Your favorite electric ukes

savethecheerleader

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Alright, so I'm pretty unfamiliar with electric ukuleles. I played electric guitar, so the idea of having a ukulele I could plug in to my pedal board is a bit exciting. What I was wondering is where I should start looking? How much can I expect to spend? What are some good brands?

Any tips or advice when looking for an electric uke would be awesome. Thanks!
 
That SL-Koa looks really pretty. I like the selection from Mim's. I want to say I've seen a electric ukes that look like a telecaster. Any ideas on who manufacturers ukes like these?
 
depends what you mean by electric Ukes, a lot have under saddle pickups while others are more like a full electric with single coil or humbuckers.

I just got a Ko-olau CE-2 it is a semi hollow body with an under saddle pickup, love it.
KoolauCE-2full2.jpg
 
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Ideally, I'd like to find something with a single coil or a humbucker. I was hoping not to spend more than $300. I don't know what a realistic budget though is for an electric uke.
 
You can get a Risa ukulele that's styled after an electric guitar - uses steel strings and has single coil lipstick pickups - but they are pricey.
They're kidney bean shaped and very comfortable to play. Has your basic 3-way switch and tone pot and volume pot.

Humbuckers and single coil pu's will only work with metal strings so you won;t find a nylon string uke with them. The Eleukes are all nylon strung.

The tenor models can be strung either GCEA or DGBE depending on what strings you use.

There's another solid body electric uke maker out of Australia but the neck bowed incredibly badly within 3 days because of the huge humidity difference and, I guess, because the wood wasn't properly dried. I took it to a local shop to fix it and it was over $200 to straighten the neck and put in a carbon rod to keep the neck straight. That turned out to be an expensive uke. The maker refunded me $100 of the repair cost, but I was still out an additional $100. Otherwise it was a nice uke with two humbucks and a tenor scale. The workmanshop was good but was noticeably "hand-made". The joints weren't perfect, etc., but seemed like it would stay put together after the neck bow was taken care of.

I'd stick with the Risa's, myself, but you mileage may vary...

I don;t know of any other metal string electric ukes but there are probably some out there.
 
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Alright, so I'm pretty unfamiliar with electric ukuleles. I played electric guitar, so the idea of having a ukulele I could plug in to my pedal board is a bit exciting. What I was wondering is where I should start looking? How much can I expect to spend? What are some good brands?

Any tips or advice when looking for an electric uke would be awesome. Thanks!

Aloha Savethecheerleader,
I'd PM UU member Kissing...he's the most knowledgable on electric tele type ukuleles..he
has a bunch of them....I hope it helps...MM Stan...
 
I just restrung my eleuke after my wife repainted it. (this is the second paint job on it).

I played it a bit and now remember why I love it. THe headphone option. THe mp3 option. The ease of using my LIne6 Pocket pod and mini amps.

I put Worth's on. Why? I don't know if its needed but decided to check them out and my Eleuke didn't have strings on it.

Maybe I'll put together a video on it. LEt me know.

I purchased a second Eleuke because I liked that stock paint job better than my first. ( I won't repaint it the 2nd Eleuke I have but it was fun painting the first)
 
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My local luthier, Chip Bennett, has developed an electric ukulele. He showed it to our Canogahana Players group a couple of weeks ago and drew rave reviews (and five orders!). I will hopefully be bringing it with me to the Cerritos Uke Fest next weekend.

His price is $199 and it strikes me as well worth it, so I imagine that would be about you can expect to pay for an electric uke. We found that if you set all the amp controls to flat (or just bypass the effects), you still get a uke-like sound. The steel strings were not especially troubling when strummed with bare fingers.

Being a woodworker, I plan on making a wood case for the new wood-bodied electric uke. Too cool.
 
I believe Risa are one of the top standards in commercially available electric ukuleles.
They appear to specialise in that field, and have both nylon string and steel string electrics.

Here are my two beloved Risa steel string ukes :)

Risa Uke-Electric Tenor. DGBE tuning (Baritone uke). Lipstick single coil pickups
P220910_0106.jpg


Risa Les Paul style Tenor. GCEA tuning (low G). Humbucker pickups
P050910_2237.jpg



For being electric, I've grown a preference for steel-string electric ukes.
I've owned Eleukes and Risa nylon string electrics in the past. They're great fun, but don't feel truly "electric" when compared to an electric guitar.
They're still partly 'acoustic' in my opinion, due to the nylon strings and piezo pickups designed to reproduce acoustic sound, rather than electric sound.

If you're after something that behaves more like an electric guitar version of a ukulele, I suggest saving up for a steel-string electric for the real deal.
But unfortunately, Risa steel string ukes are quite pricey. In my opinion, it is worth it for the quality, but it would be nice if there were less expensive steel string ukes available.

I hear Eleuke are working on some. I imagine they may be closer to your price range. The Risa's are about double your current price range, unless you find a second hand deal.


ps: Just remembered.
Konablaster steel string electrics from Elderly Instruments may be more affordable for you.
Though I've heard there are some issues of strings sounding unbalanced due to the magnetic poles not lining up with the strings.
 
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I have a Stagg electric Uke in a stratocaster style. Nylon strung but you can make it sound pretty much how you want by messing with the gain on the uke itself and/or on your amp. Mine sounds nice and crunch with the onboard volumes on max thru my smokey or fender amp or simply nice a Uke-y with the onboards on a low/mid setting and the amp on a high clean volume.
 
I love my Kala Sunburst archtop. I get a real nice sound out of a little vox amp.
 
I have a Stagg electric Uke in a stratocaster style. Nylon strung but you can make it sound pretty much how you want by messing with the gain on the uke itself and/or on your amp. Mine sounds nice and crunch with the onboard volumes on max thru my smokey or fender amp or simply nice a Uke-y with the onboards on a low/mid setting and the amp on a high clean volume.

I've got the Les Paul version of the Stagg. Nice assessment of its capabilities.
 
Thanks everyone. This gives me a good place to start looking. I really like the look of the Risa electric ukes. Definitely seem like the cadillac of electric ukes. Kind of pricey though. I have to decide to how much use it'll really get if I get one. Originally, I thought it might just be a fun thing to have, which might be why I need to look at some cheaper options.
 
I have a Eleuke concert pineapple which I think is awesome for the style I play, and I can play after midnight at home with the ear buds on no problem. Nice quality for $160 delivered.

41v5du-swnL.jpg
 
I just restrung my eleuke after my wife repainted it. (this is the second paint job on it).

I played it a bit and now remember why I love it. THe headphone option. THe mp3 option. The ease of using my LIne6 Pocket pod and mini amps.

I put Worth's on. Why? I don't know if its needed but decided to check them out and my Eleuke didn't have strings on it.

Maybe I'll put together a video on it. LEt me know.

I purchased a second Eleuke because I liked that stock paint job better than my first. ( I won't repaint it the 2nd Eleuke I have but it was fun painting the first)

We would love to see the paint job!
 
I believe Risa are one of the top standards in commercially available electric ukuleles.
They appear to specialise in that field, and have both nylon string and steel string electrics.

Here are my two beloved Risa steel string ukes :)

Risa Uke-Electric Tenor. DGBE tuning (Baritone uke). Lipstick single coil pickups
P220910_0106.jpg


Risa Les Paul style Tenor. GCEA tuning (low G). Humbucker pickups
P050910_2237.jpg



For being electric, I've grown a preference for steel-string electric ukes.
I've owned Eleukes and Risa nylon string electrics in the past. They're great fun, but don't feel truly "electric" when compared to an electric guitar.
They're still partly 'acoustic' in my opinion, due to the nylon strings and piezo pickups designed to reproduce acoustic sound, rather than electric sound.

If you're after something that behaves more like an electric guitar version of a ukulele, I suggest saving up for a steel-string electric for the real deal.
But unfortunately, Risa steel string ukes are quite pricey. In my opinion, it is worth it for the quality, but it would be nice if there were less expensive steel string ukes available.

I hear Eleuke are working on some. I imagine they may be closer to your price range. The Risa's are about double your current price range, unless you find a second hand deal.


ps: Just remembered.
Konablaster steel string electrics from Elderly Instruments may be more affordable for you.
Though I've heard there are some issues of strings sounding unbalanced due to the magnetic poles not lining up with the strings.

An old thread but i figured i'd chime in. I own a bari konablaster and everything is perfect about it. Even sound /good intonation
sturdy uke too. I think those issues regarding the poles not lining up was only an issue for the soprano models (which i have never played)
but i do believe that issue was resolved by the maker, and i can def tell you as an owner of the baritone konablaster its a great electric uke
for a much more affordable price than an 800 dollar uke (unless your rich) the konablaster is a really good 2nd option.

BTW does risa make a baritone? i saw a photo some where of one but never saw one for sale?
 
I have a Monkey Wrench Steel String and a Godin Multiuke for a much more acoustic sound. Both are wonderful instruments. I really love the radius neck on the Godin. I am seriously looking at a Warren Ellis Tenor guitar for a baritone tuned electric.
 
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