Stagg solid body electric ukulele

sgporc

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A proper review for this uke was sorely missed when I was researching solid body electric ukes so here I am to contribute my review after taking the plunge to get this often passed-over uke. I bought it from Butler Music on ebay and have had it for almost 2 weeks.

Features :10. Simply cannot be beaten!!!
I'll start with the listed specifications which were accurate.
# Body: Solid Maple
# Neck: Solid Maple, bolt-on
# Fingerboard & Bridge: Rosewood
# Machine Heads: diecast nickel minis
# Electronics: UK-2000 active onboard preamp w/ Slider-style 2-band EQ (bass/treble) & Volume control
# Fingerboard Dim. 240 mm (9.4 in.), 16 frets (body is cutaway so all frets accessible)
# Scale length: 375 mm / 14.8 in.
# Neck & Headstock: 325 mm, (12.8 in.)
# Body: 285 mm, (11.2 in.)
# Total length: 574 mm (22.6 in.)
# Power: 1 x 9V battery (included)
# Output: 1 x 1/4" jack
Finish was high gloss throughout (besides the fingerboard of course). Comes with a free gig bag which protects relatively well. Best of all, there were other features that were surprisingly not advertised. It came with an amp cable, and there was a headphone jack and mp3 input too! (just like the eleuke). Volume was not too loud on the headphones. I haven't tried the mp3 yet (don't have the double-ended jack cables) but I expect it to work as it is supposed to. The only minor concern here is that the headphone and mp3 sockets are on the back so there may be pressure on the jacks if you hold the uke too tightly to your body.

Sound :8
I'm a total music novice and everything sounds ok to me. It definitely not the standard uke-y sound, but I expected that from a solid-body. It came with a set of black strings which were rather soft and almost silent when played without amplification, which I changed out to aquilas. It's now definitely audible to people around you but not out of the room, so it's great for late night practices. Intonation is pretty good (to me). When measured at the 12th fret on a chromatic tuner, it's about 10-15 cents sharp, but I understand that no uke has perfect intonation, and the discrepancy could even be because of how I fret or play the strings. So I'm fine with it since I cannot hear the difference anyway.

Action, Fit, & Finish :9
According to commonly recommended action heights of 1/8" to 3/16", this uke came in good at 1/8", but I preferred it lower so I sanded down the saddle a little more. Fit is good with everything tight and snug. The black and glossy finish was also good, but to be extremely picky, there was a very small spot up at the neck just abutting the fingerboard that was not covered well by the gloss coating. Fingerboard also looked fine and not dry.

Reliability/Durability : 10
This is a solid body uke so I expect it to be able to take all sorts of abuse.

Customer Support :10
Never had to bother them. This was my second order from them and no problems so far.

Overall Rating : 8
This uke is great for me... I have no complaints. It's great for almost silent practice (which was why I bought it). It's really a great value for money cause it costs half of it's more popular competitor with all the same features. I'm happy with this buy...


Added on 2/25:
# Neck width at nut: 1 3/8" String spacing: 11/32"
# Neck width at 12th fret: 1 3/4" String spacing: 1/2"
 

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a few more pics...
 

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Thank you for the review and info! I've long been toying with this very one - in black. The price is terrific.

Since it's not as much a traditional uke sound, how would you describe the sound?
How are the controls on it?
 
Has anyone tried both one of these and an eleuke?
 
It looks great, I actually think it may be cooler looking than the eleuke. But why on earth would they put the headphone jacks on the back? That seems like a terrible design move.
 
Since it's not as much a traditional uke sound, how would you describe the sound?
How are the controls on it?

To me the traditional soprano ukes are distinctively very bright and lively sounding, amplified by the reverberations of the body. For the stagg solid body without amplification, it's pretty much just the sound of the strings themselves, not as bright and "boomy". I'm not sure how else to describe. I'm new to electronic amplification and don't know what to expect with amplified music. I have a honeytone mini-amp but I haven't been playing around with it much. To me, once music is modified by all the knobs you can adjust on the amp, I really don't know how much the original tone of the instrument plays a role. With the electronic modifications that you can do these days I'm sure you can make it sound like a trumpet if you want... :) Many other reviews of other solid body electric ukes describe the sounds as like the electric guitar. The stagg is pretty much like the eleuke videos you can find on youtube. But as for the quality of the electronics, I'd say it's not bad. No hissing or crackling. The controls seem fine too. I normally just leave them in the middle...

I hope this is of some help... I'm really a philistine when it comes to music and these ukes (I also have the kala ka-15s) are practically my first musical instruments (and just for less than 2 months now)...
 
It looks great, I actually think it may be cooler looking than the eleuke. But why on earth would they put the headphone jacks on the back? That seems like a terrible design move.

I've never seen these staggs advertised with the mp3 jacks, which was a total surprise to me. I guess they probably got the electronics from the same supplier to the eleukes and just adapted to the new electronics without more extensive redesign of the body. But that being said, the words "headphone" and "mp3" are actually molded onto the plastic black cover, unlike the eleuke which is just on a white sticker being pasted on. One of these days I'll probably open up the back cover and reroute the jack to the side...
 
# Scale length: 375 mm / 14.8 in.

that makes it a concert...
 
Thanks for this review! I have been looking at the Staggs for a while... This has convinced me :)
 
Thanks for this review! I have been looking at the Staggs for a while... This has convinced me :)

I'm with you, sunburst is calling to me...
 
I really like the Les Paul shaped ones better than the Strat shape. I feel the calling of an electric uke for my next purchase. This looks like it may be the good choice. I'd like to know if anyone who has it has an issue with the placement of the headphone jack, though. Seems like you might have to get an adapter so it comes out at an L shape rather than a standard jack so you don't screw it up.
 
The acoustic ukes shaped like electric guitars look unspeakably awful to me. Not cool in the least.

These, on the other hand, actually do look pretty cool. IMHO, nicer looking than the Eleuke. I'd be interested to try one.

Thanks for your review. :)
 
Nice! Make sure to post some better photos than what is available. Also, report on the location of the headphone jack, if it is goofy or okay. I'd be odering that amp-u-plug-n-play thing if I had one coming in the mail.
 
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