LAVA U Carbon Fiber Ukulele with Effects Concert Travel Ukulele with Case Pick and Charging Cable (FreeBoost, Sparkle Blue, 23-inch)

A very nice ukulele. It feels premium and has excellent features with a long lasting battery. The strings are a real highlight. They are some of the best strings I’ve played on in a long while. They hold tune for a long time and coupled with the manufacturing (very smooth fretboard with a slight radius and great feeling tuners) they just feel great and are very bright. The effects module is very responsive and produces great sound. The body resonates very well and does a great job projecting despite the small sound hole. This thing feels great and has a great thickness profile. But now for what I don’t like: the price. It’s a great ukulele but at the price it feels more like a fashion accessory or a show piece... even though the case is awesome. I would like the delay/chorus switch to be added on the exterior of the body. Having to reach inside kinda takes away from the possible blends you can make and reduces some of the ease of playing. In addition, the action is great up until the 10th fret where it grows very thin almost tin-like. I think it would benefit from interchangeable bridges and nuts. While not a perfect solution- I think it would be a good stopgap until something like a truss rod would be possible. Maybe a slight angle to the headstock could even out the action across the board if used in conjunction with different bridges and nuts. (A staggered bridge would be amazing as well). Lastly, at the price range for the what you get- I feel another $100 is absurd for a strap and charging cable. We’re getting into Apple territory with the “high end accessories”. All aside it looks great, and plays pretty well. It even sounds great when fed through pedal effects. If this is your first or second uke- pass on it until some upgrades are made. If you want a fun little uke to play with your friends, are able to splurge a little, and have some experience then it is an excellent piece to add to your collection and a great conversation starter.

Lava U has warehouse space at Amazon. So Amazon filled the first order. My first Ukulele didn't work the way it was supposed to. So this lovely company stayed in touch with me the whole time and was willing to do everything to make the sale right. After discussing between Lava U and Amazon, it was decided that a new instrument needed to be sent to me. So that's what they did. This Tenor Lava U is perfect. Everything works well on it and it's fun to play. As soon as I can I'm going to order the special Ukulele strap for it and the electric pickup. They have a kit that includes 3 specialized picks to assist with different play forms and sounds. But I don't use picks when I play. I have a lot to learn so maybe at some point I will do that. It's a nice kit. If you want the set, I'd encourage you to get it. This is a lovely instrument and this company is wonderful to do business with. I'm thinking about ordering the guitar from them whenever I can. More playing reviews need to be featured on the Ukulele because everyone I watched just sat and talked about it mostly. People need to see how well this Ukulele really works. So I hope that a professional will make some youtubes on this beautiful instrument. It has a very nice sound to it compared to my Makala Concert C, which was my very first Ukulele. Most professional wood Ukuleles that cost more, in the local music stores in my area, don't usually have the beautiful sound that my Makala has. The Makala was purchased from a professional performer, collector, teacher, and music business owner from Hawaii eleven years ago. So this Lava U Tenor Ukulele has a beautiful comparable tone. I'm very, very pleased with this instrument and it's well worth the price. This Tenor Ukulele has electronic features that you can use in performances. You can connect it to an amplifier or not as you choose. Whatever your playing capabilities or style, you can definitely show them off with this Ukulele. Thank you very much Lava U. :)

This is the Apple of electro ukuleles. - The build quality is top notch. - The built-in effects sound great, either acoustic or plugged into an amp. - The strings were decent, but I changed them to Uke Logic hard tension clear. - The sound is good, not great, and not as loud as a solid wood ukulele, or a solid top, laminate back/side. I highly recommend this ukulele, however the price is kind of high. I still have to say that it is worth the price, given the materials, design, and craftsmanship. This will make an outstanding travel ukulele.

Lava U arrived today charged up in about 3 hours! SO easy to fret, incredible acoustics, and the acoustical "gagetry" (reverb, effects, etc) are lots of fun. The mic--is not a microphone or a gain, and does very little. INSANE that the strap is not available yet--it should be packed with one since the button for it is proprietary. I'm sure it will be just great but another $35 on this already very expensive instrument seems over the top to me. It's beautiful and sleek (I got the black one). The case is definitely a conversation piece, but is pretty much "bad" from the standpoint of not being able to store ANYTHING, except perhaps the usb cable and the useless user's manual in the tiny pocket. The uke fits so perfectly that it's obvious that when the strap comes it will have to be removed to put it into the case. The very smooth body makes this ukulele "slippery" to hold and that makes it very difficult for me. This Lava U tenor--has lots of plusses and a few minuses, but the best of all feature is that I don't have to worry about the wood dryng out in extreme temperature variations. The tuning system is WONDERFUL, easy and the frets and neck size and spacing are absolutely perfect for my hand. The sound is unbelievable (just beautiful) I think I'll love it--but for now after only three hours ON it----some discoveries need to be made. Edited to add: I have returned this instrument After working with this ukelele for several days, I have returned it. The quality didn't turn out to be what I expected. Knobs "jammed" and I was unable to adjust volume. Effects are very nice, and allow for some unique sound, but are less robust than demonstrated. The case has problems, the clasp is defective on this one, the compartment in the case is not large enough to allow for anything except the usb cable, really only for "show" The design IS gorgeous, the carbon fiber body allows for good resonance; the fact that the straps are unavailable --and then will cost $35 or more makes this way too expensive for this instrument. Changed rating from the top to mid-range for this because of these observations. IT IS SO MUCH FUN--just not quite what I expected.

I am a ukulele builder, collector and strummer, so when I saw the Lava U on Amazon, I thought it might be worth adding to my collection as a "novelty" item, not really expecting much in the way of quality or playabllity, but man, was I WRONG! The instrument arrived in a huge box containing a smaller one which in turn held the uke case with the uke nestled securely inside! The case itself is a work of art, worthy of a design award! The high quality of the components, hinges, handles , were an example of what to expect inside and I wasn't disappointed! I can only echo what others have said regarding the beauty of this little gem. It far exceeded my expectations. Everything about it from the tuners to the bridge and saddle to the frretboard and sleek satin smooth body just oozed with quality. The built in amp and effects were mediocre and seemed to be added as a gimmick, but that didn't bother me because the sound without the power turned on was quite acceptable to my ears for an instrument of this price range. I had to switch the strings around as I'm a left handed player and in doing so, lost one of the uniquely designed beads that are strung on the ends of the strings. I emailed the company and immediately received a response telling me that they would send me a replacement set! Not often does one get such service these days. If you think when reading this that I love this uke, you are right! I find it very hard to fault. It would be nice if the instructions were more detailed and the effects knobs, although cute looking aren't easy to turn. The effects themselves should be louder, or just not be included. It would be great if they produced a left handed version.

I'm one of those addicts who has multiple ukuleles, and this is by far my best sounding one. Something about the way they designed this makes the sound really clear and clean. The neck is really nice, too. It has a nice feel when you play. If you are buying this for the electronic effects, they are pretty minimal. I do like the idea that I can hook this to an amplifier, but without the amplifier, the electronic effects are almost undetectable. I agreed with the one guy who said that a con on this ukulele is the rounded back. It's hard to hold onto. My suggestion is to get a strap - no, not the insane $150 one you can get from Lava (what were they thinking, anyways?) (I guess that's down to $80, but that is still insane). Just get a regular strap and a strap jack ($7.60 on Amazon). The alternative is to put your foot on a little stool. Yes, this is expensive, but not insanely expensive as good quality instruments go. I've seen tenor ukes in the $1500 to $3000 range, and I have a feeling this would compare nicely with them.

I received on time today, opened it to find everything included. I press the on/off button, nothing happens so I figured I needed to charge it. So after an hour or so I pull the cord out and the light turns green. I turn the nobs, flip between chorus/delay, and try the on/off button. Nothing sounds any different and it's not shutting off. And the C string has a very ugly buzz. Felt like this was expensive at first; definitely feel like its very expensive for being sent a dud.

Love it treated myself for my birthday