Vox ukelectric

Tootler

Tootler

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I was browsing for something else when I came across this:

http://www.voxamps.com/uk/ukelectric/

It's a concert scale solid electric ukulele with a built in amplifier and speaker but it can also be plugged into an external amp for more volume. Definitely interesting. There's a short demo video on the site.

I did a further search and it seems to retail here in the UK for about £200.
 
Funny you should post this. I just saw this in a shop in Shanghai - it looks quite bizarre, but the cachet of a Vox ukulele did cause me to try it. I might pick up an electric uke here, but others I saw appealed to me more. It was about $120 USD here.

The main reason I passed was that the on-board amp seemed to be fairly crummy, but it could have just been weak batteries. I'm going back tomorrow to probably buy something, and who knows?
 
Does it come with a letter opener, cockscrew and phillips head screwdriver?

Jokes aside, a buddy of mine owns a Vox Phantom Apache, and the battery usage is an issue.
With rechargables, he was getting around 3 days worth, roughly 10-12 hours.
With good alkalis, a week at best.

Problem is alkalis are expensive in the long run and not really eco friendly.
 
Never seen one in person.....but I am curious about it too. I did see someone playing one on youtube and it sounded terrific.
 
BgmUke said:
A buddy of mine owns a Vox Phantom Apache, and the battery usage is an issue.
With rechargables, he was getting around 3 days worth, roughly 10-12 hours.
With good alkalis, a week at best.
Click to expand...

I have no experience with these myself, but I've read in several places that the batteries on similar electric ukes (maybe the Stagg, but I don't recall) will drain whenever a cable is plugged into them, even when they're not being used. Disconnecting any cables from the instrument when you put it away reportedly extends battery life significantly.
 
Vox have had the solid teardrop Ukuleles out for a while now but they were released first in Japan, like the acoustic Vox hello Kitty Ukuleles The electric teardrops come in Concert or Tenor Scale and a number of finishes.

I don't know who makes the Electrics but the Hello Kitty's were made by Headway Guitars in Japan, who are very good,

A Tenor Vox Teardrop is very close to the top of my list for which Ukulele to invite to the corner next, and if I do I will attempt a review of it.

I also agree you should never leave those 9v Batteries in you Ukulele. Not only can it run them down but I have seen a cheap battery leak all over the electrics and pretty much ruin them
 
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These are adorable. Does anyone know of a dealer in the US that carries them? Not that I have UAS or anything. Just asking for a friend...
 
I had one of these in my hands in a music shop in Shanghai - or at least something that looked exactly it. It was OK, and didn't sound that great through the speaker, but that could have been just that one, or it could have been a knockoff. I ended up getting a solid body Yongchun, which I am really enjoying and is played in my upcoming entry in this week's Seasons.
 
I was wondering when somebody was going to steal my idea. I've been making an ukulele with built-in amplifier for almost two years now, here in Hawaii. I've made 14 of them and sold 8. There's one of my Power Ukes in Switzerland, one in Mexico city, one in California and the rest here in Hawaii. I don't have any big budget for marketing and production though, so I am moving very slowly. Glacially slow compared to a big company like Vox. I've been posting about the Power Ukulele on this forum with updates for at least a year or so. Anyways, my invention the "Power Ukulele", as opposed to Vox's Ukelectric, actually sounds as good as, if not better than a top notch acoustic ukulele. The name of my company is "LeLe Ukuleles". Check out my website for more: http://powerukes.com
 
I have to take back my earlier comment on my interaction with one of these in Shanghai. I played one at Gryphon in Palo Alto, and the build quality was much better. I was not overly impressed with the onboard speaker, but I didn't play it for long and did not plug it into another amp. It was fairly playable with a decent sound, but soft without the internal speaker turned on. And at Gryphon, surrounded by the high quality instruments they have, it didn't seem like a top line instrument, IMHO.
 
rar jungle said:
I was wondering when somebody was going to steal my idea. I've been making an ukulele with built-in amplifier for almost two years now, here in Hawaii. I've made 14 of them and sold 8. There's one of my Power Ukes in Switzerland, one in Mexico city, one in California and the rest here in Hawaii. I don't have any big budget for marketing and production though, so I am moving very slowly. Glacially slow compared to a big company like Vox. I've been posting about the Power Ukulele on this forum with updates for at least a year or so. Anyways, my invention the "Power Ukulele", as opposed to Vox's Ukelectric, actually sounds as good as, if not better than a top notch acoustic ukulele. The name of my company is "LeLe Ukuleles". Check out my website for more: http://powerukes.com
Click to expand...

Buit in amps have been put in stringed instruments for decades. The first time I saw one was in the 1970's in a guitar shop on BC Street in Koza, Okinawa. Grizzly used to sell a mini guitar kit, which could easilly be modified into an ukulele, with a built in amp. I'm in no way knocking your product or quality. The built in amp has been around for a long time. Ric
 
Yes, I know it's been done with guitars before, but never ukulele. I think it makes a lot more sense with the ukulele because there are many situations where it's just a little too quiet. Also, unlike guitar, the tonal range of the ukulele matches very well with a small amplifier and speaker, so you can actually have beautiful sound. My design takes advantage of the extra power of the internal amp by interacting with the natural acoustics of the ukulele. In addition to the extra volume the result is a livelier sound, with great responsiveness, sustain and clarity.
Rar Jungle
LeLe Ukuleles
ricdoug said:
Buit in amps have been put in stringed instruments for decades. The first time I saw one was in the 1970's in a guitar shop on BC Street in Koza, Okinawa. Grizzly used to sell a mini guitar kit, which could easilly be modified into an ukulele, with a built in amp. I'm in no way knocking your product or quality. The built in amp has been around for a long time. Ric
Click to expand...
 
I'm not knocking your creations, rar jungle. I am questioning your claim of theft against others using this multi decade old concept. I will mail you or them $100 bucks if you have solid written proof that you have the permission of Fernandez Guitars (Japan) or any other stringed manufacturer that has used an internal amplifier/speaker prior to you. I'm pretty sure you craft fine instruments. Built in amplifiers in stringed instruments are not your intellectual property. Ric
 
Intellectual property rights law is a very complex field of study, thank you for sharing your knowledge with me, as I only possess a layman's understanding in this area. I will do my best to take your astute observations to heart. In time, I think I will be able to accept the truth.

Rar Jungle
LeLe Ukuleles

ricdoug said:
I'm not knocking your creations, rar jungle. I am questioning your claim of theft against others using this multi decade old concept. I will mail you or them $100 bucks if you have solid written proof that you have the permission of Fernandez Guitars (Japan) or any other stringed manufacturer that has used an internal amplifier/speaker prior to you. I'm pretty sure you craft fine instruments. Built in amplifiers in stringed instruments are not your intellectual property. Ric
Click to expand...
 
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