Lanikai MA-8T Mahogany 8-string Tenor Ukulele, with Rosewood Fingerboard

I LOVE this uke... This is one of about a dozen ukes currently in my collection (and growing) & it is one of my go-to ukes. The sound this uke produces is a bit different than a traditional uke. It is much fuller, much deeper & has much more volume. If you want a traditional uke sound, you'll have to get that from one of the other ukes in your collection - but this one sounds great with it's own slightly different sound. It does sound fine when played along side other uke players except you may not want to play at full volume so you do not drown-out the other ukes. Some commenters said this was hard to tune - not true. Just use a guitar pick to isolate the string you want to sound & use a tuning app that shows you the octave you are tuned to (due to the fact the G & C string pairs are tuned an octave apart. (I always recommend a tuner that shows the octave anyway, because beginners often have trouble tuning their uke initially.) If you can play a 4-string uke, you can play this uke. It is very easy to depress the string pairs when forming your chord shape. Anyway, sounds great - looks great - very nicely made - highly recommended !!! (p.s., I NEED TO SAY THIS !!!!! When you see a uke review saying the uke does not stay in tune, please understand this is true of ALL ukes initially. The materials uke strings are made of S_T_R_E_T_C_H & will continue to stretch for the first several hours of use. New uke strings need tuned literally after every song you play due to stretching. Eventually (after several hours of tuning & re-tuning), they will settle-in & need to be tuned less frequently. RARELY, is it the fault of the tuning machines (tuning pegs). The need for constant tuning & re-tuning new strings is a fact of life for uke players - do NOT be discouraged by it - the frequency does lessen a bit eventually... But never let your tuner or tuning app out of your sight - it will be your best friend - LOL !!!

This thing sounds great and delivers that full bodied sound that most regular ukuleles lack. Unfortunately, Lanikai used to make much higher quality 8 strings for 2/3 the price. The materials and construction on this are definitely cheaper than the ones they sold ten years ago that I cannot find for the life of me. Mine came with an annoying rattle and I had to tighten all the screws inside the tuning knobs, not what I expect for 220$. Would be 5 stars if the price was more reasonable.

I've toyed with the idea of wanting/buying an eight-string ukulele for a long time. I finally pulled the trigger and I'm glad I did. Took a while to tune, but the sound is great and I play it a lot.

I rated this as not good for beginners, because the sound is very reliant on good tuning. Once it's there, it sounds beautiful, and is a lot of fun to play. Having the G string doubled one octave down gives you more range when plucking! I later bought a Luna, since it has an integral bridge pickup (and very pretty fret board)- but this was the exact model my Uber driver (from American Samoa) recommended, and I'm very happy with it!

After about 2 years of use, the bridge sheared right where the holes for the strings are. It wasn't that the bridge sheared at the body, the bridge itself sheared through the holes. 8-string ukuleles are prone to this. I tried to fix this with wood glue to no avail. If you release the tension on the strings after playing, it will last longer (perhaps). I left mine in a warm room with full tension when the shear occurred. Great sound and quality until that point. Tuning isn't much of a problem with modern tuners. Very fun to play, and I played it almost daily until it broke. Finding 8-string ukulele strings can also be an issue, but Amazon has some. Order an extra set because the G3 string is prone to breaking.

Just got my Lanikai 8 string. It is just beautiful. I did have to spend a little time getting it tuned, then retunning after each song until it finally stayed in tune. I have never played one before so I have nothing to compare to but I think it sounds wonderful. Well built, easy to play, and great fun!

Did not come with Aquila strings as advertised. Strings were poorly attached. This the second UKE I have ordered from Amazon that did not have the Aquila strings that were listed in the description.

I've got 2 other Ukes but have used this one exclusively for most of the past year.