Need help solid body electric uke.

[Markr1]

I need some help for my daughter whom is looking for a solid body electric uke. She is a member here Bethm83. I told her about Mim but I don't know where else she needs to check. I told her she needed to buy from someone that sets them up before they send them out. I don't know if the Mikes deal in electrics or not. If anyone could help direct her in the right direction we would greatly appreiciate it.
I will tell her I started this thread so she can check it to see if you guys have suggestions for her.

Thank you.

 

[UncleElvis]

MIm's your best bet, imnsho.

She's amazing.

 

[Markr1]

Thanks uncle Elvis. I know Mim is good that's where I got my pineapple elueke and it came nicely set up and works perfectly. She would probably love one of the Komoas Mim has but at $599 for the cheaper one that is a little out of her price range. I would love to have one of the Komoas but I couldn't do it justice like the guys did in the cool videos posted.

 

[PhilUSAFRet]

I covet a solid body mahogany eleuke with the MP3. Would more than likely get it from MIMS unless I found a used one for a steal.

 

[Markr1]

I told her to look at some of Mims on eBay and see what she thinks.

 

[kissing]

Another option to consider are Risa's electric ukes.
I consider them to be a cut above Eleuke's quality standards.

You can't go wrong if you buy from Mim's though, who personally checks for quality and does a setup.

But I find Risa's to be better designed instruments in general from having owned several models from both brands.



Another solid body electric uke I've been impressed with are Eastwood's "Airline" electrics.
They have a very sweet, uke-like tone even plugged, because the body has air chambers in it (a closed "semi hollow" body)

 

[edlamb]

Electric Uke

I would recommend saving up for a luthier built electric ukulele -

One is available from the southern ukulele store for £575 by Pete Howlett -
http://http://www.southernukulelestore.co.uk/Product/595/Pete-Howlett-Concert-Ukelectic-Firefly-Electric-Ukulele-Walnut-Top

It looks awesome and sounds great through an amp.

The SUS also have a new batch of Pete Howlett electrics coming in shortly - you could e-mail them for more information.

Here is the same model but in tenor form being played (watch at the end to see the variety of sound which it can produce with a simple amp) - http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvhQXdF2yow

Best of luck,

Ed

 

[Markr1]

Thanks kissing I'll check them out. They sound interesting.

Another option to consider are Risa's electric ukes.
I consider them to be a cut above Eleuke's quality standards.

You can't go wrong if you buy from Mim's though, who personally checks for quality and does a setup.

But I find Risa's to be better designed instruments in general from having owned several models from both brands.



Another solid body electric uke I've been impressed with are Eastwood's "Airline" electrics.
They have a very sweet, uke-like tone even plugged, because the body has air chambers in it (a closed "semi hollow" body)

 

[Markr1]

My daughter tried to send an email to Mim but I don't think the messages went thru. I tried mim@mimsukes.com and it didn't go thru. Can someone provide us a link that we can contact her thru so my daughter can buy a uke from her?
Thanks for any help.

 

[Markr1]

Never mind. Mim just contacted Beth.

 

[joneo]

I know this is an old thread, but I may also be interested in acquiring a solid body electric ukulele (preferably concert size). The three that look the best to me aesthetics-wise and seems to get overall positive reviews are the:

Sojing Ukll-ax2 Concert Silent Electric Ukulele
Mahalo EUK-200 Solid Body
Teton STEU102

Has anybody had any experience with any of these? Are they available from a shop that can do a setup before shipping? (Mostly concerned about intonation.) Any other suggestions? I really don't care for the Risa or the Peanut. Thank you for your input!

 

[kissing]

I know this is an old thread, but I may also be interested in acquiring a solid body electric ukulele (preferably concert size). The three that look the best to me aesthetics-wise and seems to get overall positive reviews are the:

Sojing Ukll-ax2 Concert Silent Electric Ukulele
Mahalo EUK-200 Solid Body
Teton STEU102

Has anybody had any experience with any of these? Are they available from a shop that can do a setup before shipping? (Mostly concerned about intonation.) Any other suggestions? I really don't care for the Risa or the Peanut. Thank you for your input!

As a bit of a solid electric ukulele enthusiast who has collected and played them for years, you may actually have picked the 3 worst.

The Sojing and the Mahalo are a bit... well.. on the cheap side. Not particularly high quality control, and the parts used are hit and miss.
I have played both in person.. and well, they may fool a beginner into thinking they're OK instruments, but when I start focusing on the details... they leave more to be desired. Even if you set them up, you are likely to be plagued with string imbalance, sharp fret edges, poor intonation and crude sounding output.


The Tetons are a bit better. They are the rebranding of the "Eleuke" brand, and generally tend to sound better than the other two.
However, I'm not a fan of the undersaddle pickup they use. They use a cheap one which often has imbalance between the strings if you do any setup work that involves lowering the action.

All three you mentioned are inexpensive compromised instruments as far as electric ukes go. They are OK for playing around with, but I wouldn't view them as serious instruments. The Teton kinda sits on the borderline.. if I was to own one again (I owned about 5 different models and ended up selling them all off), I would do quite a bit of tinkering on it (such as upgrading the pickup) before I am satisfied.




You mentioned Risa.
You may not care for how they look, but the Risa outclasses the three electrics you mentioned.
High quality electronic parts (Shadow nanoflex, made in Germany), great build quality and design.
If you don't like how the Risa "stick" models look, have you considered the "Uke Ellie" model?


Other serious electric ukuleles include:

Fluke SB
http://www.magicfluke.com/Fluke-SB-Electric-Ukulele-p/fluke-sb.htm

Pono TE
http://www.theukulelesite.com/pono-te-tenor-electric-acacia.html

Godin MultiUke (I owned one of these - fantastic!)
http://www.theukulelesite.com/godin-multiuke-chambered-solid-body-tenor-electric-package.html

 

[joneo]

Many thanks for the info, kissing! I hadn't seen those before. I just started looking around for electric solid bodies. Yesterday I did locate a couple Teton tenors at a local music store, but they both had some intonation issues, particularly up the neck at the 12th fret. My main reason for wanting an electric is so that I can use headphones and practice at night without waking anybody up. That said, I'd much rather have a quality instrument than a P.O.S.... The Pono and the Godin are more the style I prefer, and I know Ponos have an excellent reputation. Just a bit more $ than I'd like to spend at the moment. Besides I would like a concert sized uke (mainly because I don't have a uke in that size yet!) Will research the Fluke SB some more. Aloha! B-)

 

[blodzoom]

Full disclosure up front: I am a beginner and Kissing clearly knows more about this than I do.

I bought one of these for quiet practice and I love it: http://www.amazon.com/Stagg-EUK-L-SB-Electric-Ukulele/dp/B003JC9PAM

I've got a kickass guitar strap on it that's way bigger than it needs and it makes me feel like a pretend rockstar. I had to lower the action on it, and could probably use a bit more, But I mainly use it for practicing chord shapes wile I watch tv and I just leave it laying around where I can pick it up and rock out for a second whenever I walk by it. It's also a great conversation piece, people love it.

 

[joneo]

I bought one of these for quiet practice and I love it: http://www.amazon.com/Stagg-EUK-L-SB-Electric-Ukulele/dp/B003JC9PAM

Looks cool I like the choice of body styles it comes in - although for that price the electronics can't be very high quality. But for jamming at home I bet it's just fine!

 

[kissing]

I owned a Stagg.. my particular one came with a terrible setup. The neck was a bit warped and caused a buzz I could not fix.

The electronics were similar to the quality would find in Mahalo/Sojing.

But they look good and the price is affordable.
However, it's still a low-end instrument.

Affordable instruments are playable and fun, but you do compromise a bit of quality.

If people are bold enough to do some tinkering, consider replacing the cheap stock undersaddle piezo units with these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/331610291574

These are the "good" piezo units. I have converted several cheap electric and acoustic electric ukuleles and guitars using the piezo from this "Artec" brand. They make them perform as well as professional level pickup systems that cost a lot more.

But be warned, it may require some minor woodwork to get it to fit onto an existing uke.

 

[joneo]

Now this looks promising... Don't know much about them yet though.

 

[kissing]

You are interested in steel string electrics?
They are different from nylon string electrics, as they have magnetic pickups and steel strings, just like electric guitar.

I have owned quite a number of steel string electrics too.
Risa have two types, in Soprano and Tenor - either their Les Paul model with dual humbuckers, or their single coil model. All the Risa steel string electrics are excellent quality. I have had a history of owning every Risa electric ukes LOL, so I know.

If you are on a budget, look for Vorson electric ukuleles. They are quite cheap, but OK quality. They will require a bit of setting up to be playable though. Their quality level is similar to Teton, but you can get better intonation due to the adjustable bridge and truss rod.

The photo you put there is a Konablaster. They are quite well liked by the people who own them. They are unique; made of spare parts, etc. I havent played them personally yet.

 

[Croaky Keith]

What is the tension of steel strings on a uke, such as a RISA, compared to a concert/tenor nylgut/flourocarbon setup?

 

[kissing]

Whatever you want it to be.
I think there is some fear about steel strings being hard on the fingers. That may be the case for acoustic steel string guitars, which typically do have a higher string gauge.


Tension of steel string ELECTRICS are highly variable depending on your preferences and what gauge strings are used.
Typically, you can get it to have relatively low-tension that is comfortable to play and easy to press.


In fact, it is nylon/nylgut/fluorocarbon stringed instruments like ukuleles which REQUIRE a higher tension for their acoustic properties and the nature the strings vibrate.

So to answer that question - it can be as high tension or low tension as you desire.
If you get a good, low-ish setup on it, I think it is not a dramatic change from regular ukuleles.