Sunbust Jazz Cutaway Eleuke

I've been shopping around at local music shops trying the different models of Bugsgear Eleuke. It's probably the most fun I have had in a while shopping. I finally decided on the new jazz body style with the cutaway, in the tenor size with the tobacco sunburst finish. The concert was comfortable but the tenor has a lot more real estate.

After much shopping and negotiating I found a store owner that ordered me a new one in the box for 179.00

Not bad. Should be here Mon or Tues - I can't wait.

I think Ill string it up with pro arte j-71 and see how that sounds.

Peace

I was thinking about those, too. I'd hoped to get a companion for my archtop tenor.

IIRC that tobacco finish is sharp ... did you see any of the blonde/natural finished ones (if there are any)?

I did see those ones. They're pretty nice - I saw the red and blue ones too. Played them all. I liked the jazz style bodies the best, the ones with the single S shaped holes one one side looked odd to me but I'm sure it's just personal taste. I really liked the fretboard action on the tenors the best though the frets are a little further apart than my kala tenor which might take some getting used to. I liked it through the headphones and think that it will useful for night practicing. But it was when I plugged one into a nice amp that I was sold. It sounds great and it's just a lot of fun.

Cool to hear that they sound good through an amp ... especially since that's what it's all about. Was the amp at the store the same amp that you use at home/gigs?

No, the amps at the stores I went to were mostly the Ibanez Troubadour acoustic amps. We just have a bunch of rock n roll amps around here, like fender amps and a monster Hughes & Kettner amp. I bet it will sound fine through the amps we have. If not, I'll pick up an inexpensive acoustic amp. Music dealers are hungry right now and there are good deals to be had if you bring a stack of Andrew Jacksons.

IIRC you can plug into the Effects Return (usually in the back of the amp) and bypass the amp's preamp, which is what gives an electric guitar amp its "sound."

That is great info. I'll give that a try!

I just have to follow up and comment on the Eleuke product.

I played several of them over the past couple of weeks because I wanted a solid body electric and I was really attracted to the idea of practicing with headphones at night.

After seeing several of them up close, and lightly strumming them in the shops, I noticed right away that, although I liked the sound and feel, there was a major problem in the quality control.

Each one that I played had its own unique cosmetic or structural flaw, whether bad paint/finish or just plain sloppy manufacturing.

I thought maybe it was an anomaly, or a condition of the display models I saw, so I ordered one direct from the distributor.

It was the new 2009 tenor jazz cutaway in sunburst gloss finish.

When I received it, the first issue with it was that it wasn’t even close to the color of the others I had seen, or the ones on their website. Second, it wasn’t gloss, it was satin - apparently both have the same part number so there is no way for the distributor to distinguish gloss or satin absent opening the box. Third, and worst of all, the ebony nut is such poor quality that the C string popped right out on any note bend on the top four frets - and even during a basic rockin blues strum. This happened - not just to me - every couple of minutes during a normal jam session.

On the advice of the dealer, I went to a luthier who tried to fix it by deepening the slot and adjusting the action, but ultimately said that really to be able to play it in a normal way it would require a custom nut - not cheap.

The dealer offered to replace the eleuke with another new one, but before agreeing to that, I went and tried the same style of play on several other eleukes and discovered that most all of them had the same issue.

I ultimately decided to return it and not replace it - even though I had what I thought was a great deal at $179, well below msrp.

The bottom line (for me) is that Eleuke is a toy and if you truly want to play electric uke, you need to move up to a better quality instrument.

Just my opinion.

I have the cheapest of the eleukes - rosewood tenor and it is great. The intonation is perfect, the action is perfect and I love the sound. The frets are a little sharp at the edge of the fretboard but I can easly fix that on my own. I think it is just a matter of luck ... some of them are great and some of them are a piece of crap.

paw123los said:

I have the cheapest of the eleukes - rosewood tenor and it is great. The intonation is perfect, the action is perfect and I love the sound. The frets are a little sharp at the edge of the fretboard but I can easly fix that on my own. I think it is just a matter of luck ... some of them are great and some of them are a piece of crap.

Click to expand...

I think you nailed it. The company has some real quality control issues to work out - especially in their lower cost models.