Peavy Uke, a huge disappointment...

I go into a music store yesterday and see a Peavy stamp on a headstock on this uke sitting on the floor and not on the display stands with the Kala, Makala, and other ukes. Hmmm never played these yet so I checked it out.

This uke is 80 bucks and that must be 60.00 of profit in there. The headstock is a chunk of cut wood that looks like it was thrown on a saw table, ripped and sanded in 5 minutes. The neck was so heavy while trying to just put the body in my hands, the neck would tip the uke quickly due to the weight of the neck. Almost felt like the Kohala necks except the Kohala by Lanikai (not KoAloha but the Costco uke) is a better instrument for that price by far.

The swoosh sound hole is something I am not sure they thought out other than "this looks good so let's go with it" and the side port just doesn't work period, bad placement without any substantial sound coming out the side.

The Aquilas while good on other ukes just don't work and probably because the uke is not something that is really a ukulele but rather an electronic company putting together wood, and saying ""ukulele"!!
Zero sustain and you can make it sound like a machine gun with a fan strum.

Now I know it is 80 bucks but it is interesting a company is putting out things like this. The action of course needed a serious set up and after playing it I realized for the price how well Lanikai or something like the Kala KAS give in value for the price. Even with a setup this uke is an underperformer compared to the numerous other ukes I have played in this range.

Peavy should stick with "electronics" in my opinion. The uke craze is clearly high with many folks trying to get a ukulele to market just to have one available to buy. However without proper marketing, better design and proper manufacturing to obtain a solid player, it will unfortunately continue to sit on the floor. Maybe this was just a bad one but if so I would not want my name to go out on it.

Barren River snob!

:biglaugh:



(Thank you for the heads up.)

I've got one that isn't as bad as the one you tried. It's a Jack Daniels tenor and I got it to add a bit of visual edge to the Ukulele element of the blues band I'm in. I planned to put a pick up on it, but that's something I've only half done. I added an acoustic pickup, but the one I used fed back too much. Now I need to figure out whether it is worth adding a more expensive undersaddle pickup, or not.

Here is a video I did for one of the Seasons of me playing it.

The sound holes are a bit gimmicky, but depending on how you hold the instrument, I wouldn't say the side hole is useless.

It is not a fabulous instrument for the price, but nor is it a piece of junk. I keep it tuned in an open "G" and it plays fine. It is a little neck heavy, but I am accustomed to that. I don't think mine lacks sustain (it certainly doesn't just die when you let the string ring). It is a little quiet, but there are moments (like when the kids have gone to bed) when that is an advantage and, as I said, I do plan to possibly amplify it for use with the band (if I don't just buy a cheap electric tenor).

Visually, it does have an impact; some people say it is the coolest looking Uke in my collection. I disagree, but that's the power of brand marketing. And let's face it, a whiskey themed uke is a good match for the blues

Interesting. I did not know Peavey made ukes.

http://www.peavey.com/products/index.cfm/item/1172/118291/ComposerUkulele

Barbablanca said:

I've got one that isn't as bad as the one you tried. It's a Jack Daniels tenor and I got it to add a bit of visual edge to the Ukulele element of the blues band I'm in. I planned to put a pick up on it, but that's something I've only half done. I added an acoustic pickup, but the one I used fed back too much. Now I need to figure out whether it is worth adding a more expensive undersaddle pickup, or not.

Here is a video I did for one of the Seasons of me playing it.

The sound holes are a bit gimmicky, but depending on how you hold the instrument, I wouldn't say the side hole is useless.

It is not a fabulous instrument for the price, but nor is it a piece of junk. I keep it tuned in an open "G" and it plays fine. It is a little neck heavy, but I am accustomed to that. I don't think mine lacks sustain (it certainly doesn't just die when you let the string ring). It is a little quiet, but there are moments (like when the kids have gone to bed) when that is an advantage and, as I said, I do plan to possibly amplify it for use with the band (if I don't just buy a cheap electric tenor).

Visually, it does have an impact; some people say it is the coolest looking Uke in my collection. I disagree, but that's the power of brand marketing. And let's face it, a whiskey themed uke is a good match for the blues

Click to expand...

I think that one sounds very nice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWipBsQ_JAQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHWnCm9diwc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB3SflRA-gw

LoL. Hey I still have a Lanikai soprano, my very first uke. My daughter took it over and if I pick it up she tells me to "play my own uke"! She is a Lanikai snob ;-)

gyosh said:

Barren River snob!

:biglaugh:



(Thank you for the heads up.)

Click to expand...

UkeKiddinMe said:

I think that one sounds very nice.

Click to expand...

Nice video and that definitely sounds better although the one I played was missing the "Jack Daniels" so that must be the trick. Needs some Jack Daniels.

The one thing that Jay could improve on with his reviews is to tell us what he really thinks. Just spit it out. No more sugar coating!




(That Peavy sounds like a turd. Thanks for saving me eighty clams)

blue_knight_usa said:

Zero sustain and you can make it sound like a machine gun with a fan strum.

Click to expand...

:biglaugh: very interesting description, I like the machine gun

I've only seen one. In my LMS. The first time I picked it up the fret edges were like a saw. They must have "set it up" after that because now it's completely smooth. But, it plays well and sounds amazing! It's a concert and I don't want another concert. I just keep going back to it. This one must have been the pick of the litter.

The top sound hole reminds me of Tacoma guitars and mandolins. Also reminds me of Fender's kiss of death to Tacoma. Although, I should give Fender some credit in that they honored the lifetime warranty I had on a Tacoma mando that I bought 10 years earlier. The finish began peeling and they took in for a complete refinish only to call me after 4 months to tell me that they were closing their custom acoustic repair shop and would be unable to repair the mando. So they sent me a new Princeton Reissue amp instead.

Peavey's various forays into instrument making have pretty much all been as you describe - some of their basses were actually decent probably in part because of that "use a bigger slab of wood" approach and they had one or two electric guitar models that were popular in spite of weighing as if they were made of poured concrete - but, by and large I don't think of Peavey when I think of instruments. Amps and mixers, PA speakers, yeah, pretty good stuff. Instruments, too many other better choices for about the same money.

John

I sold a Peavy bass guitar last year. It was very heavy, but a nice instrument....the new owner has other Peavey basses, and loves them....but tey're not ukes....