Help with an Eleuke choice please

VixDee

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Hi Gang,

I was hoping for some help with an Eleuke choice.

First of all, I am a relative newbie to the ukulele. I purchased my starter Makala concert from MGM a few months ago. I'm having a blast but find myself waking the others in the home with my late night practicing. Which brings me to the Eleuke...

I'm thoroughly confused about a few things regarding the Eleuke. I hope someone can help.

1) What's the deal with the different sizes? Is the body the same size on all three? I think I read on the Eleuke website that the concert and tenor have the same number of frets.

2) What about the difference in woods? They have fir, mahogany, rose... What difference does this make? Is the sound different with each wood?

I'd appreciate any wisdom offered on the subject. I'm hoping to acquire one soon.

Mahalo everyone!
 
you will be lucky finding that much detail - their product range is very confusing, and there are limited reviews.

What I can say, is that I have what they call a Soprano model - but it is the same size and scale as my Mainland Concert (20 frets).

As for wood, whilst body wood on an electric guitar makes a difference to sustain - these eleukes have fairly limited sustain, and I would therefore be very surprised if you could noticeably tell a difference in sound for the differing woods. Mine is Rosewood.

I love mine, plus it was only £65 brand new!
 
Thanks for your insight. I think I'm really going to enjoy an Eleuke if I can just get my selection right. So if a soprano is the same size as a concert uke, that may be the way I'm heading. And rosewood seems to be the least expensive so I guess that's what I'm looking at.

Did you get the mp3 model?

Mahalo,
VixDee
 
Do these Eleukes need to be setup properly? Are they playable out of the box?

Thanks everyone!
 
Thanks for your insight. I think I'm really going to enjoy an Eleuke if I can just get my selection right. So if a soprano is the same size as a concert uke, that may be the way I'm heading. And rosewood seems to be the least expensive so I guess that's what I'm looking at.

Did you get the mp3 model?

Mahalo,
VixDee

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23267

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKKY5PNEs80
in one of the vid comments, he explains some stuff he did to get more sustain out of it
 
Thanks for the links. They were a great help.
 
I have a concert eleuke and my husband has a tenor. The body size is the same on both, and both have 20 frets. Only the fretboard length is different. Each of them has a slightly longer scale than our Bushman tenor and concert ukes.

I think the main difference in the woods is just esthetics (and price). Mine is the blue flamed maple. Rich has the gorgeous mahogany with the vine-inlaid fretboard (what I really wanted for my concert, but MGM was out of...).

I got mine from MGM and the action on it is so smooth it plays like butter. I've played it on stage a couple of times and really ripped it up!

We got Rich's used from a friend. It plays nicely, but the action is a wee bit high. Not enough to be a problem, just not as smooth as mine.
 
Mine needed a string change (arrived with shockingly bad strings that made G string tuning next to impossible). I lowered nut grooved VERY VERY VERY slightly, but other than that, it was good to go.

Oh, one of my tuner pegs was a little loose. Quick turn with a screwdriver.
 
I have a concert eleuke and my husband has a tenor. The body size is the same on both, and both have 20 frets. Only the fretboard length is different. Each of them has a slightly longer scale than our Bushman tenor and concert ukes.

I think the main difference in the woods is just esthetics (and price). Mine is the blue flamed maple. Rich has the gorgeous mahogany with the vine-inlaid fretboard (what I really wanted for my concert, but MGM was out of...).

I got mine from MGM and the action on it is so smooth it plays like butter. I've played it on stage a couple of times and really ripped it up!

We got Rich's used from a friend. It plays nicely, but the action is a wee bit high. Not enough to be a problem, just not as smooth as mine.

Thanks for the info. Very interesting. I'd love to buy one from MGM too but I haven't seen any in his store for a while. I wonder if he'll be bringing them back soon.

The price from Thomann, even with shipping to the US is pretty tempting too.

Thanks everyone.
 
Mine needed a string change (arrived with shockingly bad strings that made G string tuning next to impossible). I lowered nut grooved VERY VERY VERY slightly, but other than that, it was good to go.

Oh, one of my tuner pegs was a little loose. Quick turn with a screwdriver.

I'm such a newbie, I'd be afraid to do any of the setup myself. Which is why I hope MGM brings them in again.

Maybe I'll just be patient.

Mahalo.
 
honestly, i really didnt change much. String change was essential, and newbie or not, you should learn how to change strings.

Nut thing wasnt to do with action, just a couple of the grooves were not very deep and a string or two were popping out - a quick pass, lightly with edge of nail file was all it needed.

Mine cost £65 new, which was an absolute bargain
 
honestly, i really didnt change much. String change was essential, and newbie or not, you should learn how to change strings.

Nut thing wasnt to do with action, just a couple of the grooves were not very deep and a string or two were popping out - a quick pass, lightly with edge of nail file was all it needed.

Mine cost £65 new, which was an absolute bargain

I know I should learn how to change strings. I guess I'm just nervous about fiddling with things. But I guess I have to start sometime.

For me, with shipping to Hawaii, an Eleuke from Thomann would run about $156USD. Which is still around $60USD below anything else I've seen.

You really scored a great deal. Congrats!
 
You may want to call or e-mail MGM. Not everything he has is listed. When I got my eleuke he didn't have any listed, but with a phone call I found out he had one in stock and he shipped it that day.

Thanks for the advice. I think I will call him and ask if he has any in stock. Although he must be slammed with Christmas orders right now. Maybe I'll wait till next week.

Thanks again!
 
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