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Oscar Schmidt OU280SWK Concert Ukulele
What a beauty! The gloss finish brings out the lovely rich grain of the wood. The pretty paua shell inlay looks great – I was unsure at first as to whether or not it was a bit over the top. Now having seen it first hand, I love it. I cannot fault it. It’s more than good looks though. It has a delightfully warm, resonating tone. I’m finding it very hard to keep from playing it contnuously.

I also must commend Amazon for the extremely fast delivery. 6 days from the day of ordering it to arriving on my doorstep in New Zealand is pretty good going.

This is an excellent ukulele
The sound exceeded my expectations. I give it 5 stars. It has a full, rich, round tone. It’s not as loud as my concert Koaloha, but the tone is probably a little better, though it’s somewhat hard to compare, because of the difference in volume. I play it when I want a gentler sound, especially at night. Or just when I want to hear its nice sweet, bell-like tone. I seem to be playing it more often than my tenor Kamaka, and my Koaloha now. It came with Aquila Nylgut strings, which I prefer on my ukes. It’s also very solidly built. The body tapers towards the neck, and I like the feel of it. The strings at the nut were a little high, so I filed down the grooves slightly. The nut and saddle are Tusq material.

The appearance fell short of my expectations. I give it four stars. It doesn’t look quite as nice as what was on the Oscar Schmidt website, or what I’ve seen on some Youtube video lessons. It has gold tone Grover tuners, which are very smooth turning, but the knobs themselves aren’t gold tone as on the Oscar Schmidt website, they are a matte black sort of hard rubberized plastic. The inlaid abalone scroll work on the neck has a lot of dark brown in it that does not shine. It gives the whole ukulele a sort of antiquish look. Also the fretboard is not solid black ebony, it’s striated brown and black. The bridge however is solid black ebony. There are two small glue stains where the bridge joins the soundboard, but I was able to polish them and they’re hardly noticeable now. There was some sort of white, chalky substance where the fretboard binding meets the soundboard, but I was able to scape it away with a toothpick and it looks clean there now. The logo on the headplate is not inlaid. It sits on the surface of the wood and is covered over with varnish. Also there is not really enough contrast with the headstock, so it’s very hard to read or recognize from even a few feet away. (I would recommend to O.S. a more contrasting logo, so their brand could stand out more.) My uke came with a gray scrape mark about half an inch long on the white binding on the right front. Elsewhere, however, front, back and sides, the koa wood looks very nice, and the finish is immaculate. The abalone inlay of the bindings on the body is also very nice. The interior also looks very clean with no messy joints.

The ukulele case is the best I’ve seen, with a nice, large overstuffed handle and the Oscar Schmidt logo on it.

For the purchase price to value, I give it 5 stars.

It’s really the sound that makes this ukulele outstanding. If it had the gold tone tuning knobs, and a solid black ebony fretboard, as in the photo on the O.S. website, I would have given it an overall five star rating.

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Luna High Tide Tenor Ukulele
I have other ukes. This – by FAR – IS THE BEST UKE FOR THE MONEY. The sound is warm, but punchy. The action is
low without being buzzy. The fretwork is OK for the price. Great deal. I wish I had bought another.

Best Uke for the price!
I can only say that I love this ukulele. I am a guitar player and bought a small cheap soprano uke out of amazon. I played it for about 2 months and loved it. I thought about upgrading it to a concert size ukulele and saw this Tenor electro acoustic uke on amazon lightning deals after black Friday. I had to get it for the price. I am amazed about the difference. I have not touched my old soprano uke since I got this one. It is much bigger (I have tiny hands) but the sound is incredible. I have plugged it to my guitar amp with my effect pedals and it is just super. I know there are better ukes, but if you are not planing on going pro, this one is great as an intermediate ukulele. It looks and feels great. The aquila strings are awesome, no need to get new strings to make it sound better. I recommend this uke to anyone who wants a nice ukulele and does not want to spend too much money and understand that cheap is not necessarily better. I spent $30 bucks on my first Uke but this one is worth every penny.

GOOD BANG FOR THE BUCK …
I just bought this and was lucky enough to get when it was on the “Holiday Lightning Deals”. I am a long time guitar player and wanted a Uke that was not necessarily a “beginner” model. There aren’t many reviews of this (anywhere) so I had to take a chance. I had already bought a Pono, for much more money, (off eBay) and had to return it. For the price, I think this is a good value. The trim/inlay and appearance level are much nicer than most Ukes in this price range. If you examine it closely, you can find little flaws in the fit/finish/trim but the playability was better than I expected. The gig bag is definitely on the cheap side but does work. Not being an experienced Uke player, I am satisfied with both the acoustic and amplified sound. Unless your prepared to spend over $ 1,000 for a Kamaka Uke this is a nice Uke at a fair price with great eye appeal.

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This ukulele ROCKS!
It’s not often you find a KOA ukulele at such a great price. This ukulele has a beautiful tone and sounds fantastic amped! I own four ukuleles now and this one is by far my favorite. Lanikai, although made in china, makes outstanding ukuleles. When I first got it, it made a buzzing sound when strumming loud. This is an easy fix. There was a wire resting up against the soundboard. I just reached into the sound hole and adjusted the wire so it was no longer resting on the soundboard. As a result, the best ukulele ever! The tuning pegs are phenomenal. The cutaway design really helps when playing the higher frets. To top it all off, this ukulele looks fantastic. If you are considering a tenor ukulele to add to your ukulele family, I highly recommend this one.

Great uke
I am really pleased with this instrument. It has a very professional feel, superb acoustic sound, and a surprisingly good amplified sound. It has a very sweet melodic tone with good sustain. As mentioned in other reviews, the tuners are very good. One issue – I bought mine elsewhere and had trouble with a very loud distorted hum when amplifying. It was a real hassle to return the instrument to the seller and receive a new, working one. The Amazon price is a bit higher, but it is a far safer place to buy in case you need to return. The replacement ukulele I received was perfect. Except for the the quality issue with the electronics, this is a 5-star instrument.

An awesome uke at an awesome price!
This is a great uke, and it sounds beautiful. Well worth the investment. Comes with a cable which was really nice so you can get to playing right away. I only wish it stayed in tune a bit longer, but hopefully when the strings are done stretching it will keep it’s beautiful sound longer. Definately a great uke for people of all ages

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Lanikai CK-T Tenor Uke Review
I bought this Uke a little over a month ago. I have a Kala Acacia Tenor and then I bought this one. I think this one is a better buy. You can’t go wrong with this Uke in this price range. She absolutely sings and with the ever so slightly wider fretboard is way easier to play than the Kala. I would recommend this over the Kala, even though it is way cheaper. This is one of the best Ukes on the market. I switched out the strings to Worth Browns, but that is just my personal preference. You can’t go wrong with this Uke.

Beautiful sounding and looking instrument!
I purchased this ukulele as a birthday gift for my son. I am a guitar player but was new to the world of ukes, so the learning curve was quite steep! After a lot of online research and playing some instruments in a number of local music stores, I settled on Lanikai as the brand with the best quality-for-value ratio, and on a Tenor ukulele as the optimal size.
The CK-T is beautifully constructed, with excellent detailing on the back, binding and mother of pearl around the sound hole. The Curly Koa grain is gorgeous. As good as it looks, though, it sounds even better! Wonderful tone and resonance, and the fingerboard width in the Tenor size makes it very easy for large hands to play.
Everyone who has seen and heard this instrument has been impressed. And now I want one for myself!

Peace and love
This is an awesome uke and not just because it cost me half what it would have cost in a store in Australia. I had tried my interest out on a little cheapo uke and the sound in comparison is amazing. Also just the feel of the instrument is nice. It looks good too. For an adult male getting the tenor was certainly the right move as I can easy fit three fingers on the one fret if needed.

Beautiful Appearance and Beautiful Sound!!!
I purchased this as my first ukulele and I am really glad that I did. My plan was to buy something inexpensive, learn on it, and if I like it buy a Kamaka in Maui next spring. I still might buy the Kamaka but I will not part with this one! If you were inspired to learn in part by Jake Shimabukuro then this is a great choice. The tenor is a great sounding instrument that has a much higher range and the sound on this particular instrument is just beautiful and it will inspire you to keep playing. It is more money than I thought I would spend on my first but my birthday happened to be around the same time. I think that even for a beginer instrument it makes sense to invest in something that sounds great or you will grow tired of it and stop playing. Besides the beautiful tone of this instrument it looks beautiful. The abalone detailing is a nice touch. It goes out of perfect tuning a little more quickly than my guitars but that seemed to stop after a while- not sure why. Maybe that is more common with ukes because of their size? Long story short though this is a winner.

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Beautiful Happy Ukulele!
As my first ukulele and as a fairly inexperienced musician I unfortunately cannot give specs such as “action was right on” or anything of that technical nature. I can say the instrument is absolutely beautiful. All of my musician friends are thoroughly impressed and much joy has been shared passing her around the room. She sounds great amped and even I have convinced her to make some music. Not only that but it feels good to support a company like Luna. I am very, very happy with my choice and am planning on buying one of the smaller luna ukes to keep at work for practice.

Beautiful with rich sound
This is my first ukulele and the first time playing one. I am musically inclined, but I have yet to master any instrument. It is on my bucket list to become an expert at one instrument and have decided on a ukulele. I played guitar for a few years, but there are too many chords that my short fingers just can’t reach. I tried the mandoline, but I hate steel strings because they cut into my fingers. The ukulele is easy to play and easy on your fingers because of the nylon strings. I am already playing songs and making up my own chords.
When I was looking for a Ukulele, I did my homework for a couple of months before purchasing this one. I went to stores and tried them out. I almost bought the $80 Lanikai, but thought for just a bit more I could have one that has a nice finish and would last many years. So I almost bought the lower end Spruce or the Koa laminate Lanikai. Then I picked this Luna up and started playing it. The strings that come with it are much better than anything out of the box. The arch on the neck is shallower than the Lanikai which was easier for me to play. Some may prefer a deeper neck; that is personal choice. But when I picked this little beauty up and started playing it, it was like putting on a pair of italian leather shoes. It felt like a perfect fit. I couldn’t put it down. I kept trying others, but kept going back to the Luna.
The sound quality was far and above better than anything else I picked up and strummed. It has a warm rich tone unlike some more expensive Uke’s that sounded tinny to me. The strings have stayed in tune for me for the most part. Just slight adjustments occasionally. I didn’t purchase a tuner yet. I am using a free one on the internet.
The pick-up on it was just a bonus! You usually have to pay $100 more for a Uke with this feature. I plugged it into my sons amp and it sounded great.
I also did not find any Ukulele in this price range with the details of this Luna. The mother-of-pearl inlay on the frets is amazing; they are ocean waves! And the finish on the Koa laminate is soft and beautiful. It is warm and velvet soft to the touch.
This is a bargain at $230!
If you are looking at a Uke for even $100 less, do yourself a favor and upgrade to this little beauty. It is more than worth it. I am in love with this instrument! I hang it on the wall in the gig bag it came with to keep it safe and out of the way.

Loving this instrument
So, my husband got this for me recently as a surprise “Christmas” gift (in June — he couldn’t wait, hehehe). I’ve played piano, flute and tenor sax all for a few years each, and had many years in choir, but have no background with fretted instruments. That said, I highly recommend this particular ukulele. I’ve been to Guitar Center and played through their selection. This Luna has the best tone, I think — definitely richer, like the other reviewers mentioned. It was easier to play as well, probably because of the strings being closer to the fretboard (AND, a bit smaller in overall size than the similar Cordoba concert uke . . . I’m a small person though -5’4′, so take that into consideration.) It has, so far, stayed remarkably well in tune. We keep the house a pretty constant temp of 75-80 F, for my husband’s guitars, but I’ve taken it traveling and it was still good. Also, it’s just so pretty. I love the abalone waves on the fretboard, and it makes it more fun to pick up and practice. I highly recommend this as a first ukulele. FYI: I’m using Jumpin Jim’s Tips and Tunes songbook, and it’s super helpful. Though, without musical background, I might pick up Hal Leonard’s and/or Alfred’s in addition. Hope this helps!

Great Value For the Price
I have played guitar forever, but just started playing ukulele with a Lanakai Tenor that I received for Christmas. For my birthday I just treated myself to the Luna High Tide Concert. I did some research and tried out many different brands, and settled on this one. It is built really well. It has great features, sounds great, and plays great. It tunes up well and stays in tune well with the Grover tuners. It is a beautiful instrument and I expect it to last for many years. I love the feature on the fretboard with the full moon on the 1st fret, and the tide rising on the frets leading to the full moon. For the price, it is a tremendous value and I would recommend it to anyone just learning to play (who wants something of quality), or to anyone just looking for a great uke!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews:

Excellent Playability, Tone and Looks

I got this ukulele on Amazon from a third party seller and it came with a hardcase. It came with aquila strings on it and a compensated bridge (saddle). The ukulele did not need any adjustment as far as adjusting the height of the nut or saddle. The ukulele when tuned in open position also is in tune in the fretted positions–even without adjustment. The only other ukulele I got which was as good out of the box for playability as this is my Hamano. O I will say the tone on this uke has a similar quality to the Hamano as well. Not identical, but closer sounding to the Hamano than it is to laminate ukes which are priced similarly to this ukulele. So, I would say it has a ‘vintage’ sound to it. The top on it is solid mahogany I expect but at first I thought it was a bit thick but now I realize it is fine as it does sound good. The Koa or Acacia on the sides and back matches the stain of the mahogany on the top. I would recommend this ukulele to anyone wanting a good sounding good playing good looking ukulele. Mahalo tends to get a bad rap in the reviews for intonation but I found this one quite good. Plus it comes with a case. I am very happy with this purchase. It does have friction tuners but about half of my ukuleles do and they work fine. I actually prefer them as it makes the ukulele more traditional and better balanced as machines are too heavy for a soprano. The strings like on all ukes need a little break in (stretching at first). I tightened the tuners a little as they have screw tighteners on the back. Be sure to use a proper smaller philips head when tightening them so as not to strip them out. Once I tightened the tuners a tad, and stretched the strings a little, it tuned up great.

I bought this ukulele on a gamble as there were no reviews or really any youtubes of it. The closest youtube I could find was for the UK version of this which I think is the Mahalo LTD2 by my research. I gambled right and found the uke was better than I expected. Its got the tone I like.

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Curly Koa Ukulele
Great ukulele. Awsome sound and quality. It doesnt look anything like the picture they have but still looks very good. I have shown it to a few people and they say they’ve never seen one like mine and are very impressed also. I wouldnt say its for beginners because it is kind of expensive but if you have been playing for a while and enjoy it and want a nicer ukulele than you have this is one to get. Koa is the best wood for ukulele its what I have been told since i started playing and i agree after buying this one.

Will be enjoyed for many years!
Great price for a ukulele that will be enjoyed for many years. The strings are Aquila and they produce rich bell-like sounds. The koa is just beautiful. I tried other concert ukes in stores (mostly entry-level ukes)and this has a nice substantial feel. I am a beginner and can tell a huge difference in the sound quality between this uke and the others I tried. Did not have any problems with a buzzing sound like the other reviewer. It was easily tuned and I’ve already been playing it. A great price to boot!

Concert Ukeleles
There are four common types of ukes out there: soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone. The soprano was the original, followed up quickly with the concert size uke. The 15-inch scale length and slightly larger body size deliver a deeper tone and a bit more volume, while maintaining the sweetness and instantly recognizable ukulele sound.

The Oscar Shmidt OU5 Concert Ukulele
The OU5 concert ukulele features a select Hawaiian Koa top, back and sides, which look striking in the natural gloss finish. The abalone binding and rosette are the icing on the cake, for an instrument that’s as beautiful to look at as it is to hear.

The OU5′s Nyatoh neck features a 16-fret rosewood fretboard, and Grover chrome tuning machines ensure you stay in tune.

Oscar Schmidt instruments feature a lifetime warranty, and each ukulele is inspected and adjusted in the USA by a skilled technician–your assurance for smooth fret ends, precision low action and resonant sound quality.

About Oscar Schmidt Musical Instruments
The Oscar Schmidt Company was founded in 1871 and incorporated in 1911. By the early 1900s, the company had five factories in Europe and a factory on Ferry Street in Jersey City. They made all kinds of stringed instruments, guitars, banjos, mandolins, ukuleles, zithers, and Autoharps.

The company prospered through the early 1920s. Oscar Schmidt instruments were sold in many rural parts of the country where no music stores existed. Salesmen distributed the products far and wide, making them available in general, small town furniture and dry goods stores. Country guitar pickers and blues musicians living in areas of the South and in Appalachia, far from the city, frequently played Oscar Schmidt instruments because they were both inexpensive and available locally. But equally important, they were often chosen solely on merits of their superior tone and volume.

Today at Oscar Schmidt, premium woods, quality hardware and modest prices create an ideal instrument. Each is inspected and adjusted in the USA by a skilled technician, your assurance for smooth fret ends, precision low action and resonant sound quality. Unequalled standards in easy playing comfort and tone response creates the perfect value… Oscar Schmidt.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews:

Perfect for an average guitar player!
I have been playing guitar for almost 5 years and to be quite honesty, I’m still not as great as Carlos Santana or Slash. I’m just pretty much an average player. When I wanted to learn how to play the ukulele, I was skeptical on which brand/type I should get. After three months of debating, I finally wised up and bought this one. It looked like the one I borrowed from a friend and the brand name sounded familiar to my ears. After much anticipation for four days, it finally arrived and it is an incredible ukulele. I couldn’t be more satisfied with it! The frets are placed perfectly for someone that’s familiar with playing the guitar, not to mention someone that’s beginning, it’s easier to place your fingers when you can see them (the soprano ukulele is really small compared to this concert size). Overall I love my uke. I suggest getting this if you know how to play guitar already.

Awesome Ukulele
One night I’m watching Joe Versus the Volcano… and Joe is afloat on his steamer trunks playing the Cowboy Song on his ukulele… and it hits me: I want to learn to play the ukulele just so I can play that song! I’ve played guitar casually for many years, but I had no clue about the guitar’s little cousin. I knew that I wanted something better than a toy ukulele, but also knew I had no plans to play this professionally. After looking around online, I decided to order the OU-5 Oscar Schmidt by Washburn from Amazon.

Summary: I could not be happier. This is a wonderful instrument for both the first time user and the semi-serious amateur. The ukulele is beautiful. The woodwork is gorgeous. Everyone who has seen it says “wow”. It sounds just like a ukulele should. And it is a blast to play!

The worst thing about this ukulele is the product description page. The description provided by Amazon is terrible. At the time of this writing, there is no photo of the product (I bought it on faith based on reviews of a couple others here). The product description is a single, incomplete sentence and uses the word “founf”… and the description is so bad, it’s not at all obvious that you’re getting an OU-5 (look in the item details under model number), but that is what you get. But please, don’t be fooled by what may be the worst page on Amazon’s otherwise wonderful site… this is a great product.

One user complained about the strings not holding their tune, and I’ve seen at least one complaint about the tuners. Well, the ukulele comes with nylon strings, and there is a fair amount of stretching before it will stay in tune. My first couple of attempts were frustrating… the top string would be badly out of tune by the time I had tuned down to the bottom string. It took a couple of days of constant tuning before the strings were properly stretched. There’s probably some trick to pre-stretching nylon strings, but I just kept at it and eventually prevailed. Now it stays in tune comparable to my guitar. The chrome tuners appear to be of good quality. They are solid and have a good feel.

The Koa wood is stunning, and has a wonderful finish, especially for an instrument in this price range. The detail in the inlay really makes this uke visually impressive.

I grabbed a chord chart off the internet to learn chords and fingering… there are plenty out there. I decided to learn to play songs from movies featuring the ukulele. A quick search and I found the chords (all two of them) for Joe’s Cowboy Song… awesome! It sounds great! Tonight You Belong to Me by Steve Martin was next, followed by Forgetful Lucy featuring Adam Sandler on the uke. I suggest looking for ukulele performances on YouTube for inspiration. You haven’t really, truly played a string instrument until you’ve played Rawhide on the ukulele.