Lanikai LU-21 Soprano Ukulele

Celebrate a place where heaven meets the ocean when you strum on this soprano ukulele (model LU-21) from Lanikai's LU series--one of its most popular and affordable ukuleles. Offering a classic, sweet island sound, it's a great choice for first-time players or for acoustic multi-instrumentalists looking to expand their tonal palette.

The LU-21 uses nato wood for top, back and side construction and rosewood for its fret board. Reddish nato wood, also known as eastern mahogany, is often used in more affordable guitars and ukuleles and offers many of the same acoustic properties as mahogany. This package includes an instruction booklet that will guide into a lifelong enjoyment of this instrument.

Specifications

• Size: Standard
• Scale length: 14 inches
• Width at nut: 1.375 inches
• Top construction: Nato
• Back/side construction: Nato
• Fret board construction: Rosewood
• Frets: 12
• Machines: Chrome/ivoroid geared
• Binding: White

Ukulele History

The Ukulele is actually the descendant of a four-stringed musical instrument known as the machête or, less accurately, the braguinha from the Portuguese island of Madeira. There are many theories about how the ukulele got its name. The two most-circulated stories include one about an English army officer, Edward Purvis, who became quite adept at playing the machête. Because he was small and sprightly (as opposed to the markedly larger frames of the Hawaiians), he was nicknamed "Ukulele," which in Hawaiian means "jumping flea" (also translated as "bouncing Flea" or "leaping flea"). A more literal theory likens the fingers of an accomplished player flying nimbly up and down the fretboard of the machête to the movement of "jumping fleas."