Ordered my dream uke... but balance may go minus D:

kissing

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So after many weeks of patient saving up, and impatient selling-off, I had finally gotten enough money to buy the NEW Risa Les Paul steel-string electric uke!

It will be a black tenor version of this:
UKELP432CS.jpg


Very excited! It shall be mine finally! Bwa hahaah. A uke with Humbuckers :cool:

But I think I might have gotten myself into a bit of payment dilemma.
I had half the money for it inside Paypal, and half the money in my bank account.
For some reason, I assumed Paypal would automatically use funds within Paypal first, and then pay the rest with my bank account (it had definitely done this in the past!), but it just said it would take all the money out of my bank account x_x

Out of panic, I quickly tried to withdraw the money that's in Paypal to my bank account.. but it says it'll take 3-5 days.
I think it takes Instant Bank Transfer 3-5 days to take the money OUT of my bank account for the purchase. So I just really hope that the money goes IN to my bank account before it goes OUT :p

Called the bank, and they said I would get an overdraft or dishonour fee :mad:
It's my first time in this situation though. Anyone been overdrafted coz of Paypal before? What's it like... =\

But hey.. I'm getting the uke i've been saving up so long for!

Here's a sound sample Rigk from RISA offered me. I hope he doesn't mind me sharing:
http://data.ukulele.de/LP-Soprano.mp3
 
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Awesome looking uke! I hope the funds thing works out in your favor, but even if they don't...it's worth it. :cool:
 
LOL thanks :)
I guess if I find myself in debt and on the streets.. I'll still have this uke to play some Blues with xD
 
Wow! That's a sick looking electric uke, I can only imagine how it looks in black. Sorry to hear about the $ trouble, but hey you won't be thinking about that when you receive your new uke. Congrats on your new uke dude!
 
Oh great...I feel UAS calling. Just the other day I was toying with the idea of an Earnest LaPaula. This Risa actually makes more sense...:p

Congrats with the new uke by the way! Even with the little trouble with the bank. Hopefully the overdraft charge isn't too big.
 
call the company you bought it from and ask them not to put through the charge until you have the funds in the account. And some store accept Paypal and can split the payments no problem.

Paypal lets you pay any way you want but if you go with their default without checking you might mess up.
 
if you don't mind me asking how much does this tenor style cost? i didnt see it on the risa website
 
Great looking instrument, hope the payment thing works out.
It looks like a Less Les Paul.
 
We had a similar problem once with PayPal. Basically we received a payment for the same charter twice. Once through PayPal and once through a wire transfer. The client tried to stop the PayPal one after realizing that she accidentally used the wrong account. Her bank put a stop on it, but PayPal went ahead and sent the payment to us anyway, although PayPal told her they did not send it to us.

As soon as the PayPal payment cleared (it took about 5 days), I sent it back to our client. However, the FULL amount of the payment was not in my PayPal account (it was over$5K, and I had purchased something so my PayPal balance was $137 short of the amount). I assumed that PayPal would take the $137 from my bank account, like it always does.

But no! Instead, because the full amount was not in my PayPal account, it tried to deduct the $5K+ from my bank account. I did not have that much in that account (Thank goodness). So I got an NSF e-mail from my Credit Union, as well as one from PayPal.

When I called PayPal about it, they explained that I made my payment via eCheck, and in that case all of the funds are ALWAYS deducted from one source. WTF!!! Then I called my Credit Union. As soon as I started explaining my PayPal problem, the person I spoke to finished my story. They'd heard it before. "Oh, PayPal," was the response.

The Credit Union reversed my NSF charges. (PayPal had also reversed their NSF charges when I talked to them on the phone.) I transferred the $137 to PayPal and when it cleared made the refund payment to our client. It took over 2 weeks for everything to finally get cleared up.

Fortunately for my client, the payment that PayPal made on her behalf was not from HER funds. Basically PayPal sent it on their own, and she ended up with a negative PayPal balance until the refund payment from us showed up. Since she rarely used PayPal, she wasn't terribly concerned but she was really annoyed about PayPal's stupidity.
 
Very cool uke - although if it was a telecaster shape I'd prefer it ;)

Shame about paypal - I use the service rarely and do not trust it for most things.
 
Thanks for the concern everyone :)
I called the bank up about the situation and read up on how Paypal's "instant bank transfer" works.
So apparently RISA has already received my payment, as "instant bank transfer" is a temporary loan from Paypal. So the payment for my uke is covered and there will be no problems to it on the receiver's end.
That's a relief, it would have been rather awkward if Paypal regurgitated my payment after 3-5 days I guess.

And later on, it will try to take the amount of money out of my bank account. If I don't have enough money, 2 things can happen;
1. The bank allows me to overdraft, and I get a negative balance. I get charged $10 AUD (which is not bad!), and the money currently travelling from Paypal to my bank account will soon cover it.
2. The bank rejects the transaction, and I get dishonour fee of $5. Paypal will try once more a bit later, and hopefully by then the money from Paypal would have transferred into my bank.
If not, it will try get money out of my debit card. And in the end, I'll get a negative balance on my Paypal account, and restrictions on my account until I can pay it back.

So I'm sort of willing to leave things be for now. With either case, I'll have the money in my account within a day or two of being overdraft. I don't mind the $5~10 fee.
(I have saved up too long to let $5~10 get in the way of getting MY uke ASAP!)





if you don't mind me asking how much does this tenor style cost? i didnt see it on the risa website

It's their brand new model, they have not added it to the website yet.
Here are the prices I was offered (these INCLUDE 19% European VAT tax that only Europeans have to pay, so deduct 19% if you're outside Europe)
> > > > > > > > > > > - Mahogany Soprano €499
> > > > > > > > > > > - Mahogany Tenor €559
> > > > > > > > > > > - Black Soprano €529
> > > > > > > > > > > - Black Tenor €599
> > > > > > > > > > > - Cherry Sunburst Soprano €529
> > > > > > > > > > > - Cherry Sunburst Tenor €599
his Email is: rigk.sauer@risa-music.de

I asked what sets these ones apart from his former electric model:
> > > > > - Arch top
> > > > > - Bindings around body and neck
> > > > > - Handmade Ukulele Humbucker pickups
> > > > > - Advanced electronic with separate volume and tone control for each pickup

He said he needed to make a custom humbucking pickup for the uke, because he didn't like how the currently available ones sounded with uke.
 
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Absolutely beautiful uke! Wonder why no concert size?

One thing I don't understand, though. Why a steel string electric uke? Wouldn't it sound just like a guitar, as opposed to a uke? I have no experience with these, and I'm just trying to learn, here. Not being judgemental. I'm guessing the effect would be like an electric guitar capoed at the fifth fret (assuming low G tuning).

Am I even in the ballpark?
 
Absolutely beautiful uke! Wonder why no concert size?

One thing I don't understand, though. Why a steel string electric uke? Wouldn't it sound just like a guitar, as opposed to a uke? I have no experience with these, and I'm just trying to learn, here. Not being judgemental. I'm guessing the effect would be like an electric guitar capoed at the fifth fret (assuming low G tuning).

Am I even in the ballpark?

<sorry for my wordy post - but yes, electric ukes are similar to electric guitars, but with a ukulele size, scale, frets and string set up.
The effect would be similar, but the playability and feel would be like a uke, which is what I'm aiming for>

The reason I love uke is not just for its unique acoustic sound, but its playability.
I love the 4 strings, feel most comfortable with GCEA, compact size and the spacing between each strings and frets.
I've always had opportunities to take up guitar. My dad's a guitarist, and there's many guitar players around and always guitars lying around at home.
Many of my friends play the guitar too.
But guitars never did it for me. I couldn't convince my 4 fingers to play 6 strings, I didn't like those awkward hand positions, I didn't like how huge it was and most of all I didn't like how typical it looked and sounded.

I took up the uke last year, and absolutely fell in love with it! UAS has been taking over my life.. I've owned over 10 different ukes, buying, selling, buying selling.
I've tried all-solid ukes, solid-top ukes, laminate ukes, acoustic electrics and nylon string electrics of all sizes and many brands (mainly the affordable brands though, didn't have enough for a big K brand).

Electric ukuleles really caught my interest. They are the types of ukes I enjoy playing the most. I love plugging in and producing effects and sounds through an amp.
I have a lot of fun with electric ukuleles, that's the main thing.

Other reasons are:

-I think it gives the Ukulele tuning and 4 strings more versatility to play the kinds of songs I enjoy, as I'm not stuck with just the one acoustic voice.
Electric guitars are one of the most versatile instruments in today's music. If I can have that kind of versatility and sound with the playability and cheeriness of a Uke, that's what I want :)
Not to mention portability!

-I think electric ukes stand out quite a bit too, even amongst uke players. I enjoy doing the interesting stuff that people don't see everyday, and the electric ukulele fits my personality well.

-The silent-practice ability is also a huge plus, as I'm living with many people at uni.

-It makes you look cool... and that's the American way (though I'm not American lol).

Sure, they don't sound like a more conventional "ukulele", but they don't sound like guitars either.
I think these are some nice sound samples of electric ukulele:
http://ukulele.de/shop/media/content/audios/uke432rd1.mp3
http://ukulele.de/shop/media/content/audios/uke432rd2.mp3
http://ukulele.de/shop/media/content/audios/uke432sb1.mp3
It wouldn't be as practical to play them on a capo'd electric guitar taking care not to hit the 2 bass strings.

I don't think the definition of Ukulele should be restricted to just the typical acoustic ukulele with nylon strings either.
Classical guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitars... they're all "guitars" despite being very different to one another.
I don't see why it shouldn't apply to Ukuleles.

And it's not like I'm completely ditching acoustic ukes. I love my acoustics and play them everyday.
I love my electrics too, and this uke here is my dream electric uke!
Now that I've bought the pricey instrument that fits my "needs" (desires), all that's left is improving my shabby skills!


ps: I didn't mean for it to be so wordy, but I have clinical UAS.. the electric strain.
I hope it answered your questions though :)





How is this different from a tenor guitar
On the surface they seem similar.
They're 4 stringed "electric guitars" that can be tuned the same if you find the right strings.

But I think Tenor guitars are a bit bigger. They are also normally tuned differently, not GCEA.
And I imagine that the string spacing may differ from a Uke's, as Tenor guitars were made for Banjo players to have something that looks like a guitar when guitars became more popular.
A banjo has its strings closer together than a uke, a feature I don't like.

Epiphone's "Mandobird-IV" is also a 4-string electric instrument, similar size to a uke. But it's actually a Mandolin. Tried one in a store, and didn't like the string spacing (too narrow) and the action was painfully high.
And you would have to adjust the bridge and nut for it to handle GCEA strings.

I went with Risa, because its an instrument made to be a ukulele. It comes professionally set up with GCEA strings, and it was made and designed by a ukulele-devoted guy.
My familiarity with ukuleles will transfer directly to it. I've also tried their nylon-string electric ("Uke-stick"), which was very well made.

And umm... Tenor guitars don't have a Ukulele's soul in them :p
(they also seem to cost a lot more >_< )
 
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Also asking out of ignorance...

How is this different from a tenor guitar (as seen here http://www.earnestinstruments.com/rosetta.html)? I honestly don't know & am curious. Thanks!

Technically a tenor guitar is tuned in 5ths (most usually mandola CGDA or octave mandolin GDAE) - when "Chicago" strung it can be tuned in 4ths, but it's most often then tuned DGBE like a baritone uke or guitar. Tenor guitars are almost never tuned GCEA (although they can be).

Size, scale and tuning makes this an "electric steel-stringed uke" to me.
 
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Size, scale and tuning makes this an "electric steel-stringed uke" to me.
You just summarised my monstrous post in one sentence :D
 
Epiphone's "Mandobird-IV" is also a 4-string electric instrument, similar size to a uke. But it's actually a Mandolin. Tried one in a store, and didn't like the string spacing (too narrow) and the action was painfully high.
And you would have to adjust the bridge and nut for it to handle GCEA strings.

I just won a Mandobird-IV from eBay last week for the low, low price of $103. The spacing is definitely much, much narrower than a ukulele (which I was prepared for as it's technically a mandolin). Plus, the high-G buzzes because the nut spacing is too deep and wide. Even with these, it's really fun to play.

I've been told by a couple of co-workers that I should take a little superglue to the nut slot to better fit the high-G. I'll probably try that at some point but the buzzing really isn't that bad and you can't hear the buzz once it's plugged in. In the end I'm really enjoying it.
 
Ahh nice! I think you also need to make bridge adjustments to change the action, and use a special set of strings for GCEA tuning.
If unsure, I would take it to a guitar specialist to set it up to your needs.

Here's a video that told me about it, which you may have already seen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EFGffRnzAw

But wow - Great price!
 
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