rondo music electric uke (steel strings)

Just saw this posted over at talk bass in the ubass section.
Looks like an electric uke with dual humbucker pickups.

Might be a little on the steep side though, and no truss rod I can see:

http://www.rondomusic.com/product8640.html

Thanks for posting this.

Lately I found the Rondo product descriptions confusing and/or poorly written... for example...

This products' page says

(under details): Steel strings and standard uke tuning

(under specs): Aquila Nylgut string size: .085, .105, .145, .185

ummm, those string gauges match the Aquila THUNDERgut strings and NOT the NYLgut strings- so I highly DOUBT that this is going to be tuned GCEA with THOSE strings...

am I wrong?

Also those individual SADDLE pieces are integral the makeup of their 7, 8 and 10 string guitars, and they've sold them individually under the clearance and/or parts section. IIRC minimum mounting distance or string-to-string spacing is 10mm, which is MUCH closer than ANY bass, and ANY uke I've ever seen...so for a bass like this, they are likely 15mm-17mm apart....much closer than that you are basically FORCED to play bass with a PICK/PLECTRUM instead of yer fingahs...YMMV

Yes, Rondo has had errors in their descriptions before. It looks like someone just copy/pasted the description of another instrument and never corrected it. I wrote them earlier about it.

I just ordered that baritone electric uke styled after the Epiphone SG just so I can convert it to a bass using standard bass guitar short scale 30" strings, new SG bass bridge, a nut and tuning machines I have, and get an SG pickguard made, but I'm not sure if I'm going through with the order. As Booli mentioned, there doesn't seem to be a truss rod and the neck is not bolt on, my concern is that it's glued and not part of the body, since the baritone is labelled a prototype. I asked Rondo about that too, and if that's the case, to cancel the order.

kohanmike- thanks for the info

also seems like a steep price for what it is, considering you can take an Epiphone Les Paul Special or Squire Strat MINI ($99 ea.), and fit either with a bass bridge, tuners and nut and still be under $200, and with maybe an hour of time to swap out the hardware..

keeping in mind that these other 'guitars' are both 22" scale length though...and BOTH with bolt-on necks too

so far I am not looking to get one of these new SG style from Rondo...

Iffy about $200 for a "pre-production prototype"

I'd happily pay $500 if it was properly sorted out. The LAST thing the world needs is another Vorson.

If you guys keep on being so tight in what you are prepared to spend then you will keep on being offer sub stndard offerings.

Anthony

anthonyg said:

I'd happily pay $500 if it was properly sorted out. The LAST thing the world needs is another Vorson.

If you guys keep on being so tight in what you are prepared to spend then you will keep on being offer sub stndard offerings.

Anthony

Click to expand...

Many of us cannot spend $500 on a steel string uke, otherwise we'd be buying RISA LP, RISA Bean, the Kamoa E3E or a Konablaster

...and having said that, Rondo has been LEADING the way for the past 2 yrs with there own Hadean brand uke-basses, both solid-body and acoustic, and MANY of us have got them and the quality FAR EXCEEDS the price of being sub-$200...

you might want to check out those discussions here in the BASS section of the UU forum...kohanmike has been a maverick and a pioneer in taking these instruments and modifying them or 'hacking' them with the help a various luthiers to get the EXACT instrument he wants --- especially when the market is so under-served with bass-ukes by factory-made instruments - nothing wrong with that, is there?

I, for one, will NOT buy and instrument that I cannot modify in some way.

Some love the Vorson, but the neck on mine is crap and needs to be replaced (despite ANY adjustment of the truss rod, the neck bows under tension and then intonation goes out the window, not matter of the 8 different sets of strings in different gauges/tensions that I tried), but I got a 'blem' model for only $65 so I dont mind, and will likely put a neck on it from CB Gitty ($45), and make it a 20" scale, which is simply NOT available pre-made from any instrument maker that I know of.....and is STILL cheaper than a NEW Vorson...which still has issues...

Someone is working for poverty wages to produce these cheap instruments.

We all have too many instruments. Lets buy decent ones in the first place rather than 10 cheap ones trying to find a good one.

Anthony

anthonyg said:

Someone is working for poverty wages to produce these cheap instruments.

We all have too many instruments. Lets buy decent ones in the first place rather than 10 cheap ones trying to find a good one.

Anthony

Click to expand...

??? I dont think we are talking about the same thing any more - you lost me.

What I am talking about is being able to take an existing instrument, and other readily available parts, and then customizing the instrument to perfectly suit ones needs...not sure how this relates to poverty wages and 'having 10 cheap instruments'???

Sorry, but maybe I'm retarded.

That is indeed an interesting specimen.

The pickup looks like the same type found on those early Eleuke/Teton steel string models that never really hit off.
http://www.eleuke.com/#!steel-string/csh3


Few observations and hunches:

-No visible adjustable truss rod. I have tinkered with ukuleles with and without truss rods - and on a steel string, I find that they help enormously in an intricate setup.

-Those pickup switches are configured weirdly.
Instead of having a pickup selector switch on a conventional 2-pickup electric guitar or ukulele (neck, both, bridge), they seem to have On/Off switches for the two pickups. Quite a strange and archaic way to configure... though I think I have seen some vintage design guitars done this way (such as the original Hofner bass?)


Given that it's a rather cheaply made instrument, my prediction is that setting it up is going to be even more crappy than a Vorson.
At least a Vorson's truss rod does something.

I wonder of that bridge is better than the Vorson's. One of the biggest problems I had with my Vorson is that the bridge springs rattled like crazy when I have the bridge action screwed down to an acceptable level. To eliminate the bridge rattle, I had to set the action up high. The rattle didn't really affect the tone through the amp, but it sure as hell was annoying!


Edit: Are those pickups humbuckers? They have (cleverly) used a soap-bar style pickup, but there are two rows of magnets on each, which probably makes them humbuckers.

I know this is turning into a flame fest which I don't mean it to. Yet. $200 is a really cheap instrument.

Every now and then I go into a store to check out ukuleles, not that I need a new one, and what really disappoints me, is that most can't even glue the bridge on at the right spot. I mean come on, I expect a company that's sold 200,000 to 2,000,000 ukuleles to know where the bridge needs to be glued on yet somehow, they still can't manage it.

WHY?

Its quality control, or lack thereof.

When your margins are screwed that tight because relatively rich consumers in the first world still want things dirt cheap, then you just let quality slide and only do anything about it if people complain. Fortunately most don't complain, or if they do its over something cosmetic.

When it comes to whether the bridge is glued on in the right spot most of you don't have a clue.

I would LOVE for ukulele companies to slow down just enough to put the bridge and saddle in the right spot yet market forces are such that the demand is for cheap, not good.

I just have a bee in my bonnet about such market expectations being amplified on UU.

Anthony

kissing - you made some interesting points and definitely some food for thought here

anthony - no flame fest from me, we just have different priorities and are not on the same page - and sorry - but I am still confused by your comments - but it's ok - I dont have to understand - such is my fate. like all things 'Your Mileage may Vary'...

it's definitely a curiosity. i really really dislike the eb0/eb3 style bodies (bass guitar). they made this style look pretty sexy just by swooshing it.

solid mahogany body? dual humbuckers? nice. for 200usd this is too much but with a proper neck replacement and electronics adjustment? sure.

anthonyg said:

When it comes to whether the bridge is glued on in the right spot most of you don't have a clue.

Click to expand...

And that would explain why we don't complain about it.
(Not trying to be funny)

I asked Rondo about the neck, and if it's sub standard, to cancel the order. Kurt replied this morning that he cancelled the order without verifying if the neck is a problem. I asked again and waiting for the answer.

Thank you Booli for your support. For the last year or so since taking up the bass, my favorite past time is taking generic bass ukes like from Rondo and modifying them into what I like (I've actually been looking at doing an SG style but none of the existing bass ukes leant themselves to the conversion, that's why I jumped on the Valkyrie, although prematurely). I actually converted an Epiphone Les Paul Express 22" scale to a bass, and if I'm not mistaken, those two Anthony mentioned are 24.5" scale, I think.

In case any you missed my posts, here's my group of sub-short scale basses.