Lanikai S-TEQ Makes Me Happy

The first thing I noticed about the Lanikai S-TEQ spruce top tenor—the thing that made me fall in love with it, actually—was its incredibly low action. I sampled two identical models at Elderly Instruments in Lansing, Michigan and both played effortlessly. This smooth-as-butter playability is the Holy Grail for those like me who come from a steel string background, but there’s something else magical about this ukulele; it sounds good, too.

Every time I play this ukulele, plugged or unplugged (but mainly plugged), I get a great reaction. People crowd around to get a closer look and compliment me on how rounded and deep it sounds. They seem totally surprised to hear this big of sound from such a small box..

The fact that it looks so good is just icing on the cake.

The S-TEQ is the electric, cut-away version of the Lanikai S-T, which I assume stands for spruce tenor. The top is solid spruce with a beautiful, tight grain pattern. Back and sides are mahogany (most likely laminated, although the spec sheet does not say). Rosewood fingerboard and tie-bridge along with maple binding round-out the good looks and solid feel of the instrument and the 18 frets were level and immaculately manicured. A little excess glue on the fingerboard are about all I can complain about in regards to fit and finish.

Electronics on the two I sampled were Belcat UK2000 undersaddle transducers with 9-volt active preamps. The quality of the Asian-made electronics on the two ukuleles varied a bit, with one sounding quite trebly while the other was more rounded and had a better bass. I have seen other S-TEQ’s advertised with a German-made Shadow P3 active systems; not having compared a Belcat to a Shadow, all I can say is I was more than satisfied with the bassier of the two Belcat models.

The only real complaint I have is a somewhat loose “C” string die-cast tuning machine (looks like a Grover, but it’s not marked) on one of the samples. That the nicer tuners were on the more trebly example shows some of the trade-offs one encounters when purchasing lower-line instruments, but, again, the overall quality and sound was so good on both, these are just not very big concerns.

At bottom, I’m very pleased with the S-TEQ. At only $189 with the Belcat, this is one of the best values in all of ukedom. I have been fortunate to play a wide variety of ukuleles at Elderly—from $30 to Mahalos to thousand dollar Hawaiian makes, and I have yet to find one that feels and plays as smoothy and effortlessly as the S-TEQ.

While the tone may not snap out like it does on ukuleles costing hundreds, if not thousands more, it certainly holds its own, beating nearly everything in its price range. To quote the company slogan, this Lanikai "Makes me happy."

-Lamb Chop

Love at First Strum: Review of the Boulder Creek Riptide UT-2N Spruce Top Tenor

Words and pictures by Lamb Chop

One of the greatest things about living near Elderly Instruments, the Lansing, Michigan destination for new and vintage (elderly) stringed instruments, is that I get to sample from among one of the largest and finest collections of ukuleles this side of Hawaii. I always have fun when I go there, but sometimes I fall in love. That’s what happened when I found the Boulder Creek Riptide spruce top tenor.

Quite honestly, I had never heard of Boulder Creek or its parent company, Morgan Hill Music, before. Primarily a guitar company, they are rather new to the ukulele market. While their models are imported from the Pacific Rim, they have physical and stylistic innovations that make them stand out from the crowd. What first caught my eye about the Riptide ukulele was its Dual Port system, which features a small, offset soundhole on the top and a larger one placed of its rosewood side. As the Riptide literature notes, “Moving the front sound port away from the center of the soundboard helps to increase volume, tone, and sustain…”

I don’t know why this configuration works, but it does; I have never experienced a louder, crisper tone, even among other spruce top ukuleles. There is something magical about the Riptide by Boulder Creek.

It was love at first strum!

The spruce top tenor, officially designated the UT-2N, is one of 19 models in Boulder Creek’s Riptide line of Standard Mahogany, Deluxe Mahogany (which upgrades to a solid top), and the Spruce & Rosewood series, which features a solid spruce top and laminated sides. Series sizes range from soprano to baritone, with some models getting a Boulder Creek UK-300T preamp and pickup system (an undersaddle model, which seems to be the best way to amplify a ukulele) with built-in tuner. Each features a unique cut-out Boulder Creek headstock and are all beautifully finished.

The UT-2N, a non-amplified model, is equipped with sealed diecast tuners that hold tune well with none of the slop found on the kind of tuners usually used at this price point. Scale length is 26.25” with a rosewood board of 18 frets, the fit and finish of which are excellent. Rosewood bridge, and, if I am not mistaken, it comes strung with Aquila Nylguts, which are fast becoming my favorite string, especially for spruce tops.

The gloss finish of the natural top (there is a darker vintage top available in the series as well) shines beautifully, as does its dark, glossy-finished laminated rosewood sides which take on an almost deep black appearance. Abalone inlay surrounds the top and both soundholes; wish the headstock logo was abalone as opposed to screened gold, but it still looks nice. Some people don’t seem to like the abalone Riptide logo, which is set where the soundhole usually goes, but it is unique and well done. The fretboard markers are easy to see and the overall fit and finish is simply remarkable.

Looks are one thing, but it’s playability that counts. While the action is not as low as that of a similarly priced Lanikai S-T or S-TEQ spruce top tenor, the Riptide has a low-to-medium setting that is incredibly fast, fluid and playable. No buzzes or rattles, either; set-up was perfect right out of the box.

The Dual Port system works well with the spruce and rosewood, providing tons of traditional tone with lots of sustain and brilliant harmonics. Indeed, while some spruce tops lose that essential ukulele sound found on koa and mahogany models, the Riptide oozes that vibe—it just does it with a lot more volume. Boulder Creek got it right; once I picked it up, I could not put it down. The Riptide has become my Riptide, and it is now my “go-to” ukulele and will likely remain so for some time.

I did make one alteration by drilling a hole in the bottom plate to install a GHS-A37 unidirectional internal microphone. As you can tell by my photo, I routed the mic, which is primarily designed to sit under the soundboard of a full size guitar, out of the Riptide’s side soundhole and up towards the top. Surprising, this gives me a really nice amplified tone with virtually no feedback, provided all the adjustments on my amp are right. If I had it to do over, I’d most likely just go with the UT-2N A/E version with onboard electronics, but there were none in stock at the time. I dreaded drilling into that beautiful wood, but I did so without harming the finish and am happy with the result.

Boulder Creek guitars, which feature an innovative bracing system, are building quite a following, with endorsements from a number of artists such as Julianne Hough, Amanda Martin, and Jenny Tate, as well as Grant Mickelson and Paul Sidoti playing with Taylor Swift, Trey Hill with Kellie Pickler, and Mike Scott, who performs with Justin Timberlake. I would not be at all surprised to find Boulder Creek’s Riptide ukuleles getting their own set of professional endorsements. Having played ukuleles costing literally thousands more than the Boulder Creek Riptide, these are as good of a value as one can get. If money were no object—of course, it always is—I would still have a Riptide in my arsenal, even with all the choices my proximity to Elderly affords.

-Lamb Chop