Electric Ukers

M

mangorockfish

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
608
Reaction score
23
Location
Arkansas
Those of you who subscribe to "electrified" ukes, I have some questions. What kind of uke are you using, what kind of amp and what I'm really interested in is, are you using any effects pedals and if so, what are they and what songs do you use them on? I got a Micro Cube last week and love it. I've been lookin at "pedals" on Ebay and have almost become addicted to them and don't have any idea how most of the work. LOL If you are electrified and are using effects, please comment. Thanks
 
I'm using a stagg concert electric with a microcube like you. So far, the effects built into the microcube have been more than enough for me. I've thought about a loop pedal, but they're pretty expensive, and also, I suck so hearing me playing two tracks at once has got to be even worse than hearing me butcher just one.
 
I use tenor Eleuke when I need to play electric, and a Line 6 amp that has the effect processor included, I also have a Line 6 footswitch dedicated to that amp. I think it works great.
 
4 of my ukes can be plugged in. A Pete Howlett concert uklectic and a Risa soprano stick (both solid bodies), plus two Rob Collins ukes, a triangle soprano and a peardrop concert, both of which are acoustic and have pickups fitted. The solid ukes are better for the really high volume gigs, but at smaller gigs with no monitoring I prefer to play something which makes a bit more acoustic noise, so I can hear what I'm doing. All of the ukes have passive pickups and I plug them into an LR Baggs gigpro preamp, then into a DI box and to the PA. No effects. I also don't have an amp, though I'm considering one for use at smaller gigs or as an onstage monitor.
 
I play a Ko'olau ce-1 plugged into a Line 6 X3 Live and into a p.a. I also use a Roland micro-cube for home practice or very small acoustic only venues.
 
mangorockfish said:
Those of you who subscribe to "electrified" ukes, I have some questions. What kind of uke are you using, what kind of amp and what I'm really interested in is, are you using any effects pedals and if so, what are they and what songs do you use them on? I got a Micro Cube last week and love it. I've been lookin at "pedals" on Ebay and have almost become addicted to them and don't have any idea how most of the work. LOL If you are electrified and are using effects, please comment. Thanks
Click to expand...

I assume you consider any 'ukulele with a pickup electric. I have a K&K Big Spot equipped Kamaka tenor. A Fishman Pro-EQ Platinum preamp really cleans up the sound and lets me control EQ and feedback. Then I have a Boss ME-50 that I got because it has just about everything and so far it has been a great intro to the different effects. I hope to someday just get a delay and/or reverb, chorus, and some sort of super light OD for a thick boost. I was obsessed with pedals there for a while, but it gone now that I have the Boss. Now I realize that at the end of the day, 90% of tone comes from your fingers and effects can be distracting. As far as songs go, it will be a while before I perform with effects, so I haven't really explored where I might use them in songs. A little bit of effect goes a long way. That said, I had a great Led Kaapana sound figured out for "'Opihi Moemoe" with about 400ms of delay set with a couple of repeats mixed kind of high. And with the octave setting you can nail the break in Sir Duke with a doubled bass part.

Go to Guitar Center if you can and try out what you might be interested in. You will find that effects don't make you sound any better. They just change the sound.
 
I have a Soprano Mahogany Eleuke! I have a Line 6 amp (just because I already had it for my guitars)! I use whatever is on my Line 6. I like it :) I am a pretty simple happy Uke player!
 
I just got this creature and love it :)
I wanted the Boss, but even used it was a bit too expensive...
...so I ordered the DigiTech RP155 from Amazon for $89 shipped.
It got great reviews, and looks to do even more than the Boss.
No need to decide with pedal to get because It basically replicates most pedals you can think of all in one unit. Additionally it has a USB output if you want to record to your computer or use it as an amplifier (headphone output too)
Sturdy construction and clean sound. I use it with my Kala Archtop.
Oh, and it has 60 high quality drum beats to play with too.

Only has 20 sec. of loop, but doesn't see like a problem in this vid I found.
I've made loops with multiple overdubs without a problem.


 
Yes. There was a thread I started a while back because I was wondering how they sounded, but I can't find it because the search function SUCKS!!!! (no offense to the mods of course).

I played through a Fender Pro Reverb from the 70s that my friend brought over. To my disappointment, it wasn't as awesome as I was imagining. They sound great for electric guitars, but for my 'ukulele - not so much... I tried it with my preamp, a Chandler Tube Driver, and my Boss, in all different combos. It wasn't bad, but I couldn't really get away from the feedback (even with the Fishman's notch filter). Maybe if the amp was in a different room you could turn it up and experiment a little more, but for practical purposes I was bummed. I want as much as everybody to play in front of a Marshal stack!
 
Many of the older tube amps have a sweet spot, which is usually quite loud haha. I'm going to experiment some soon with some vintage amps and I'll report it when I can (I don't have an electric uke at the moment)
 
I have a Risa Les Paul Tenor.
Use it with a Microcube.

Best instrument for me evar!

The humbuckers sound ultra smooth and sweet when clean.
It will wail as a Les Paul does with distortion.
And everything in between!

Humbuckers give the tone a lot of stability, richness and protects against feedback.

Currently the only sound sample I have is this poor quality recording that starts at 2:00 minutes in this vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM-bu5__RKw
(the first 2 minutes is just ocarinas and guitar, no uke).
 
I have a Lanikai LU21TE and use a little Jansen Vister amp. I try to set it so that what comes hrough the amp is as close as possible to the acoustic sound. So it's just a volume thing realy.
My playng partner has a Kala Tenor Archtop and the amp just helps pick up a bit more of what he does with solos. Again - not much in the way of effects.
 
I play a Washburn Oscar Schmidt Concert Uke and I love it! I actually prefer playing through a bass amp because I like the extra bottom end it adds.
 
I play an old Eleuke (it has the bugs gear logo on the headstock) one of the rosewood concerts. I play it through a classic Fender Twin Reverb tube amp. I use a Fulltone OCD overdrive pedal with a Memory Man analog delay. The set-up sounds great. The OCD pedal naturally overdrives the amp's tubes since the Twin does not have an over drive channel.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

roastbeast
Sold Digitech SDrum Pedal + FS3X Footswitch - Programmable Drum Pedal for Electric Ukers!
Replies
0
Views
201
roastbeast
roastbeast
Prenez
Risa Electric Les Paul, intonation / tuning problems
Replies
17
Views
307
Neil_O
Neil_O
U
My progress on the uke - u/ukudancer aka Arvin's Electric Ukulele Land (which I thought was a fun play on the Hendrix album)
Replies
4
Views
224
ukudancer
U
Pegasus Guitars
Looking for simple to set electric timer/power controller
Replies
9
Views
279
Michael Smith
Michael Smith
kissing
Price Drop Mahalo MEB1PRO Solid Body Electric Bass Ukulele + Gig Bag
Replies
3
Views
297
ukudancer
U
Top Bottom