WTB inexpensive accoustic/electric baritone

jelow1966 · Jul 10, 2018

I'm looking for a decent but inexpensive baritone uke with a pick up. Don't really care about the wood or looks, just needs to play well and be something I can easily record to help with my composing efforts. If anyone has one they'd like to sell please PM me. Thanks,

John

UkeStuff · Jul 10, 2018

Looking at new, there is Caramel, which will get you into an electric baritone for under $100...shipping can take 2-4 weeks. If you are near Fort Collins, there is a used Lanikai LU-21BE for $75. They want $60 to ship it.

jelow1966 · Jul 11, 2018

Thanks. I've been looking at the Caramel ukes but if I can I like to buy used. If nothing shows up I'll probably order one.

John

anthonyg · Jul 11, 2018

An instrument that is Cheap AND records easily by plugging it into a desk is a bit of an oxymoron.

If your not that concerned about audio quality then there are instruments about that will fulfil the cheap + pickup requirements however cheap pickups sound brash and unmusical.

You can buy inexpensive baritone ukes' that sound just fine if you record them with a microphone. Instruments that sound OK plugged directly in for recording need expensive pickup systems to sound any good.

jelow1966 · Jul 11, 2018

anthonyg said:
An instrument that is Cheap AND records easily by plugging it into a desk is a bit of an oxymoron.

If your not that concerned about audio quality then there are instruments about that will fulfil the cheap + pickup requirements however cheap pickups sound brash and unmusical.

You can buy inexpensive baritone ukes' that sound just fine if you record them with a microphone. Instruments that sound OK plugged directly in for recording need expensive pickup systems to sound any good.

I have no illusons about the limitations of what I'm looking for but I'm not a baritone player and I really just want something to easily record the simple parts I come up with for it so I can work with them.

John

ralphk · Jul 11, 2018

Here is a good report on the all laminate Caramel, now for $95.

I got, and just sold an all solid acacia Caramel, $135 list. I did not find any problems with it, including the tone (with Worth Browns), but it was really heavy. I knew I could never bond with it. Might try the all laminate one like in the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jAWKjq4RA0

Ralph

Croaky Keith · Jul 11, 2018

There have been a few people reporting that the Makala baritone is a good buy, might be worth looking into.

kissing · Jul 12, 2018

Even compared to what you'll find used, the Caramel Acoustic Electric baritone will be by far the best deal.
You simply can't beat those prices - what they give you is fantastic.
Their tenors and baritones also have a truss rod, which enables for a better setup.

You *can* achieve good quality sound even on a Caramel acoustic-electric baritone.
The electronics as-is will probably sound a bit unbalanced. That's because a lot of cheap acoustic-electrics use a cheap undersaddle piezo unit.
If you replace the undersaddle piezo unit with an Artec one (search online for "Artec Ukulele Piezo pickup) and fit couple it with the Caramel's default pre-amp, you will get a balanced sound both suitable for plug-in recording and performing.

jelow1966 · Jul 13, 2018

kissing said:
Even compared to what you'll find used, the Caramel Acoustic Electric baritone will be by far the best deal.
You simply can't beat those prices - what they give you is fantastic.
Their tenors and baritones also have a truss rod, which enables for a better setup.

You *can* achieve good quality sound even on a Caramel acoustic-electric baritone.
The electronics as-is will probably sound a bit unbalanced. That's because a lot of cheap acoustic-electrics use a cheap undersaddle piezo unit.
If you replace the undersaddle piezo unit with an Artec one (search online for "Artec Ukulele Piezo pickup) and fit couple it with the Caramel's default pre-amp, you will get a balanced sound both suitable for plug-in recording and performing.

Thanks for that info. If I do get the Caramel I'll look into changing the piezzo unit if I don't like the sound I'm getting out of the stock one.

John

jelow1966 · Jul 13, 2018

ralphk said:
Here is a good report on the all laminate Caramel, now for $95.

I got, and just sold an all solid acacia Caramel, $135 list. I did not find any problems with it, including the tone (with Worth Browns), but it was really heavy. I knew I could never bond with it. Might try the all laminate one like in the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jAWKjq4RA0

Ralph

Thanls for the link, very informative. I think I prefer the rosewood one which also sounded nice on the demo vids. Soundhole design would match my Applause and I like the dark look.

John

WTB inexpensive accoustic/electric baritone

jelow1966

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