venturing into the world of electric ukes! help!

I've been a casual ukulele player for a while, and I just discovered what electric ukuleles can do and now I'm desperate to get one!

I'm not too well-versed in music vocabulary so I'll try my best to describe this, but what I'm looking for is an electric uke and amp combo that can get the kind of "grunge" distortion that makes it sound pretty close to the electric guitars you'd hear in punk rock songs - think Ramones, Clash, Dookie-era Green Day, etc etc. I've seen it pulled off perfectly in some videos but there was no information about what they were using!

I don't want to spend a bunch of money on this if it's just going to have that soft acoustic sound like my current uke already has. Are there any recommendations on what electric ukes, amps, and strings I could use to achieve the distorted sound?

I've found a lot of information in the comments section of youtube videos. And if it isn't already there, I ask and folks are usually good to share what they know. If you have a video that you love the sound of, you might want to ask.

How cool that you are doing this. I hope you have a blast and find something without breaking the bank.

You are pretty much describing a steel stringed uke and a guitar amp designed for electric guitars with the settings you want to get your "sound" If you get a less expensive amp, you can always get effects pedals to give you some of those sounds. Cheapest little steel string I"ve seen is on ebay for around $85 or so. Mahalo has a few also. Some of the nicer steel stringed ukes are around $350 and up. A budget would be helpful. Good luck. Here's a few to look at.

https://www.google.com/search?q=sol...QSxqoCoCw&ved=0CHIQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=559&dpr=1

My budget for the uke itself is about $100-200, and I'm not looking for a super expensive amp right now since this is mostly for personal use. I found a Harley Benton for about $130 USD including the international shipping (I believe it's a Dutch website?), and it's a solid body but I can't tell from the description if it's steel string or not. http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_sg_ukulele_ch.htm Other than some dubious looking knockoffs on Amazon, the next closest thing I can find is an Eleuke which is a bit too far out of my price range. I'll have to hunt around on eBay and Craigslist perhaps. Thank you for the answer!

With that one you won't get what you want. They are nylon strung and they don't have have magnetic pickups. There are some members that know better and can chime in. I know kissing plays some solid body ukes and there's this guy from this blog (can't remember his username) that builds it (but I don't know if he take orders).

I know some people get the Epiphone Mandocaster and put the right strings. They are not very expensive. Then there are these ones: http://elderly.com/new_instruments/items/BSKBD10.htm and in the higher end, the Kamoa Evolve and Risa Les Paul.

I've done the same search you are doing. I agree that you are looking for a steel string uke. I have seen two basic choices. One is the mahalo steel string uke which you can see in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yCwVc6JuZs
Costs somewhere around $150 I think. Mahalo operates at the lower price range of regular ukes and their quality has not received high marks from most uke players.
The other option I found is what was mentioned above - Eleuke. They are around $350 and get high ratings for quality. I'm in the same bind you are regarding price and have not yet decided whether to get the Mahalo or just wait until I can get the Eleuke.

Would anyone recommend that electric Mahalo for a person like me who is a pretty amateur musician playing purely for fun and personal use, and who probably won't have too many gripes on the really specific features and sounds as long as it can reach that nice overdriven grunge sound? It's a bit of a shame that I'm not quite into the design of that particular uke, but it sounds like it might be pretty well suited for my needs and my wallet!

I agree a steel string instrument is the ideal and the Mahalo will probably be fine for you.

However, you can go a long way with a nylon strung solid uke and a multi FX box. I have a Risa "stick" and a Vox multi FX box and I get some great overdrive sounds out of it.

Even with a steel string instrument, you will be wanting to get some FX pedals.

It's addictive!

There was a Mandobird for sale on the marketplace last week. It might still be there. That would be perfect.

<edit>

It's sold, but here's the thread:

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/f...786-FS-Classic-Epiphone-Electric-Mandobird-IV

Keep an eye out for something like that.

The Mahalo should work well, but did they need to make it just in that design? That's a deal breaker for me.

fernandogardinali said:

The Mahalo should work well, but did they need to make it just in that design? That's a deal breaker for me.

Click to expand...

It's almost a deal-breaker, but I care a lot more about affordability and the fun I'm going to have playing it, so I'm going to look past it.

Thanks everyone for your help, I think I'm going to go with the Mahalo!