Solid body versus hollow body electric

ichadwick

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I'm working on a page about solid body electric ukes versus hollow body acoustics with pickups - fidelity of sound, playability, style and general trends. Any comments on this theme?

I've noticed more companies making solid-body ukes these days. A couple of years ago there were only two, perhaps three brands. Now there are several, and numerous models. Looks like this is a growing trend.

Also, what do you think of the sound from a solid-body nylon versus steel string uke?
 
The main difference between a solid-body electric and a hollow-body acoustic-electric is that solid-body's are far more capable of having higher gain through the amplifier.
You can also use it with more effects, including distortion, which would have feedback issues for an acoustic-electric.
I think it may also depend on the quality of the pickups, but in my experience, solid-body electrics have more sustain than an acoustic-electric through an amp.
This may be because the solid-body allows more vibration to be transferred to the undersaddle pickup (theoretically), and that they are made to be played primarily as electrics.
For example, Risa's nylon-string electrics have been set up in a way that is not possible for an acoustic, for the purpose of sounding good electrically.
I think the electric-aspect allows the solid-body uke to be able to blend in better with conventional music, as playing it through a guitar amp will make it sound a bit guitary.
I see this as a good thing.

Aside from sound, another reason why I like electric ukes is their portability and durability. There is so much potential in such a small package.

A steel string electric has more sustain and crispness to the tone.
Kinda hard to explain in words, but I suppose it's like comparing a steel-string electric guitar with a classical guitar.
You can distort with a nylon-string electric quite well, but it won't have as much sustain or sound as badass as a genuine steel-string electric.
Afterall, nylon strings and piezo pickups are widely used in acoustic instruments. I wonder why there are so few solid-body nylon string guitars :)

However, a nylon-string electric retains its ukulele-heritage more strongly than steel strings. The feel of the strings, tension and clean-acoustic sound is closer to an acoustic uke.
Steel string electric ukes step closer to the electric guitar family. It's still an uke, due to its tuning, but if you've never played steel-strings before, it'll take some getting used to.

For purely electric applications, I prefer steel-strings. I find them more practical for my uses, where I'm playing along in a band with conventional instruments like guitars, keyboards and drums.
Nylon string ukes, in my opinion, are not as versatile due to their shorter sustain and punchiness.
 
I use my Kala arch top hollow body when I reall want to sound like a uke, but louder. With a little signal processing I can get a fairly natural sound and I can play with basically the same technique as on an acoustic. My solid body eleuke comes out when higher stage volume or effects would cause the Kala to feed back. I approach it a lot more like an electric guitar, and it lacks the "air" in the sound. They're different tools for different jobs and both really good at what they do best.
I've got some high end hearing loss from my rock band days and I hadn't realized hom much I use the feel of the vibration from the body onstage to monitor my own playng. That's something I miss with the solid body. I've got to stay really focused on playing clean.
One of the guys in my band has started using a solid body steel string uke for gigs. It works fine, but IMHO doesn't come through the mix sounding like a uke, more like someone playing rhythm guitar up the neck.
 
I've got some high end hearing loss from my rock band days...
I can relate to that. So do I.

It might be considered heresy to suggest it, but can an electric, solid body uke really be classified as a uke, since it sounds like a guitar? What defines a ukulele? The size? Shape? Sound?

Perhaps they are really just short-scale tenor guitars...
 
A steel string electric has more sustain and crispness to the tone.
...You can distort with a nylon-string electric quite well, but it won't have as much sustain or sound as badass as a genuine steel-string electric.
Yes, but you can't get the same tonal effects when you bend a nylon string. When you bend a steel string, you activate more than one magnet in the pickup and they vibrate out of synch. That causes a certan squeal and even overdrive only steel strings can produce. It's a trademark sound for Strats and Teles. On the other hand, I find that there are some percussive techniques you can use on a piezo-powered instrument that don't work well (if at all) on steel-stringed ones.
 
I can relate to that. So do I.

It might be considered heresy to suggest it, but can an electric, solid body uke really be classified as a uke, since it sounds like a guitar? What defines a ukulele? The size? Shape? Sound?

Perhaps they are really just short-scale tenor guitars...

I think electric ukes deserve to be considered ukes every bit much as acoustic ukes.
Otherwise, our beloved acoustic ukes are just small-bodied, short scaled, 4 stringed mini nylon-string guitars.

Electric ukes are tuned like ukes, have a fretboard like a ukes and are designed to be played by Ukulele players.
To illustrate this point, Epiphone's Mandobird is a 4-string short-scaled electric. But it's made to be a Mandolin, and thus has a thinner neck and higher tension strings than Ukuleles.
It is neither a guitar nor a uke; it's a mandolin made for mandolin players.

If it is the steel strings you don't think fits as an Ukulele, consider this.
For one, both nylon-string and steel-string guitars are considered guitars - but they sound very different from each other.
Ukulele strings were originally gut, but yet there was no problem in accepting nylon-stringed ukes as ukes.

Electric guitars were an innovation on the traditional guitar several decades ago, developed and released by manufacturers as guitars.
Electric ukuleles are a modern innovation of the traditional ukulele, developed and released by manufacturers as Ukuleles.
Sure, the design of electric ukuleles has borrowed a lot from electric guitar design - but it is an available technology in our time right? :)
No need to re-invent the wheel :D
 
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