Frank The Scarlet Goat
Member
Hey everyone, I'm planning on building my first ukulele. However, as I'm already satisfied with my acoustic uke, I want to make a full electric, and on top of that, a semi-hollow ukulele. Now I bet you're thinking "This Australian guy is insane!" but it doesn't end there friends, the body is also to be made of aluminium (or aluminum to the Americans among you).
Now the body holds no obstacle, I'm fully capable of making that part and I'm going to approach my uncle to construct the neck (experienced with making guitars) from wood. What I actually want to know is, do you think that I would be better off using a piezo pickup or a magnetic pickup, or both? I'm gravitating towards the magnetic due to my familiarity with them, but I'll admit, a piezo is a hell of a lot cheaper. the other thing is that a piezo with on-board EQ will drastically alter my design (making it noticeably thicker, which I'd like to avoid).
Next thing is the neck, I'm wondering whether a bolt-on or a through configuration would be better. I think I'd go with the through but I'm really not sure.
Lastly, I want to put steel strings on it, and the only strings I've found seem to only come in standard for a baritone. Can these be tuned to non-baritone standard? Better yet, are there strings that can be tuned to standard? Sounds dumb but I've got no evidence for the latter
TL;DR Building electric semi-hollow uke from aluminium, need advice on pickups, neck and strings
Now the body holds no obstacle, I'm fully capable of making that part and I'm going to approach my uncle to construct the neck (experienced with making guitars) from wood. What I actually want to know is, do you think that I would be better off using a piezo pickup or a magnetic pickup, or both? I'm gravitating towards the magnetic due to my familiarity with them, but I'll admit, a piezo is a hell of a lot cheaper. the other thing is that a piezo with on-board EQ will drastically alter my design (making it noticeably thicker, which I'd like to avoid).
Next thing is the neck, I'm wondering whether a bolt-on or a through configuration would be better. I think I'd go with the through but I'm really not sure.
Lastly, I want to put steel strings on it, and the only strings I've found seem to only come in standard for a baritone. Can these be tuned to non-baritone standard? Better yet, are there strings that can be tuned to standard? Sounds dumb but I've got no evidence for the latter
TL;DR Building electric semi-hollow uke from aluminium, need advice on pickups, neck and strings