Risa stick ukuleles my observations, ideas and possible tips.

Inksplosive AL said:
I am believing with Risa sticks there are more variations than I believed previously. Until I work it into the first post I will place the info received in a PM here.

So my second gen stick has a straight saddle and the new second gen maybe third gen has a slanted saddle and a first gen style crossover. The pickup is located under the plastic bridge I dont mess with them as Ive read they are a bit fragile and Ive had no need to do much with them. My concert stick came to me strung lefty so I did flip the saddle but have yet to restring it due to putting a nick in it one night trying to recrown the awful frets. I have entertained the idea of fabricating a saddle from bone or Tusk but I have so many incomplete projects

~peace~
Click to expand...

My concert stick is 2nd gen and seems pretty standard. It has planetary tuners and a sloping saddle. I currently have it tuned low G. I broke a string messing with different tunings so I replaced the default strings with a living water set then I decided to try low G so I replaced the high G with a Worth clear low G as they are available as singles. The fluorocarbon strings sound just fine to me.
 
Inksplosive, To complicate even more, the first 2nd gen Tenor stick i owned had white fret side dot markers on the neck... the second 2nd gen tenor stick (en route to you) has black dots
 
Side dot color I can understand as taste can change or supplies can effect such a thing. The half broken screw holding the jack plate to my concert was a surprise. I read somewhere the owner of Risa didn't like to talk much about anything other than the perfection of the design so honestly I have never tried to make contact with any questions.

I wonder if the Risa's sticks are all hand built. The inconsistencies while not effecting playability certainly are interesting.

~AL~
 
I have been in contact with the maker of Risa (Rigk Sauer - take the first 2 letters of his first name and last name, and what does it spell?)

He's a nice guy, generally answers most questions. But I haven't asked him many technical questions, as I didn't really need to.
The design of Risa sticks is quite simple in a way... it's a stick with a passive Shadow Nanoflex installed in an aluminium bridge under a plastic saddle.
It's put together quite well, like a 3D puzzle.

It's a stereotypical German engineering design in a way. It's streamlined, un-decorated and efficient to produce.

"If German engineers crafted an ukulele" *display Risa stick*

That's so true!
 
Very interesting thread.

Am on my second RISA. First was a soprano that I traded. Recent bought a new concert.

Have tuned this concert CGDA with the Aquila 31U string set. Agree with the earlier comment that play without a strap can be a tough balancing act.

What has always impressed me withe RISA product is the sound quality. With a half-decent amp they can be quite surprising. Finding the appropriate amp has been a bit of a challenge, especially if you want one which comfortably fits into the RISA gig bag. My latest attempt in the great amp hunt is a Lisheng LH-380 guitar amp I got off E$$$. The amp has volume & tone controls. The output is not that loud, but the sound quality is the best I've found of the fit-in-gig-bag amps.

image.jpg
 
An amp that plugs directly into the Risa is a good combo.
You don't even need an instrument cable, just plug and play.

I have an "Ampuplugnplay"
http://www.ampuplugnplay.com/

Works well with the Risa.
However, the website doesn't let you take orders anymore, it seems the company may have stopped production?

That being said, I have seen a Chinese copy of it on eBay - theoretically it should work the same:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/361252959508



That being said, mini amps are not the ideal amp.
As with any electric instrument, the better the amp, the better the tone.
Any good quality amp will bring out the fuller potential of the Risa's sound quality.
 
I play my Risa ukes at open mics. They sound fine but you do need to use a preamp or a pedal as the output from the passive pickup is insufficient to drive many mixers. People have commented that I get a big sound from a little instrument.

I prefer the Risa to fitting pickups to my regular ukes though I have a microvox pickup I can use. It's a miniature condenser mic and the little capsule has a velcro pad and you need to stick the other side of the velcro to the uke but it's easy to move between instruments and it gives a more realistic impression of the instrument's tone. Plugging the Risa in is much more convenient, though.
 
I bought my Risa tenor stick used in the Marketplace here. It arrived a few days before Christmas, so I gave it to my daughters and asked them to wrap it and put it under the tree. (They labelled it From: Dad, To: Dad).

When I unwrapped and unboxed it, my oldest called out "How come they only sent you half of it?"
 
kissing said:
An amp that plugs directly into the Risa is a good combo.
You don't even need an instrument cable, just plug and play.

I have an "Ampuplugnplay"
http://www.ampuplugnplay.com/

Works well with the Risa.
However, the website doesn't let you take orders anymore, it seems the company may have stopped production?

That being said, I have seen a Chinese copy of it on eBay - theoretically it should work the same:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/361252959508



That being said, mini amps are not the ideal amp.
As with any electric instrument, the better the amp, the better the tone.
Any good quality amp will bring out the fuller potential of the Risa's sound quality.
Click to expand...

I have that Joyo amp. It does not have a volume or tone control, and it sounds somewhat tinny. the Lisheng is not as "strong" but clearer. While the Lisheng requires a cable, having one in the gig bag which can be plugged in something larger when the opportunity allows is not a bad thing.
 
What's the consensus on choice of size?

I like the sound of the tenor in those youtube clips but that could be signal chain/amplifier etc. Is there much of a difference in sustain level etc between the sizes, example? I'm leaning towards a concert because of fret spacing - the soprano's size is appealing but I find my concert easier to play (I am pretty much a beginner though). The RISA seems like a great travel option and maybe the tenor negates the advantages. But if it sounds significantly better, it might be worth the trade off.

Thoughts?
 
They're all good, it is mainly which scale length you prefer, & only you can decide on that.

Strings, to a degree, amps & effects will give it different sounds - likely whichever you get, it'll be down to how you amp it.
 
Not to my taste, prefer Tetons

Just didn't like not having a head on the uke. Felt unbalanced.

I bought a concert and tenor Teton from Mim and liked them much better. The Tetons have the additional plus of being able to plug headphones into them. Nice necks.

Since then, purchased a nice electric Pono tenor. The best electric for me.

If you want to offer a reasonable price for my Tetons I'll sell them. They're in the SF Bay Area. I'll be back there in mid October. Playing my Pono indoors here while it rains gently outside in Honolulu.
 
A squirt of this around the strings on the tension bar every now and again stops them catching, particularly the A string, and makes tuning a lot easier. The dry PTFE isn't sticky or oily and doesn't damage the strings.

315ilxj.jpg
 
The very first generation had the friction tuners perpendicular to the body, a next one had them slightly slanted and only later did Risa switch to planetary tuners.
 
Picker Jon said:
A squirt of this around the strings on the tension bar every now and again stops them catching, particularly the A string, and makes tuning a lot easier. The dry PTFE isn't sticky or oily and doesn't damage the strings.

315ilxj.jpg
Click to expand...

I smeared joint grease supplied with my plastic recorders on the tension bar last time I changed the strings. It does the same job, is intended to be used with plastics and I have a plentiful supply available.
 
I have a Risa Soprano (2nd gen) that I like a lot. When standing up, I always use a strap with it. I got a custom embroidered one in Germany. I have had no buzzing problems with it on my main Fender G-DEC 3 amp. Just retested it minutes ago. I did a quick review of the soprano with two mini battery amps in my YT vid. I have also played the larger tenor nice bought by friend and it was nice.



Petey
 
Yes I've seen that video but you can't be trusted, you'd sound good on anything!
 
ukulately said:
Yes I've seen that video but you can't be trusted, you'd sound good on anything!
Click to expand...

hehe, though, I'm not as good as you think, but I love those Risa sticks. One needs to work out their strengths. Yeah, in some ways, it's cheating by writing a song directly for a new uke like I did for my song about Saturn. I have forgotten about this stuff... as time rolls on, but I am back in the time machine tonight and thinking... Wow! I wrote a song on that uke! hehe No joke.

Looking Back Home (as Saturn Turns)


Luv astronomy and the cosmos... and looking back to our planet... glad to have composed it on a Risa stick!

Petey
 
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