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Ukulele reviews

Koki'o Mini

Tamás Gáll

I too have been caught by “mini mania”. More precisely, I have always wondered how tiny a ukulele can become while still producing a genuinely usable sound. We can dispose of the opposite end of the scale fairly quickly, because the baritone is really closer to being a small four-string guitar. But…

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Ukulele reviews

Koki'o tenor electro-acoustic

Tamás Gáll

I normally put the exact model name of the ukulele in the title, but this time I spared you because this instrument has been given the longest, most meaningless and least imaginative model code I have encountered: U-SSPLFM-CE-T. I understand the final three letters: CE probably indicates cutaway and…

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Ukulele reviews

Koki'o transparent ukulele

Tamás Gáll

I am generally wary of plastic instruments. In my mind I always imagine beautifully crafted instruments made from wood and metal, so I was curious what it would feel like to hold one of these. Thinking about it, even when visiting music shops I had never really tried plastic ukuleles before. The tra…

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Stories and interviews

*(l)ele

Tamás Gáll

I watch with admiration these inventive and highly skilled people who make instruments for themselves out of all sorts of objects. From shoeboxes and bedpans to tennis rackets, they stretch four strings across almost anything and there you have it: an instrument. Some of them sound surprisingly good…

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Songs and arrangements

Lambada

Tamás Gáll

Who could forget Lambada from the early 1990s? Everybody and their neighbour was shaking to this great little song. It differs from today's supposed “era-defining hits” in one important respect: this was actually music, unlike some of the modern creations that are difficult even to call music – Gang…

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Ukulele reviews

Lanikai ACST-B

Tamás Gáll

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…

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Ukulele reviews

Lanikai CDST-CET Tenor

Tamás Gáll

Recently the gremlins of technology played a trick on me (all right, I simply was not paying attention), because I accidentally embedded a ukulele-review video in the Hull a Pelyhes Fehér Hó blog post. So some of you may already have seen the introduction to this beautiful Lanikai ukulele. Of course…

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Ukulele reviews

Lanikai CDST-T Tenor

Tamás Gáll

About two months ago I had the chance to try a very beautiful electro-acoustic Lanikai ukulele with a solid cedar top, the CDST-CET. This time its non-electronic counterpart, the CDST-T, stayed with me, and unsurprisingly it made a positive impression. There are two differences between the previousl…

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Ukulele reviews

Lanikai FM-C

Tamás Gáll

In the next part of our Lanikai series, we take a look at a concert-size ukulele, the FM-C. The name stands for "Flame Maple" and the C indicates the concert size. This ukulele is made from flamed maple, so thanks to its appearance we can spend minutes hours admiring it, and its silky feel is equall…

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Ukulele reviews

Lanikai FM-CET

Tamás Gáll

The Lanikai FM-CET is made of flamed maple and is a truly eye-catching ukulele. I already introduced its smaller acoustic concert-size sibling, also made of flamed maple, back in December 2019. This, then, is the bigger brother, with a cutaway body and onboard electronics. You get the excellent qual…

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Ukulele reviews

Lanikai LU-21C

Tamás Gáll

This Lanikai model number may be familiar to many people, since one of the most popular Lanikai soprano models is the LU-21, which I managed to photograph and write about during a very successful barbecue. I have also had the LU-21CE here, a concert-size electro-acoustic model. From that you can pro…

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