Electric Ukulele

Hey guys,

I have been playing the Ukulele for about half a year only, but it has become my main hobby and I spend every single free minute practicing.
The Uke I bought and started with is the Baton Rouge V1 Goth Ukulele (this one: http://www.thomann.de/de/baton_rouge_v1_goth_sopranukulele.htm ).
The sound is nice but there are two things I would want that this one can not offer me.
1. It only has 12 (or 13, how do I count those?) Frets, which limits my possibilities. I guess the reason for that is that I bought a sopran Uke, right?
2. More importantly, I want to try and play some rock music with it, that is why I am asking, is it possible to get an Electric Ukulele that you can do all those funny things with, in the way a normal guitar differs from an electric one?

Because I would be interested in playing around with different sounds from the same instrument, that is why, if that exists, an E-Uke would be rather interesting for me.

First I want to get an answer to the question if that is even possible, because if I type in Electric Ukes in google I mostly get Ukes that you can put on speaker or connect to the PC, but not for different sounds but just for recording or loudness purposes, the way I understand it.

Second if that is possible, I would love to get any advice on buying such an instrument. I am open for any suggestions, and can not tell a price range because I do not know anything about prices. But I would want to buy a Uke that I can still have fun with when I can consider myself a good player. For now I would still consider myself a beginner on the Uke, I can play songs like this version of River Flows In You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fj_tBxospA and anything that is about that level of difficulty.


I am sorry for any bad use of the english language, I was trying to express myself in a way you could understand

I hope anyone finds the time to give me any advice on any of my questions.

Thank you very much for reading and thank you in advance for trying to help!

Edit: Okay, I am sorry I did not find it when looking on music store websites, and just now got the Idea to look for an electric Uke on Youtube.
I want something that can make sound like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzLF3O-gQxs
And I can spend enough to get a good one I guess, just hope anyone has any suggestions
I want to be able to play every kind of music, so I don't want the electric Uke to disable me from playing classical songs as well.
Thanks again!

If you typed in electric uke, chances are you saw the uke the guy in the video is playing. It's pretty much like all electric ukes except that some are acoustic electric, and some have solid bodies like the one in the video. Those "sounds" are effects produced by the amplifier and/or guitar pedals that provide such effects as chorus, delay, and many, many more. If you get a solid bodied uke, it will not be loud enough if left unplugged to use for anything but practice. To play your "classical music", you will need an acoustic electric uke, which will not sound quite the same as the hollow bodied ones when you play rock. In general, electric ukes do not have as many knobs and switches as an electric guitar. I know these are a lot of generalizations, but I didn't want you to try and compare" apples to oranges" as we sometimes say. Here's a link to the company's website that made the uke in the video: http://www.eleukeusa.com/

Here's an AC DC number on an acoustic uke. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzN_BiPUtek

Here's another cool one on an acoustic electric uke that's a tutorial, with tabs, etc.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzKxZ6r6Do8

Hi, The RISA stick may be of interest? It is available in nylon and steel string versions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwMab7-zars

Available from http://www.ukulele.de/shop4/de-RISA?mnf=1 Have a chat with them as to what the instument can do.

Something like this maybe?

Okay first of all, thanks to all the nice and kind replies. I know that I basically know nothing, but I was focused on the Saxophon and Trombone all my life and never had any interest in all those instruments with strings before.

Thank you PhilUSAFRet for your explanation, I now know I prefer to get one of those solid bodied Ukes, I can still use the one I use now to play classical music, and might even buy another acoustic Uke in the future, but for now I want to explore the electric music part, with all those nice effects and everything

Thank you pritch for the link, but I prefer a Uke that has a nicer look, and to me that stick looks kind of boring. I know it may not count for the sound itself, but to me the look matters, too.

Photojosh the pictures you posted, this Uke looks nice! I'd love to get something that looks this way.

So after all your explanation let me specify the needs I have for an Electric-Uke with solid body:
- Any size that is not a guitar size yet is fine to me, but I think I am looking for something with at least 16+ frets, so I have more possibilities to play my music.
- The price can go up to 500€, I don't want to spend too much on it, but don't want a low quality instrument either. Or is 500€ not enough to get something nice? If you find the perfect Instrument for 600€ now, I'd still love if you recommend it.
- I still know nothing about amplifiers and those pedals, that PhilUSAFRet just told me about, but I know I want it, so if someone could recommend me a Uke with a fitting amplifier and maybe those pedals for further effects, that would be great.
- I prefer to have a cool looking Uke, as I said, looks matter, but of course the sound or handling is still more important, after all I want to make music.

So if someone knows a Combination of Uke and Amp (and maybe those pedals) that fits my needs, I would be very happy if you could recommend it to me.

And Thank you again for helping a newbie out

Vorson is a brand that has a bridge more like an electric guitar than many acoustic electrics that can be plugged in and act much like an electric.

I haven't seen any reviews on Vorson but they start a tad over $100.

there is a uke with an amp built in called a vox.

Blue star guitar - http://bluestarguitarcompany.com/ukuleles/1811901

Here's mine - http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com...UD-Blue-Star-Konablaster-Short-Scale-Baritone

Standard soprano - http://elderly.com/new_instruments/items/BSKB-BLUB.htm

Standard baritone - http://elderly.com/new_instruments/items/BSBK-BLUB-RSWD.htm

Epiphone Les Paul Concert..

It is an acoustic ,but with a pick up built in...


http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/search.asp?brandname=&search=epiphone+ukuleles&x=39&y=61


it's wicked ...not as deep in the body as an acoustic but still plays acoustically but, as the blurb says it really comes alive put through an amp....especially my new Yamaha THR10 Toaster.

I have one ....The thing is it is like playing an archtop epiphone ES 175...which I have ...sort of Little and Large...


Bugger ...I just read your requirement for a solid body......ah well ...

I would say though give this Epi a try ..or have it as a backup...

Yammy amp as above....I do not think you really need pedals as the amp is loaded with effects....however I do use an ibanez tube Screamer to "overdrive" and then Angus Young the rest ....just turn it all UP..

Line 6 or Boss (Roland) make quite expensive pedal boards or a Zoom G1XON

Thank you for all the recommendations.
For now I will take my time to do further research alone, I have an Idea of what is possible and what I want now.

The only thing I am surprised about is, that Ukes seem to be so much cheaper compared to other instruments. I thought you could easily spend thousands on a good quality Uke as well, seems you can get something nice for so much less money, which just makes it easier for me to get a good electric Uke now.

I really hope I can contribute to this forum in the future as well, and maybe help out some people, like you helped me.
Thank you very much for being such a nice and helpful community!