Eleukes and pedals

s4ndyUk

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I have been wanting to get an electric ukulele for a while now, but I'm wondering if it makes any difference going for a £40 one or splashing out on a really expensive one. Also do you know anything about good pedals for ukuleles and can the same effects be created that you can on a guitar?
 
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Unless you get an electric uke with steel string the effects will sound really different because of the piezo pickups and the nylon strings. I think stuff like chorus/phaser/flanger and delay are ok to use on a uke. Distortion/Overdrive is a totaly different story.
I have an Epiphone Les Paul Uke, which is great value for money and works reasonably well with effects.
So if you really want steel strings these are great:
https://www.ukulele.de/shop4/de/de-RISA-LP-Tenor-cherry-sunburst
But expensive.
 
Thanks for the feedback, do bluesy effects work? I'm not very good with the proper terminology :)
 


That answer your question ?
 
That is pretty amazing!! But I was thinking more like this kind of thing, from 1;40 onwards. I'm kinda looking for a cleaner sound :) That one, as good as it is, has just a bit too mcuh disstortion (I hope thats the right terminology :/ :L) for me :)
 
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That's a wah with maybe a little distortion.
He does this on a nylon string uke thus proving it can be done :D.
You might wanna try out some wah's though, the one I have for my guitar, does not work as well on my uke, as it does on the guitar.
 
An Eleuke is able to handle any kind of pedal designed for electric guitars.
It has nylon strings, but the electronics give it plenty of sustain. You will get a "different" kind of sound to steel-strings though, being nylon.

Personally, I like the Risa electric ukes better than the Eleukes.
They cost a bit more, but are overall a higher quality instrument and made in Germany.
And here is a demo video that demonstrates it being used with a "Bluesy" sound:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuqQWon71do

But depending on what you plug it into, you can get it to sound like nearly anything.
Eg:

Pure tone with some delay effects:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHGNTXDNXBs

Here's a nice video that demonstrates a few different applications:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woyW9XIZoHM

Here is what they sound like live through a Roland Microcube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syL_8hpzyc0

And here's and old video of me using it with some distortion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tqY6OPtJzQ



Solid body electric ukes has become something of a craze though. There are many other brands now available, such as Anuenue, Fluke and Koo'lau (very expensive)!

I've got both steel string and nylon string electrics - they are different to each other and I like both kinds for what they are.
 
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There are also the Kamoa "Evolve" series of semi-acoustic electrics (think "tiny Gibson 335").

I tried one in their store on Kauai, and was very slightly underwhelmed (with the cheaper of the two versions).

I have to own up to being far from Kamoa's biggest fan, I just don't like them as a company, but the Evolves have been well received here. Not quite the "best of both worlds", but at least you'd get some acoustic useability, which you wouldn't get from a Risa LP.

If it was my money, I'd be all over a Risa Tenor Les Paul.
 
Incidentally, you might want to look into using something from one of the following links. I use Overloud TH2 and Guitar Rig, although you'll probably need to buy a better quality, external USB sound card. Regardless of the onboard sound card you have, the latency will drive you nuts. You'll also want to download ASIO4ALL, which is a free WDM driver that will lower latency.

http://www.guitarsite.com/best-guitar-effects-software/

http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech...odelling-plug-ins-in-the-world-today-427789/5

http://www.asio4all.com/
 
If you want to hear someone using the 2 programs I mentioned, search for PixxyLix on Youtube.

Hell, look him up anyway, he's an awesome dude and a great guitar player.
 
I have got a cheap (£40) solid bodied electric ukulele and it is a lot better than i expected given its low cost. It is not as good or well built as a Risa but plays well enough.

It is great fun trying out various effects and i have found that a flanger combined with a small amount of reverb sound really good. So far I have tried a flanger, chorus, phaser and reverb and they all work.

Having said all that, if you have the funds, I would advise you to buy a Risa (better quality components, better build quality and a much better pickup).
 
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