tell which one they were hearing.

Although I only had a very short time to try it, those few minutes once again convinced me that Lanikai has made a very good instrument. Here is the demonstration video of the ACST-B.