Makai LK-80W Solid Cedar Willow Soprano Ukulele

Was lopsided in construction.

Sound and look - cool. Especially for this price. Seems It's a copy of Ohana SK-50-WG.Quality of assembly and finish - poor. Frets feels rude in some places, finish has been damaged (you can see it on the photo), pegs is different (it has three of one type, with hidden screw and one exposes its screw). I have cheap ukulele from AliExpress, and it doesn't have such drawbacks.

I stumbled across the Makai LK-80W while searching for an Ohana SK-50WG soprano which I had purchased recently. It seems that the Makai has the same design and tone woods as the Ohana except that it has geared tuners as opposed to Gotoh friction tuners.Both the Makai and the Ohana are specified to have a solid cedar top and laminated Willow wood back and sides. On close inspection however, the Makai back and sides appear to be constructed with qulit ash rather than the willow wood. Despite the difference, it looks just as gorgeous and doesn't affect the quality of the sound of the instrument.The difference is that the Makai is considerably less expensive but yet has the same quality build, finish and sound. The other noticeable difference is the slightly sharper fret edges on the Makai.Another thing that distinguishes the Makai from it's "twin" is the shape of the headstock. And that's about it.Sound: Rich, Warm and smooth because of the solid cedar top. The sound of the strings are perfectly balanced and when plucked sounds almost harp-like.Projection: Loud compared to even a Lanikai concert.Intonation: Perfect. Rare for a ukulele this price.Sustain: Excellent.String Action: Amazing! The strings are set low and this makes the uke very easy to play. No buzzing issues.Tuners: Open Geared Tuners which are precise and smooth.Finish: Gloss surface brings out the best in the way the wood looks. A minor critique is the the frets could have been filed down for smoother action while playing up the neck.Design: Although the shape is slightly different from the traditional soprano I really like the way it looks.Quality and value: Excellent!The Makai is priced just right and makes a great ukulele for the beginner because of it high quality finish and great sound but will also be a great choice for the serious player. Bottom line is this, the Makai LK-80W is a fantastic sounding uke compared to those in my collection that includes a Lanikai LQA-CCA concert, Lanikai LU-22CGC concert, Oscar Schmidt OU6 Tenor, Ohana SK-50WG soprano and vintage Harmony soprano.Sadly, I will be parting with it soon as because I actually purchased it as a gift for someone in my family.Highly recommended for any level ukulele enthusiast!

Unquestionably this is a fantastic ukulele. What isn't so fantastic is the way that the manufacturer / distributor handled it post production. The uke came with a small yet deep scratch in the finish that I think was completely avoidable. Additionally the strings were put onto the tuning pegs incorrectly. They appear to be aquila strings but there's not much point in the manufacturer using good strings when you're just going to have to pull them off and replace them anyhow. Save us some money and trouble and just don't include strings if the job can't be done properly. It was strung up without enough slack for the C string to circle the peg adequately and the strings were not guided over and under the cut ends properly. One string is winding upward towards the top of the pin. The action seems a bit high as well. All of these are minor complaints, just plan on re-stringing it so add $10 to the cost you see here.The willow sides and back are gorgeous. The pictures given here are terribly inadequate. They do not do the ukulele justice. The wood positively glows. And the pattern in the grain of the wood is much more complex than depicted here. But at the same time it isn't gaudy like other ukuleles that I own. It has an 'old timey' feel to it. It's classy without trying too hard.The solid cedar top provides a clean, bright, loud tone that really carries. This ukulele is probably as loud as my Fluke. I was pleasantly surprised. By comparison the Fluke ukulele is more mellow, this guy sounds boisterous (in a good way). Think cheerful yet a little rowdy, I love it. There's a lot of sound coming out of this little ukulele.My advice is to buy this uke along with a set of strings and just plan on taking your time and carefully stringing it up yourself.

B E A U T I F U L. Perfect in every way.Excellent in quality and sound. Perfectly constructed. It's everything I expected plus more.Aesthetics: There aren't many pictures of this item. It is lighter than it seemed in the picture which doesn't bother me personally. The front is a pretty beige oaky sort of color with a small, fine pattern in the real wood. The back and sides are a stunning large-pattern of warm, honey-colored real wood. The sides and back have large wavey lines running through them. Really very beautiful.The sound, as a Soprano uke, is high pitched and has the most delightful little *pling* when strummed. Oh, how amazing. The frets are not too sharp and are very comfortable. The headstock is gorgeous and is of good quality. The strings are delightful, high quality thin nylon and sound excellent. The tuning pegs are hard plastic and metal, and look great. As the instrument is new, it will require re-runing very often, but after it sets in its place and has been kept properly in tune for some weeks, it will stay in tune amazingly. Honestly, I haven't re-tuned this uke for like two weeks and it's still totally in tune. That's how well made it is.TLDR: Forget "good for the price", this ukulele is amazing in all respects and I cannot imagine a better-crafted uke. Shipping was skimpy, but the instrument came undamaged and arrived in a timely manner so I guess I can't complain.