Looking for a true electric

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Benjolele

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I play with a rock/funk band with a sense of humor. I often add a bit of distortion or wah-wah. On stage I play a Kala Archtop currently, which has a nice dry, jazzy tone amplified, but still maintains a lot of the tonal qualities you'd expect from a normal acoustic ukulele.

Recently I've been thinking of picking up a full electric. Possibly even one with steel strings. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of places I've found that stock them. Does anyone have any experience with a good electric?

A few years ago I saw a Kamoa Evolve in a shop, which the owner described as, "basically an electric guitar on a ukulele scale. At the time it wasn't of any real interest to me, but as my playing and situation have themselves evolved, I'm kicking myself for not investigating further. I know there are other brands out there too.

If you own or have played one of these Kamoa Evolve or a similar electric, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!
 
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Vorzon has solid body steel string Strat, Tele and Les Paul styles. I had the Tele version, $129, that was not bad, needed better strings, but I found I had no use for it, so sold it last year.

About the Kamoa you mentioned, I spearheaded a UU group buy directly from the Chinese distributor who makes them for Komoa. East-Start. Everyone thinks they are a Kamoa original, but no, Kamoa just OEMed to the US. When I first checked with East-Start, one would have been $400, in a group of twenty, they were $165 each.

I actually think the Vorzon is a better choice than the other. These were mine.

Vorson Tele mine 600.jpg

Alida knobs.jpg
 
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I'm enjoying my Vorson, which looks identical to the Clearwater posted by Phil. I might like the Clearwater better, based on the headstock photo. The Vorson logo emblem sticks up a bit, and my tuner rattles because it doesn't have a solid footing. The Clearwater photo looks like the logo is flush with the headstock. That's a picky thing, but when you hear a buzz your mind goes into panic/problem solving mode. In my case, I just have to remember to remove the tuner.

Risa has a really great reputation, but is quite a bit more expensive than the Vorson/Clearwater. On the other hand, the Risa pickups are humbuckers, which is a big plus. Mim is carrying them now, which makes ordering easier.

If budget is not a problem, look up Manndolins. He makes some really awesome electric ukuleles, and recently posted a used one here for sale. Really, really awesome.

Because of my interest in Rockabilly, I would like one of those archtop electric ukuleles with f-holes cut in the top. I'd love to go for that Manndolin Baritone Ukulele but I don't have sufficient cash.
 
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I have the Clearwater which appears to be identical to Vorson. I had posted a review of it here.

Mine has no issues at all and looks really nice. I consider it a great bargain, especially if you don't want to spend big bucks. All strings can easily be compensated and lowered individually (setup), in case the action should be high or intonation off coming from the factory.

If money is not an issue, Risa will probably be an option that is even better. For a custom, check out "Monkey Wrench". Also, Pono has presented a steel string version of their Thinbody Electric model just the other day (they make that in the baritone size as well):

 
Vorson electric ukulele problems

I bought a Vorson electric, $149 on Amazon. The strings it came with seemed shitty so I changed them to D'Addario XL regular light guage electric guitar strings, using the D, G, B, and E strings and tuning them up to G, C, E, and A. Great strings, but this uke is problematic in a couple ways. First, the volume pot has come loose in its housing, although it still works, and I can probably tighten it up when I open the back. Second, and most important, tuning the strings is very finicky. A really small partial turn of the tuner knob alters string pitch drastically. That wouldn't be too bad to put up with, if the strings would stay in tune, but they won't. Play one or two tunes, even in an light strumming or delicate picking style, and I have to retune which, as I noted, is not easy to do. If I really pick hard,and do a bunch of bends, like on rockabilly or Chuck Berry tunes, this thing will be out of tune before the song's over. I like the look and the build "seems" nice but maybe the Vorson is a case of "you get what you pay for". I am going to look at other, hopefully, better brands of electric uke, because I really like having one as a tool along with my acoustic and acoustic/electric ukes.
 
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Thanks everyone! This is great info. I'm digging the Risa Strat and Les Paul copies for sure, and the Monkey Wrench are gorgeous. I'm going to see if I can find a retail outlet where I might try one or two of these. Interested to check out the Manndolins too, but can't seem to find anything with a web search. Anybody have a link?

A few folks pointed out that I didn't specify a budget. I suppose because I don't have a firm one. I'd like to stay in the $500 range, but if I found a dream instrument I might go as high as $750 or even $1000.

I may still be a while off before I buy, so please keep the info coming.

Thanks again!
 
Futurethink said:
I'm enjoying my Vorson, which looks identical to the Clearwater posted by Phil. I might like the Clearwater better, based on the headstock photo. The Vorson logo emblem sticks up a bit, and my tuner rattles because it doesn't have a solid footing. The Clearwater photo looks like the logo is flush with the headstock. That's a picky thing, but when you hear a buzz your mind goes into panic/problem solving mode. In my case, I just have to remember to remove the tuner.

Risa has a really great reputation, but is quite a bit more expensive than the Vorson/Clearwater. On the other hand, the Risa pickups are humbuckers, which is a big plus. Mim is carrying them now, which makes ordering easier.

If budget is not a problem, look up Manndolins. He makes some really awesome electric ukuleles, and recently posted a used one here for sale. Really, really awesome.

Because of my interest in Rockabilly, I would like one of those archtop electric ukuleles with f-holes cut in the top. I'd love to go for that Manndolin Baritone Ukulele but I don't have sufficient cash.
Click to expand...

I'd definitely recommend the Kala in that situation. It is definitely a nice instrument for the money and sounds good amplified. And yeah, it does look cool, I have to say.
 
Jim Hanks said:
Id say you should jump on this and think later:
http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com...aul-Tenor-Electric-Ukulele-in-Cherry-Sunburst

If it isn't quite what you're after you can flip it pretty easy and you'd be in a better position to know what you do want.
Click to expand...

Oh man! I hadn't checked this thread in a couple days. Thanks for the link. After some research and quite a bit of YouTube listening, this is actually exactly the model I'm looking for. But *facepalm* by the time I saw your post it was already sold. Guess I'll go back to trying to find a site or store that has one and is willing to ship to the US.
 
Thanks, everyone who weighed in. I just got my Risa LP last week. I wrote Mim's, and even though they aren't currently available (every site I found that would ship to the US was out of stock and back-ordered), she was able to track one down for me. At a better price than any of the competitive sites had it too. Great customer service, fast shipping once they had received it, highly recommend them.

I'll post a video soon.

image.jpg
 
I am so jealous. That is beautiful. Risa makes amazing instruments. Enjoy!

Benjolele said:
Thanks, everyone who weighed in. I just got my Risa LP last week. I wrote Mim's, and even though they aren't currently available (every site I found that would ship to the US was out of stock and back-ordered), she was able to track one down for me. At a better price than any of the competitive sites had it too. Great customer service, fast shipping once they had received it, highly recommend them.

I'll post a video soon.

View attachment 100584
Click to expand...
 
I recently got a Risa LP too! Loving it! Congrats!
Using a little Blackstar amp, irig2, and GarageBand.
 

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