I have reviewed many budget ukuleles for beginners and one which I have been able to test is the Lankro 26″ Tenor Ukulele Solid Mahogany.
For those not familiar with Lankro, the company is known for providing inexpensive ukuleles and guitars. While a bit of investigating couldn’t determine the exact location, assuming like most ukuleles made of mahogany, I am pretty confident that it’s made in China and perusing alone, shows popularity in Asia and also in India and Sri Lanka.
I am reviewing the Lankro 26″ Tenor Ukulele made in solid mahogany which is offered for under $75 and comes with a travel zipper padded gig bag, digital clip-on tuner, capo clamp, Lankro carbon strings, Lankro picks, shoulder strap and a microfiber polishing cloth.
The ukulele features a a solid mahogany soundboard, classic hollow headstock design and my first impression was that it is laminated but according to Lankro, this is solid mahogany and says their ukes improve 80% in tone compared to laminated ukulele. Considering that I do have a large collection of ukulele, my laminated ukulele’s have a different glossy finish than this one. But again, it’s all subjective of whether or not you want glossy surfaced ukes.
You get fret marks on the fret board and frets, but for a ukuele targeting beginners, I was surprised there are no side fret markers on the fretboard.
One of the things that worry me about inexpensive ukulele are the tuning pegs. Even after heavy use to stretch out the strings, they lose tune because the tuning pegs are poor. Lankro uses awesome 18:1 tuner/gears. And these gears are really good.
Fortunately, the tuning pegs have held up, but it’s important to note that you really need to stretch out the strings. It takes some time, depending how much you play, so in the beginning, you’ll do quite a bit of tuning. But to make sure they are stretched and played, pluck the strings a bit (not too much) but enough to stretch them out. Strum a lot, play a lot and tune until you notice that you don’t have to tune as much.
Overall, as a first-purchase ukulele for under $75 it’s actually a good deal for a tenor uke that comes with a lot.
But there is no doubt a lot of competition in the under $100 tenor ukulele market.
I do like the bright sound, I do like how this ukulele plays, but it is definitely in need of side fret marks for beginners. But nevertheless, I think the Lankro 26″ Tenor Ukulele Solid Mahogany is a good deal for the price. But definitely shop around as the ukulele competition is heating up.
