A life-size Uke that doesn't play? WTF?

Barbablanca · Nov 25, 2013

Browsing on Mass Seller Thomann's site, I happened to come across this bizarre item : a Les Paul style Uke that is clearly described in the description as NOT for playing.

I wonder what happened here. Was this a consignment of supposedly playable ukes that turned out to be crap? Did some company really churn out unplayable instruments? Or did someone figure those with UAS would buy anything?

PS The bizarre thing was I found this by typing in Ukulele with Pick Up?

OldePhart · Nov 25, 2013

My guess is that they are utter crap and the seller is trying to avoid returns by putting that disclaimer on them.

John

bborzell · Nov 25, 2013

Maybe they want to distinguish between ukes that play themselves, as in player pianos, and ukes that require moving fingers. I once had a player tuba.

hoosierhiver · Nov 25, 2013

Not for playing, yet they mention the nut width. I agree with John, I think they went shopping for a deal with a cheap factory in China and ended up with a bunch of sub-par crappola.

RichM · Nov 25, 2013

hoosierhiver said:
Not for playing, yet they mention the nut width. I agree with John, I think they went shopping for a deal with a cheap factory in China and ended up with a bunch of sub-par crappola.

Hehe, "not for playing, " but it includes a pickup! So you can amplify yourself.... not playing?

RichM · Nov 25, 2013

I bet Chico could have used one of these ukes....

greenie44 · Nov 25, 2013

My guess is that someone could play John Cage's 4'33" on this uke.

iamesperambient · Nov 25, 2013

Barbablanca said:
Browsing on Mass Seller Thomann's site, I happened to come across this bizarre item : a Les Paul style Uke that is clearly described in the description as NOT for playing.

I wonder what happened here. Was this a consignment of supposedly playable ukes that turned out to be crap? Did some company really churn out unplayable instruments? Or did someone figure those with UAS would buy anything?

PS The bizarre thing was I found this by typing in Ukulele with Pick Up?

this is why i made my comment about the electric ukes people are talking about from this chinese factory. they look like cheap mass produced crap such as this. This is why i recommend RISA and Konablaster if you want an electric uke. The konablaster is made in america out of some guy's shop with love care and attention to each one rather than mass produced instruments with out any attention to fine detail. At this point im really trying to save my pennies for higher end ukes or at least ones that are made by private small companies or small luthiers.

iamesperambient · Nov 25, 2013

iamesperambient said:
this is why i made my comment about the electric ukes people are talking about from this chinese factory. they look like cheap mass produced crap such as this. This is why i recommend RISA and Konablaster if you want an electric uke. The konablaster is made in america out of some guy's shop with love care and attention to each one rather than mass produced instruments with out any attention to fine detail. At this point im really trying to save my pennies for higher end ukes or at least ones that are made by private small companies or small luthiers.

and as for mass produced acoustic/electric I still think the epiphone les paul is the best deal for an affordable ukulele with a good sound.
I think its great the nut and bridge look rough but the finish job and the sound quality plugged and unplugged is flawless, other than that
I think most other mass produced instruments are garbage.

BlueLatitude · Nov 25, 2013

Maybe they got some kind of funky deal and can sell them cheaper if they are sold as "decorations" instead of "musical instruments." It would be kind of tempting to order one and see.

OldePhart · Nov 25, 2013

BlueLatitude said:
Maybe they got some kind of funky deal and can sell them cheaper if they are sold as "decorations" instead of "musical instruments." It would be kind of tempting to order one and see.

I'm not even slightly tempted...

John

JamieFromOntario · Nov 25, 2013

Strangely enough, this not-for-playing uke seems to be identical to the Mahalo Les Paul. I've got one and I think it's actually a pretty good player - better than the Epiphone Les Paul.

Here's a link to the Mahalo. Judge for yourself whether you think it comes from the same factory as the Harvey Benton...
http://ukeeku.com/2011/07/14/mahalo-ulp-30ch-les-paul-ukulele-full-review/

Barbablanca · Nov 25, 2013

JamieFromOntario said:
Strangely enough, this not-for-playing uke seems to be identical to the Mahalo Les Paul....

The headstock and machine heads certainly do look identical to the Mahalo.

I love the fact that it comes with a 3 year guarantee! We guarantee this to be unplayable for three years???

UkerDanno · Nov 26, 2013

for $25 US, get one and let us know! I don't see that they ship to US, though.

KohanMike · Nov 26, 2013

That's certainly not the Mahalo preamp in the side, in fact, it's the same preamp I bought on AliExpress.com for $24 a few weeks ago. I had a Mahalo Telecaster style soprano with a simple volume and tone preamp, no tuner, that was not bad for $60, but soprano was just too small for me so I sold it for $35.

iamesperambient · Nov 26, 2013

JamieFromOntario said:
Strangely enough, this not-for-playing uke seems to be identical to the Mahalo Les Paul. I've got one and I think it's actually a pretty good player - better than the Epiphone Les Paul.

Here's a link to the Mahalo. Judge for yourself whether you think it comes from the same factory as the Harvey Benton...
http://ukeeku.com/2011/07/14/mahalo-ulp-30ch-les-paul-ukulele-full-review/

I've never played a mahalo les paul copy but i heard their not the best. I have however owed a mahalo soprano
and it was a piece of crap that would never stay in tune with bad intonation. Actually i think the epiphone les paul
is one of the best value instruments I have ever played in fact its my go to uke.

JupeyWoopey · Nov 26, 2013

That sure is crazy. Works out about £15 if my math is correct. I'm half tempted to get one and see if it can be made into a playable uke. I need a new project for the weekends.

JamieFromOntario · Nov 27, 2013

iamesperambient said:
I've never played a mahalo les paul copy but i heard their not the best. I have however owed a mahalo soprano
and it was a piece of crap that would never stay in tune with bad intonation. Actually i think the epiphone les paul
is one of the best value instruments I have ever played in fact its my go to uke.

In general I agree that mahalos are pretty awful. I think I just got luck and got one that is very playable, with nice action and intonation. The frets were sharp when I got it, but I filed them down.
I've only played an Epiphone Les Paul once. I found it very muted, and the action was way too high and it had crap strings. I'd heard the the Epiphone's often needed some work done. So, perhaps that explains my impression of the two Les Pauls.

A life-size Uke that doesn't play? WTF?

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