Hmm, well if you put steel strings and magnetic pickups on a Ukulele, it
is going to sound like a capo'd electric guitar... because that's what it is physically.
But I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. Actually I think it's a very good thing.
I think it defeats the purpose of an electric uke if it sounds close to an acoustic uke. There are so many new effects and techniques to be discovered and experimented with electric ukes in their differences to traditional ukes, while sharing the same tuning and playability.
And a property of electric guitars is the extreme diversity of sounds you can generate from it. You can make it sound like just about anything to suit many areas of music, which is a feature that I would like to see in ukuleles.
I'm looking forward to a new breed of ukulele sound. If I wanted something that sounds more traditionally "ukey", I'd just play a traditional ukulele
The traditional uke is great, and I love its sound - but unfortunately (in my limited experience) it has limited application in more popular genres of music, such as in rock bands or even to be used in the Church band for Christian music.
Nylon-string electrics can emulate a bit, but they still lack the crispness and sustain of steel strings. Piezo pickups and nylon strings cannot produce the sound that magnetic pickups and steel strings do, though I see many players trying to make the best out of it on Youtube (and they do a fabulous job).
I think the steel-string electric ukulele can give uke-players who don't already play guitar a bridge to more wide applications to music. And personally I think it is quite different to an electric guitar, despite sharing some similar hardware.
People don't normally play their guitars capo'd at the 5th fret, and there are major differences in the playability of ukes to a guitar.
I'm absolutely loving my new Risa Les Paul that just arrived yesterday. I would daresay its the best instrument I ever played. It has such a rich, mellow, sweet tone with its humbuckers and uke tuning and I can more easily play along to other musicians without making everything sound so rainbow sunshine lollypops. I'm loving the sustain it gives, and the more "authentic" sounding distortion.
BUT it did cost me an arm and a leg to afford (in
this other topic, I explained how it made me go into bank debt
). It is not easy for the typical student ukulele player to get their hands on.
If Eleuke can develop a quality steel-string uke with single-coil or humbucking pickups like electric guitars for a good price, I'm all for it!
(well I do enjoy the uniqueness of being one of the very few people to own a steel-string electric uke... but ah well, sharing is caring.. all for the good of ukuleles)
What kind of strings will you be using
I'm no expert, but I think current steel string ukes can be fitted with electric guitar strings of the right gauge. Uke strings are just electric guitar strings of certain thickness, which are widely available, apparently.
Would it be possible to use high-G? Or just low-G?
Just about any tuning should be possible with the right strings. At least that's the case with Risa. You can tune them like mandolins, high G, low G, even DGBE baritone.
But you would have to make adjustments to the bridge/action and nut.
ps: I LOVE electric ukes. My ukes: