Ohana PKT-14 Pineapple Tenor Ukulele - REVIEW

From an otherworldly level ukulele from this brand to one for us mere mortals. This is the Ohana PKT-14 Pineapple Ukulele.

A couple of weeks back I took another look at one of the Ohana Custom shop ukuleles made by Brad Kahabka in California for Ohana. It was dream level stuff, and a nice development for Ohana at the upper end, but of course Ohana have been in the ukulele game longer than most brands now and have been putting out very reliable affordable ukes for years. In line with my mission to feature more affordable ukuleles this year I thought it would be good to get back down to earth with the brand. Oh, and this one is in a shape I've always loved and probably don't feature enough of either!

SUMMARY VIDEO REVIEW

The PKT-14 Pineapple is a more entry level offering from Ohana, and because of that we are dealing with all laminate mahogany woods here in the very traditional pineapple / paddle style shape that loses the usual waist. Actually, pineapples are arguably one of the earliest shapes of ukes and I believe the first ever Kamaka instruments were in this shape. More on that later on. I must say though, for a laminate ukulele, when I first opened the box on this one I wondered whether Matt at World of Ukes had sent me the wrong instrument. The grain is extremely attractive on the top in a rich orange brown glow, but just looking at the sound hole edge shows me this is very thin higher grade laminate. This is NOT a basic plywood box. What I like less (and don't understand) is why the back wood is such a different colour, almost yellow and has far less interesting grain.  I suppose it matches the neck and you don't see it when playing, but it jars with me. It's a familiar look that is classy I guess.

The bridge is a tie bar style, specced by Ohana as 'hardwood'. That could be anything, but it has clearly been stained dark. To be fair it is extremely tidy on the finish so I have no complaints. Sitting in that is a straight topped bone saddle with a string spacing of 41mm.

The decoration is simple but effective. There are black bindings to the top and back with black and white purfling to the top edge. These give the instrument a lift beyond the more basic wood construction. The sound hole gets a cream ring trimmed in black which isn't in any way gaudy and suits the instrument. The finish is specced as satin which it clearly is, but there is a sheen to it over the mahogany which is really rather lovely to both feel and look at. This is not your usual flat factory satin, but feels a bit more polished.

Inside is simple but very tidy. The kerfing is not notched, but the braces are nice and skinny with the top being vertically braced. I can't see any mess, and as I say the top laminate is extremely thin.

The neck wood is not specified so could be mahogany but could equally be a host of things. It's made from three pieces and tidy though. At the nut the profile is not overly rounded and  I'm somewhat pleased with a nut width I measure at about 36mm with 28mm G to A. It's a touch skinnier than I would like but better than average and with the profile it comes together comfortably.

The fingerboard is specced as 'hardwood' again, but is in great condition and even in colour. Saying that it's noticeably different in colour to the bridge and such things catch my eye and annoy me. The edges are bound in a dark wood so there are no fret ends to be seen, and you get 19 of those joined at the 14th. The dressing on these is great too without a hint of sharpness. Pearly position dots face out from the 5th, 7th, 10th, 12th and 15th and thankfully there are small side dots too.

Beyond the bone nut is the usual standard Ohana headstock which is one I have always liked and found to be classy looking. It has a similar trim to the body which adds to that class and the Ohana logo is a silvery screen print.

The tuners are listed on the Ohana site as Grover open gears, but there is no name stamping on them so I would question that. What I will say is they look and feel the same as Grovers, so does it matter? These are in chrome with vintage shaped buttons.

Finishing it off is nothing more than a set of Aquila strings, so the lack of a bag is worth noting. But saying that, this is really not a lot of money at £155 so I am less concerned and it will fit in a tenor soft bag (though unlikely a hard case). Good value though, but in 2025 a lot of the competition is giving you some sort of bag even on ukes far cheaper than this.

I'm liking what I am seeing here a lot. It's a classy looking uke that looks anything but cheap laminate with a great build and finish. The wood colour mis-matches are a bit of an odd one, but that's about it with my issues and this may differ from model to model. Overall it's a nice looker.

It's extremely well set up (bear in mind - it came from World of Ukes - Matt is famously meticulous), and isn't heavy at all at 585g and balances very nicely too.

A word first about the pineapple shape though. What I find this shape does through the removal of the waist is boost the mid-tones of a ukulele and give it a lot more 'meat' on the sound.  A more rounded tone. With soprano pineapples that can serve to turn some instruments that are a little shrill or nasally into a richer sounding uke. You need less of that on a tenor, but I find on the larger ukes, pineapples are great for getting more out of laminate tonewoods. I'm pleased to see it here for that reason.

Basics first on volume and sustain, and both are extremely good for a cheap instrument. It has a real punch without much effort on your strums and the sustain is surprisingly longer than you would expect too. Good news.

Tone wise I am not going to get ahead of myself and suggest this is like a £1,000 instrument, it's not. But it's a £155 uke and it punches better than that price on tone to my ears. There is a real clear balance to the tone - not too bright, not too dark, not too boomy - but just pleasant and clear. When strummed it's easy to get some jangly 'pep' from it which sounds great. Fingerpicked it's very pretty too with some really chimey notes and, again, great clarity. There is a touch of a laminate echoey edge to the tone, but not a great deal and I have heard far worse in laminates, and in fact worse in some solid topped ukes. This is a very straightforward accomplished tone that works very well. I'm loving it for the money.

So I'm delighted that I have another example of what I mean by 'good laminate'. This is well made, decent looking, nice to play and sounds better than the £155 would suggest. A recommendation!

https://worldofukes.co.uk/
https://ohana-music.com/

UKULELE SPECS ROUNDUP

Model: Ohana PKT-14 Pineapple 

Scale: Tenor
Body: All laminate mahogany
Bridge: Hardwood tie bar

Saddle: Bone

Spacing at saddle: 41mm

Finish: Satin

Neck: Unspecified

Fingerboard: Hardwood

Frets: 19, 14 to body
Nut: Bone

Nut width: 36mm, 28mm G to A

Tuners: Unbranded chromed gears

Strings: Aquila

Weight: 585g

Country of origin: China

Price: £155

UKULELE PROS

Good build and finish

Great volume

Good sustain
Comfortable neck

Clear balanced tone

No brainer price

UKULELE CONS

Some wood colour mis matching

No bag

UKULELE SCORES

Looks - 8.5 out of 10

Fit and finish - 8.5 out of 10

Sound - 8.5 out of 10

Value for money - 9 out of 10

OVERALL UKULELE SCORE - 8.6 out of 10

UKULELE REVIEW VIDEO

© Barry Maz

GOT A UKULELE IS NOT PAID BY BRANDS OR SHOPS - YOUR KIND DONATIONS ARE WHAT KEEP THE SITE GOING! THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!

SAY THANKS WITH A BEER!

BECOME A GOT A UKULELE PATREON

OR THRU PAYPAL

THANKS!