Does Lanikai Oak Tenor Ukulele live up to its price point for a beginner instrument? Read on to find out!
Today, I’ll be reviewing the Lanikai OA-T, or oak tenor ukulele. I’ll review its construction, sound, playability and price to give you a recommendation of whether or not you may wish to consider it for your next (or first) ukulele.
Lanikai OA-T Tenor Ukulele at First Glance
This is a nice light tenor ukulele with a large body and bright, crisp tone. It measures 26 inches in length from the base to the top of the headstock.
The body is made of laminated oak and a few other different woods which I’ll talk about later on in this review. But it does make it stand out. Nice and bright.
It does not have a significant neck dive that I’ve noticed and is pretty light at the very top. It has a wide and comfortable neck at 37.4 mm and happens to be wider than any of my other ukuleles.
It has an eight-hole tie bridge which you can see in the image below.
And also comes with a good quality, 20mm padded gig bag. Perfect for storage and transport to and from gigs.
Lanikai OA-T Tenor Ukulele Review
Design and Build
I can’t recommend this ukulele enough in terms of design. It has a very classic look. There’s no cutaway or anything like that in the body; a plain double bout shape with a satin feel. There’s no overly shiny lacquer which I tend to prefer when moving up and down the neck.
As I mentioned, the front has a really unique wood grain pattern made from oak. It might look a little bit “furniture-y” for some people, which I can understand if you’re not a fan of oak furniture. It may be a little bit too extreme for you but I think it’s a nice-looking ukulele.
Sound Quality
As for the sound of this ukulele, I find it to be bright and punchy. It doesn’t really have many lows to speak of because it’s laminate, but rather has a really nice and bright tone to it.
Factory Setup
I’ve not had to take it to a local music shop to get it set up which is testament to the quality control in the Lanikai factories. It was great right out of the box, which thankfully saved me some time and money.
The fret ends are nice and smooth, not sharp, with great intonation. Intonation basically refers to how in-tune a ukulele sounds when fretted up the fretboard compared to the same note played lower on the fretboard. This can be adjustable to a degree but wasn’t an issue with the OA-T. Even my Mainland ukulele goes a bit out of tune when playing further up the neck.
Playability
I find that the OA-T has a very low action. Action simply refers to the height of the strings above the fretboard. This ukulele is very easy to play, especially for a tenor. I don’t have to apply too much pressure to fret the notes and that’s pretty nice.
If you are new to playing a tenor ukulele it will feel like there’s a lot more tension in the strings than a soprano or a concert. But you’re going to get more tone (or sound) back as you’re playing as a result.
That’s the reason why I personally like playing tenors. I have a little bit more space to move around and you also just get to project your sound a lot more while you’re playing. You don’t have to, but you do have that potential while you play.
Again, those with larger hands are going to have an easier time on this instrument because the width of the nut is 37.4 mm, which means more room for larger hands and fingers. That’s kind of a premium option on some ukuleles.
Price Point
Now, as far as price goes on this ukulele, its MSRP is about $200 as of March 2025. That is on the high end for a laminate ukulele.
So, if you already have a few ukuleles or already have one ukulele that’s laminate, especially a tenor, and you’re looking to upgrade your sound, I would spend an extra $100 and buy a solid top ukulele instead.
Notable Features
The OA-T ukulele has what’s called a NuBone nut.
It’s simply going to mimic the sound of a traditional bone nut, which really brings out a lot of the rich tones in custom ukuleles especially, or older ukuleles that use bone.
It also uses NuBone for the bridge.
The sound of NuBone is definitely better than a standard plastic nut and bridge, something you’ll find on cheaper ukuleles.
It has open geared tuners on the back which are pretty nice, and they hold pitch pretty well.
The only trouble I’ve ever run into is putting an unwound low G string on which felt just a little bit loose. It didn’t really hold pitch very well. However, I don’t know if that was because of the tuners that are on here or if it was the particular string I was using.
Finish
This finish on this instrument is pretty good. There are some other really cool finishes that Lanikai offers on other models such as quilted maple which looks amazing. It’s still a laminate ukulele though, so you’re really just buying it for looks at that point.
Tech Specs
So, I’m going to give you some tech specs on this ukulele, but we have touched on a few already. Again, this ukulele measures 26 inches in length, is a tenor size, and has a 37.4 mm nut that stretches across the neck, which makes for a really nice wide playing area.
Not every part of this ukulele is oak. The neck of the instrument is made out of a wood called Okoumé and it feels light in the hand. The neck also has a nice C-shape to it, kind of a wide C-shape. The fingerboard material used is laurel, not rosewood which is quite common.
It has pearloid dots going all the way up to the 17th fret.
It uses open gear tuners and it has a NuBone nut and bridge. It comes complete with D’Addario Nyltech strings which is pretty standard these days and also comes with a really great gig bag. At this price point, however, it doesn’t come with the electronics that some of the other brands are going to have.
Overall Rating for the Lanikai OA-T Oak Tenor Ukulele
Overall, the Lanikai OA-T is a great beginner ukulele, but at a premium price point. It plays folk, pop, jazz, and blues very well; almost any musical genre you can think of.
I’d say this is a nearly perfect ukulele for a beginner, especially if it’s your first instrument and especially if you have medium to larger hands or fingers. Trying to navigate the neck will be a lot easier than a soprano or even a concert for sure.
Again my recommendation is to always go out and try ukulele side by side. If I could give this instrument a rating, I’d give it about an 8.3 out of 10. So, still a great ukulele.
Click here to watch me sound test the ukulele.
Parting Words
I hope you enjoyed today’s review of the Lanikai OA-T Oak Tenor Ukulele. For more ukulele reviews, be sure to check out some of our other content on the site.
If you’d like to view the Lankiai ukulele online, follow the links below:
John Allnutt
Writer & Ukulele TeacherJohn has been teaching music since 2008 and resides in Richmond, Kentucky with his wife Laura and dog Sam. In his spare time he enjoys growing and cooking food, roasting coffee, playing board games, and spreading joy through playing and teaching music.
