Bohemian Oil Can Electric Soprano - REVIEW

bazmaz

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Yikes! I am surprised this is not the lowest score you have given.

I do have a suggestion for how you should have ended the review.

 
ha ha!

I guess I was just trying to find some balance between what is clearly a very bad example and the fact that not all will be this badly setup. Saying that though - the tone is still very generic.
 
A friend picked up an early one, I think maybe from the kickstarter campaign, He had to take it to a local guitar repair shop to make it playable. He was in town last weekend with his banjolele and we played a lot. He said he doesn't play the Oil can much, doesn't have his own amp at this time, certainly has it's own sound....

I read the review first........then I watched the video....Oh the sound, dreadful! And I'm far from widely experienced.....certainly NOT on the going to buy list....Wow....it's about all I can say....hate to see a company make a sub par instrument and actually send it out for sale...
 
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Wow that was painful, and we only had to listen to the "music" for a few minutes

A few good points:
  • A review that doesn't inspire UAS!
  • A review that may inspire a few self-builds!
    • Note to the wary: don't get discouraged that the commercial product can't get it right. Nothing called out as a problem is difficult for somebody paying attention to what they're doing
  • Some good lessons for DIY types!
    • The head angle interfering with the nut is kind of subtle. Good thing to know to consider
    • CBG sites emphasize bridge placement as the only rule in a rule-free zone. This is the best demonstration I've seen of why it's important and what happens when you get it wrong

I really don't understand spending a lot on a cigar box/oil can/etc instrument. To me the joy of that class of instrument is in the making and in playing something you made yourself. If I'm spending a lot of money I want to get something I can't reasonably build myself. To each their own though.

I'm quite afraid of the amount of room left in the ratings below "impossible to intonate", and I hope for your sake and ours next week's is more palatable!

 
.... and it's too ugly for a wall hanger.
I suppose one could use it as a lap uke with a slide....:D
 
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I feel bad for Bohemian--I know it's their fault for not insisting on better quality control.

You know, i'd 'almost' feel sorry for Bohemian myself if it was a one off. As it is though I was bombarded yesterday and this morning with endless messages from others about similar issue, being let down by their customer service etc. This is not a one off! As such they don't deserve any sympathy at all.
 
Now the only question is how to send this one off to a better place, fire, small explosion, pulled apart in a deconstructed piece of art, spray it all matte black and tape a few nails to it for the zombie apocalypse weapon?
Or use all the parts and make it work as a totally new instrument, frankenstien uke!
 
Being an oil can, I thought about using the filler cap to fill it with petrol... But it would leak out of the pickup cutout!
 
Being an oil can, I thought about using the filler cap to fill it with petrol... But it would leak out of the pickup cutout!

Seal it up and use it hold mustache wax, you are going to need it when that guy gets even longer :)
 
It's interesting that nobody has jumped to its defense. You usually find people that love them and have had great experiences with them (like the Les Paul uke). Not this one though.
 
That has totally surprised me too. That was why I made the point in the video. Usually when i trash a ukulele, you get people saying 'yeah, but I have one and it's ok' - which I totally get (I can only review what is in front of me).

Collating comments on here, YouTube, Facebook and some other social media channels on which it was shared. I would say the comments are in the several hundred and I had two saying they had one that was ok.

That's pretty startling... unprecedented for one of my reviews in fact.

EDIT

And just to take that a bit further - one of the most common complaints from people was that they were getting nowhere when they complained to the brand. Either being ignored, their comments deleted or just getting a lame response. And that is what I think I find even sadder here. The ukulele 'could' be turned into something reasonable with not a lot of effort. Just some QC to make sure they go out of the door ok. Sure, it's unremarkable sounding, but it does sound like you'd expect a steel strung electric with a single coil to sound. If it played accurately, it could be a lot of fun. Why the brand are not interested in getting it right is absolutely beyond me. Bad QC is one thing, but that is easily rectified. Bad QC and ignoring people telling it's bad is quite another.
 
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