Epiphone Les Paul Ukulele

[Tudorp]

What Kurt said about the build. it is heavy and thick, but that is probably why it is so muddy at first. Personally I like it, because it seems to just be tough as nails, and will take allot of abuse making it a perfect travel uke. I thought was was pretty muddy unplugged out of the box myself as I stated in my review of it. But, I spent some time doing a proper set up, because out of the box, it isn't that impressive. I set my action, changed to Aquilas, and set intonation a bit better, and it isn't the loudest unplugged, but plays and sounds 100% better. Plugged in, this is a pretty cool uke. I ran it though tons of effects and had a blast with it. Everyday uke? not so much. Worth a bill, sure is.

 

[crowsby]

I had an opportunity to try it out at Guitar Center not too long ago, and I liked it. The narrow body plus the gloss finish made it easy to hold, the action was set up well, and the tone was excellent, if a bit quiet. The tone was, to me, better than anything else they had <$200.

I hate to say it, but I didn't even know that it had a pickup and output jack at the time. I suspect that GC might set up their floor model instruments, which could account for why I had a good experience with it, while others are saying the action is difficult etcetera.

I was sorely tempted by it, but I ended up going with a Mainland Concert instead for my first uke.

 

[Daniel.Pohaku.Osorno]

"It's a real chord. I looked it up!". Lol.

 

[Huna]

I tried it yesterday at Guitar Center and found it attractive but heavy and didn't sound that great as an acoustic.

 

[PedalFreak]

I suspect that GC might set up their floor model instruments, which could account for why I had a good experience with it, while others are saying the action is difficult etcetera.

I'd highly doubt that GC did a setup on a $100 instrument. Or even if they would have someone capable of doing a setup on it

 

[flacoclef]

Just double checked specs to be sure it's concert size (the mahalo is a soprano) and discovered it has a PVC saddle. Nut too? Black strings. I think I'll order one, but have to also order new nut/saddle and some Aquila strings.

Which sounds better acoustically, the Mahalo or Epiphone?

 

[Knotical]

<snip> The new LP Uke comes with premium black nylon strings . . .<snip>

I just bought one of these as my first uke (never played one before so this is all new to me). I have a question about the "premium black nylon strings". Anyone know who makes these strings? Granted, these strings may be better than what comes on most ukes but I suspect that "premium" may be more of a marketing term than anything.

I got mine last night and tuned it and played around a bit (learning a few chords). It didn't sound bad but it seems like conventional wisdom says change the strings.

I know that there is a great deal of personal preference when it comes to strings. From what I can tell, Aquila Nylgut Concert Uke or Ko'olau 'Alohi Concert Uke strings have a good reputation. What do you guys like (or should I get one of each and see for myself)?

And please forgive the (next) newbie questions ~ how many sets of strings should I think about getting at a time? They don't seem like they would break that easy so how often do you change them out?

 

[Tudorp]

Which sounds better acoustically, the Mahalo or Epiphone?

I never heard the Mahalo so I dont know. But I would imagine it would be the Mahalo, because that is the Epiphone's weak area IMHO. It is really cool,a nd fun plugged in, but unplugged, it isn't as impressive. Mine isn't too bad after a set up, did make it much better unplugged though.

 

[Tudorp]

yeah, the "premium" on anything out of the box to me, I take with a grain of salt. I think they are D'Addairo, but personally I didnt like them on the LP, I put on nylguts and liked it much better with the aquilas..

 

[timmoranlive]

Epiphone Les Paul Ukulele Demo

It's not a great instrument, but it's worth $99. Here's an acoustic clip of "All of Me" played on an Epiphone Les Paul Ukulele. It's a cool little axe, but it has it's pros and cons.
Pros: looks cool, fun to play, nice finish, inexpensive, sweet gig bag, decent tone.
Cons: nylon strings don't stay in tune when it's 100+degrees out, action is high as you move up the neck, tone pisses off the birds in my neighborhood.

 

[WhenDogsSing]

It's not a great instrument, but it's worth $99. Here's an acoustic clip of "All of Me" played on an Epiphone Les Paul Ukulele. It's a cool little axe, but it has it's pros and cons.
Pros: looks cool, fun to play, nice finish, inexpensive, sweet gig bag, decent tone.
Cons: nylon strings don't stay in tune when it's 100+degrees out, action is high as you move up the neck, tone pisses off the birds in my neighborhood.

Nice playing...!!!

 

[harpdog cc]

Nice.
I sanded down the saddle on mine yesterday. Action is improved.

 

[ksiegel]

I've got two of them, both in the Heritage Cherry Sunburst - one is sitting in the box, untouched since I picked it up, and the other I sent to Tudorp for setup. He's sending it back, and if it arrives before Thursday, I'll compare the two of them, plugged and unplugged. If it arrives Thursday or afterward, I'll do a comparison toward the end of August, when I should have the time to do it.

-Kurt

 

[Tudorp]

Kurt, please let me know it got back to you safely. You will notice a difference immediatly. I just hope it is a positive one.. hahhah.. Oh yeah, I spray painted it black for ya too.. hehheh..

 

[ksiegel]

Nothing yet, Tony. I checked the UPS Store today after work, and it hadn't shown up.
I'll check again tomorrow, again after work - about 4pm EDT.

 

[Piikea]

He lost me at You-ka-lay le.......;-)

 

[remrusty]

Hey guys,
Found this forum searching for reviews on this ukulele.
I really want one, but would love it so sound awesome, what would be the best way to fix innotation? I watched the posted video, but is there any other ways?

Russell

 

[Tudorp]

Russell, I can not emphasize enough at how much a good set-up is needed for the Epi Les Paul uke. It is very marginal out of the box. I don't really do much about fixing the intonation, I just tear it down, and build it back as it should have been done in the 1st place. Re-set the neck, level & dress frets, toss the crap saddle and nut (probably the single most important part), build new nut and saddle from bone, Aquila strings (or preference). Intonation is fairly close after all that, and seems to fix itself for the most part. With the proper set up, these ukes are pretty decent players acoustically. Look for a thread of mine on here on the set up of the LP uke. PM me if you would like some more details.

 

[ksiegel]

Tudorp set mine up - i only had 5 minutes to play it, then had to pack and leave town for 3 weeks, so it is home, while I am not.

He put Aquila strings on it, and the volume doubled. The tone (acoustically) is sweet strings need to settle in after several days in transit, so when I get home, it will be ready to Uke & Roll! I'll plug it in, and test that baby out.

-Kurt

 

[trifire]

I got the "Vintage Sunburst" Epi LP Concert uke. I took it to Gary Brawer in San Francisco, (awesome luthier in SF for stars such as Satriani, Metalica, Santana, Hagar etc.), pretty much right outta the box. Just like a Les Paul is heavy for an electric guitar, this IS heavy for a uke! But, it is a LES PAUL, solid, albeit routed out mahogany, beautiful to look at and built indeed like a tank. The finish is absolutely beautiful! But, as others have mentioned, and like most mass produced machined instruments, it needed some work. I had the nut and saddle replaced with bone, had the nut moved forward on the neck to make the intonation spot on and complete all the way across the fret board, a set of aquilas and added a strap button. Cost $200 for the work, + needed a better case than the nylon slip bag it comes with, bringing the total cost for my Epiphone Concert Les Paul Ukulele to approx. $350. Is it worth that you ask? In the immortal words of Stone Cold, HELL YEAH!!! Cause now, I have yet another awesome ax to create with, alongside my Lanikai Flame Maple Soprano uke and my Gibson LP guitar. I plugged it into an epiphone valve jr. and a marshall 4x12 on a clean tone and got a GREAT sound!!!! Ya know honestly, maybe I got lucky, but the humm was very minimal, and that was at a LOUD volume Bottom line, if you're thinking about getting one, do it, cause like alot of other cool products that come and go, it most likely will be discontinued, and it really won't take too much work to make it a solid player. Besides, you know as well as I do, a musician can NEVER have too many instruments (Especially super cool ukuleles! Aloha