NUD - Steam Punk...

UkerDanno

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I was looking forward to this day for over a week, so I got a package from UPS today and opened it up and I was actually pretty disappointed! It's SOLID PLASTIC! The listing said nothing about plastic and it says mahogany neck and rosewood fretboard. if the fretboard is rosewood it's a paper thin layer glued to the plastic! The top does look to be some sort of wood, Kala site says Agathis wood. Sound is ok, but I thought these Ukadelics were made from the Kala KA-S laminate mahogany sopranos!

steampunk.jpgsteampunk2.jpg

I think I'm done ordering ukes off the internet!
 
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sorry for your disappointment :(

They do look pretty cool.

I have a steampunk screen saver on my Android (actually Nook Color) Tablet and I recently got a live wallpaper widget for my 4.4 2012 Nexus 7.

I wonder if we could get some kind of steampunk (or anything) vinyl overlay for our ukes... just for variety's sake :)

keep uke'in',
 
That is the color that shows where the paint is wearing off of my Dolphin.
Those tuners look familiar, too
 
That's too bad, I'm expecting mine today...

However much like the Smiley face, or the Natural Semi-transparent Ukes that I have I bought this on more as a collector's item than a good playing instrument.... I hope that I'm not as dissapointed as you.

As for the decal idea that's actually a neat idea, much like the static cling covers for ipads and iphones... not a bad idea if someone would market such a thing with different graphics... uhm...
 
Unfortunately I see what you mean. I got it. And yes it's all plastic. As a display piece it's fine but as a playable Uke, plastic Uhm.... Then again it cost $65 plus shipping so... I'm taking that into account. And the color looks good with the print.

image.jpg

It does look good next to my other cheap collectibles...

image.jpg

However on a different note, the print I got is off center so it looks defective. I'm gonna have to email Mike at ukerepublic to see about getting a refund or replacement. Or at least a hefty discount...
 
wow that print way off center!
So basically this is a Dolphin with a cool print?
 
Better than a dolphin, but sort off...and considering ukerepublic has it for 65 it's not a deal breaker the plastic that is.

It does sound ok... For a low end Uke. And the print is cool. From a distance the color of the plastic complements the print.

The good news is that Mike from UkeRepublic is prompt and customer oriented so we exchanged a few emails and we got a replacement being arranged.

The bottom line is that yes it's plastic but the steampunk collectible factor and ok price is still worth it for me anyway...
 
Yeah for 65 buckaroo's you can expect a uke for real like the picture... I guess you lucked out it is playable and sounds okay...and Mike is a super cool guy.. :)
 
I was looking forward to this day for over a week, so I got a package from UPS today and opened it up and I was actually pretty disappointed! It's SOLID PLASTIC! The listing said nothing about plastic and it says mahogany neck and rosewood fretboard. if the fretboard is rosewood it's a paper thin layer glued to the plastic! The top does look to be some sort of wood, Kala site says Agathis wood. Sound is ok, but I thought these Ukadelics were made from the Kala KA-S laminate mahogany sopranos!

View attachment 61479View attachment 61480



I think I'm done ordering ukes off the internet!
I'm not a big fan of the steam punk thing. But its a shame kala didn't explain more in detail that it was plastic
that must be a huge disappointment. Could you return it? fluke makes a steam punk style uke now that is clearly
great quality you come to expect from flukes.
 
I was looking forward to this day for over a week, so I got a package from UPS today and opened it up and I was actually pretty disappointed! It's SOLID PLASTIC! The listing said nothing about plastic and it says mahogany neck and rosewood fretboard. if the fretboard is rosewood it's a paper thin layer glued to the plastic! The top does look to be some sort of wood, Kala site says Agathis wood. Sound is ok, but I thought these Ukadelics were made from the Kala KA-S laminate mahogany sopranos!

View attachment 61479View attachment 61480



I think I'm done ordering ukes off the internet!



I'm not a big fan of the steam punk thing. But its a shame kala didn't explain more in detail that it was plastic
that must be a huge disappointment. Could you return it? fluke makes a steam punk style uke now that is clearly
great quality you come to expect from flukes.
 
However on a different note, the print I got is off center so it looks defective. I'm gonna have to email Mike at ukerepublic to see about getting a refund or replacement. Or at least a hefty discount...

While I'm glad that Mike is getting you a replacement, I don't get how/why did a defective uke get shipped out? I would've thought that UkeRepublic would have better quality control. :-/ Won't he notice the off-center print when he was setting up the ukulele?
 
Congrats on your new Ukedelic. I bought my Tiki Ukedelic more as a novelty/collector/practice instrument than a performing playing instrument. For the price I paid (on sale $49), it serves it's purpose more than well for why I purchased it and it's fun to have around. I put up a Uke wall hanger specifically for it so it hangs over my desk so it can be prominently seen. Incidentally, the set-up was excellent out the box and it's fun to play.
 
It isn't all plastic. Top is laminate wood, neck is mahogany, fingerboard is rosewood and not thin as you see it on soundboard, bridge is also rosewood. Kala list details on their web site. We still had the specs for the last series which explains the confusion. Again We want to reiterate that the back and sides are injection molded not the top , neck or fingerboard. These also cost about 30% less than the previous series. Sorry for any confusion.
 
It isn't all plastic. Top is laminate wood, neck is mahogany, fingerboard is rosewood and not thin as you see it on soundboard, bridge is also rosewood. Kala list details on their web site. We still had the specs for the last series which explains the confusion. Again We want to reiterate that the back and sides are injection molded not the top , neck or fingerboard. These also cost about 30% less than the previous series. Sorry for any confusion.

You better look again...the neck is definitely plastic and if there is a rosewood fingerboard, it's a paper thin overlay. I can see the top is some sort of woody laminate material.
 
Not meaning to be argumentative but here's a picture of a busted up Makala Shark's neck that I have. The Makala Shark body is the same as the Ukadelic (MK-S Body). As you can see from the picture it's wood. I can see how from just looking inside the cavity, one might think it is a plastic neck. Here is also the link from the official specs from Kala: http://www.kalabrand.com/Models/Makala/Ukadelic/UkadelicDetailsPage.html
SharkNeck.jpg
 
Thanks for clearing that up Mike. I received my Steampunk a couple of days ago and I thought the neck looked plastic - perhaps the paint colour matches the plastic bits so perfectly, they look the same.
I knew from the original thread about these that the back & sides were going to be plastic, so it didn't bother me.

I bought my Steampunk as a novelty but I did get Freemont black fluorocarbon strings put on it and will play it sometimes. It was such a hot day when it was delivered & the case was really warm, so I decided to give it a couple of days to settle into the normal climate before tuning it up, so I can't comment on its sound.
 
I received my Steampunk a couple of days ago and I thought the neck looked plastic - perhaps the paint colour matches the plastic bits so perfectly, they look the same..

why would they paint a mahogany neck to perfectly match plastic?!
steampunk.jpg
 
why would they paint a mahogany neck to perfectly match plastic?!
View attachment 61525

My guess is that the neck is attached to the body AND THEN painted in one piece. Much easier and quicker that way. Plus, it allows Kala (and many, many other instrument builders) to use wood that may structurally be sound, but aesthetically not look as nice. This is fairly common in lower end instruments.
 
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