For those who play electric guitar, that vs electric uke question and advice?

I have in my possession a circa 1995 Gibson SG '61 re-issue electric guitar in cherry red. I took it to my luthier today when I went to pick up a soprano that was in for repairs. I got it from my ex to sell for him. He had totally messed up the adjustments to where the whole treble side was fretting out plus the neck was out. I got it set up while I was there since I am supposed to sell it for him, and didn't want to unknowingly misrepresent anything on it. It is all reset and cool and has new strings now and a fretboard polish and oiling too.

My problem is I got into ukes because I gave up on guitars years ago because of my sore hands and lack of talent (though there are currently 3 acoustics around the house as current spouse wanted to learn and then he waved the white flag a couple days ago).

So anyway this thing is just so much dang fun! It is as advertised a super fast neck, I really can't reach the frets well though, I can barely do 3 if I am slow about setting my fingers down, my hands are too old and stiff. I ran through some uke chords on the top 4 strings and had fun with it though just messing with it. If I don't move it on soon I will be trying to figure out how to keep it. I already have a 1/2 size classical that I can reach stuff on fairly well. BUT!

Is there any electric solid body uke out there that has this much fun and quality? Or should I just get a shorter scale electric someday and mess with that? And if so any recommendations? I saw a Pignose travel guitar that amped is supposed to be pretty nice, it has I think a 24.5 inch scale. Battery powered is crappy sound but it looks decently made. Nothing like the Gibson though.

Kissing posted about a couple of Epiphone guitaleles he came across (one Les Paul styled, the other in the flying V). Maybe these would be a good fit? Link to the thread here.

The Epiphone 6-string Pee Wee was really cool when I tried them in store.
The size is probably around Tenor uke size, and it's got 6-strings tuned AEGCEA (like a guitalele).

However, if you're after 4-stringed electrics that are like electric guitars, check out Risa's electrics from www.ukulele.de

I have both their Tenor models (Uke-electric and the Les Paul style model).
Both a FAB instruments. Fun and exciting like electric guitars, but it's even better - they're ukes!


The middle two are my Risa steel-string electric ukes.

Kissing, thanks so much, I just found some YouTubes of the Risa guitarleles and would LOVE one but they are way too expensive for my limited talent and budget. Can't afford the ukes either. I like tenor size or a bit bigger, and I discovered I like having those extra bass strings to pick a lower note now and then, probably from decades ago when I could actually play a little acoustic. So leaning towards the Pee Wee, as that would be an electric guitarlele and correct uke tuning, and I have enough 4 string ukes. I also want steel strings. The specs say full size width on the neck, but say half size on scale, which I'd prefer. Will likely be unloading some of those other guitars, but have grown fond of them sitting on their stands in the corner of the LR with the Remo djembe. They look sculptural.

I liked a Pig Nose travel electric I handled but it was full size scale and a couple hundred more, and really still too much of a stretch for my fingers. I might go check some small scale electrics out locally and have the dudes who can really play them, play them for me, so I can just concentrate on the sound!!

Hoping for a Risa in the future some day. Do you know if they still make the guitarlele?

As far as i know, they dont currently make them. I guess you should email Rigk from Risa and ask

One solution is to buy an Epiphone Mandobird IV and replace the strings with suitable gages for reentrant or low-g tuning, depending on your preference. There are a couple of other inexpensive 4 string solid-body electric mandolins, too.

John

John, thanks for the suggestion, I hadn't thought of that though I do look at acoustic flat top mandos. Right now however I want the wider fretboard and six strings.

I'll take a guess you're looking for steel strings so you can dive the action into the board, right? If you grab LMI's current catalog, inside the first page one of the guys there took a quilted maple solid body and attached an `ukulele neck. Too bad he didn't extend the fretboard, but, I see you want 6 strings on a short scale.

In the interim, KoAloha DVI (and I saw Joe Souza just came out with one), keep the nylons, but run through effects like Tony Gamble.

Other than that, you're looking at a custom. I know John Kitakis has made a solid body with nylons, but I'm sure steels would be no problem, and you could easily find the pickups for 6 strings.

On a side note of solidbodies, I just finished my first neck through bass, parts alone was over $500 (pickups and electronics were $330, and tuning machine and bridge $150), so you can pretty much quadruple that for a custom. . .

Kekani, thanks for your input. I appreciate great instruments but really just like the sound of steel strings as an alternative, and amped steel strings for the sustain and ability to distort the sound. I was looking at the Fender Mustang amp that has all the effects rather than anything more complicated, and have no money or talent so don't need anything pricey, just would like something to fool around with. I spend most of my time working or recovering from work so just want to add to the downtime uke fun. I was hoping to find something with minimum two pickups, so maybe just need to keep my eyes open for a Risa guitarlele down the road.

I know Fender (actually, squier) makes "mini strats" - I think they have a 19 or 20" scale. Some of the mando guys have used them to make five-string electric mandos on the cheap.

Here they are.

John

I've seen the Squiers, it seems they can have some issues, and the scale is still longer than I want. Oh well, something will appear when it is supposed to.

Thanks everyone who posted, I really appreciate your input.

Ed Rafalko has solid-bodied ukes, even a steel-string with a magnetic pickup. They are archtop designs. My wife interviewed him at the Tampa Bay Ukulele Getaway. Here is the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJaedkmM52k

Teek said:

Is there any electric solid body uke out there that has this much fun and quality?

Click to expand...

I have a Risa tenor and Jupiter Creek baritone. Both are fun, although I prefer the frets on the Risa (the JC frets are a micron higher than I prefer). Action is very good on both, though, just a hair better on the Risa. The JC has the advantage of having a single pickup that can be switched from single to dual coil. And it's a LOT less expensive than the Risa. I'd recommend either.

The best neck I ever played on a guitar was a Hamer I had years back. Simply incredible.

Back some years ago, Frank Zappa played a short-scale electric. I remember a photo of him with it on one of his albums (maybe on the guitar-only set?). Not sure who made it but it was a sweet instrument.

I'm waiting on one from Monkey Wrench and he has been a pleasure to work with
His prices are really low for a hand made instrument. I haven't played it yet, but I have high hopes.

http://monkeywrenchmusic.com/

Hi all,

Got the Epi Pee Wee off eBay $106 shipped, came today, spruced it up and it's a kick! The string spacing feels tight after ukes but I may be able to find my way around. I have the action set low so will crank it up a hair. Would still love a custom or a Risa but figure this is close enough for a few more years. I just don't make what I am worth at work, sigh, but appreciate being employed.

I have a risa lp tenor ukulele and i love it. its so much fun to play and a good looking ukulele.

Hi Lindy Lew, welcome to UU!

I just bought kissing's Risa LP last week, it has all his great mojo in it and stickers on it and I am loving it, it is really sleek and sounds great with an old Fender amp I've borrowed. It's VERY LOUD. I actually got more hours and my checks were better the last couple of months, so I just had to give it a good home. Now I am selling some of my herd to replace what I borrowed from my savings. I figure ukes are also an investment in that if well cared for they are also resaleable.I'm enjoying both the Risa and the Pee Wee. I see your Risa is the new natural, very pretty!

I've had my eye on a couple of electric mandolins, the Kentucky km 300 and the Eastwood Mandola... Not sure if I would convert them to uke tuning or try and learn mandolin chords. But they both look cool and get good reviews.

I had an old bowl back mandolin that was loud and stunningly made. I tried uke tuning on it but could not get around the tight string spacing. I point that out only because it is a factor to consider. I sold it to a good home.

Personally IF I had an electric mando I would certainly use uke tuning myself, I have a hard enough time going from six strings and guitar chords to uke and back. I'm concentrating on uke right now to see if I can progress some. I use my brain cells pretty hard at work, they want to chill out at home!

I sure agree with you that some of the electric mandolins and just mandolins in general are gorgeous.

Electric 8-String?

kissing said:

The middle two are my Risa steel-string electric ukes.

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I know this is an old thread, but I'm dying to know what that 8-stringer on the left is. Is it an electric mando? I would love to find a 8-string electric tenor uke with steel strings. (Like an electric 8-string mando, but with a wider neck and a longer scale.)