Seagull Nylon String Electric Ukulele

keenonuke

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Hello folks

Has anyone owned/tried the Seagull Nylon Electric Ukulele? It looks interesting

Thanks

K
 
I owned one for a while before selling it.
Nice Uke - great construction and quality. Very good bang for the buck.

Sorta regrettable sale, but was strapped for cash at the time :(

I didn't get around to making any musical videos with it per se, but I do play it a bit here to demonstrate my woes of 'incorrect' strap pin placement on ukes:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgqpN64W0GA
 
Wow thanks for the reply. I saw a Ukulele with the strap buttons in that location. I guess if one comes my way with the bottom strap location I will remove it.
 
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Bumping this in the hope of more experiences from someone? I am considering an electric uke, and the Seagull is the only one around the local shops here.

I have tried the steel strung one, but during the about 2x5 minutes I've handled it (unplugged) I didn't really fall in love. I have been playing an acoustic concert with a ~35mm wide nut and didn't find a comfortable home on the Seagull fretboard. Admittedly, I haven't played any steel stringed instrument.

Bazmaz @ Gotaukulele is very picky about narrow nuts, but it surprises me that he found the steel strung Seagull's nut comfortable.

I know the nylon strung version's fretboard is wider, but so are the radia of the strings. I've understood it's 34mm (although the manufacturer itself quotes the same width as the steel version on their website, and it has been copied to many retailers' pages too - but the pics make it clear enough they're not the same).

I also gathered from the guys at Hawaiian Music Supply on YouTube that they liked the steel version better, which worries me as well. They said that the nylon version could be helped with better strings though.

On the other hand I Read On The Internet that the nylon version was not planned at first at all, and someone was suspicious as to how much sense it makes to make a nylon version based on the same construction than the steel. Something to do with the tension or whatever.

Quite little experiences found anywhere.

Any thoughts?
 
My understanding, is that Seagull is a division of the Canadian company Godin Instruments. At least that's what was said on the Godin website.
 
Bumping this in the hope of more experiences from someone? I am considering an electric uke, and the Seagull is the only one around the local shops here.

I have tried the steel strung one, but during the about 2x5 minutes I've handled it (unplugged) I didn't really fall in love. I have been playing an acoustic concert with a ~35mm wide nut and didn't find a comfortable home on the Seagull fretboard. Admittedly, I haven't played any steel stringed instrument.

Bazmaz @ Gotaukulele is very picky about narrow nuts, but it surprises me that he found the steel strung Seagull's nut comfortable.

I know the nylon strung version's fretboard is wider, but so are the radia of the strings. I've understood it's 34mm (although the manufacturer itself quotes the same width as the steel version on their website, and it has been copied to many retailers' pages too - but the pics make it clear enough they're not the same).

I also gathered from the guys at Hawaiian Music Supply on YouTube that they liked the steel version better, which worries me as well. They said that the nylon version could be helped with better strings though.

On the other hand I Read On The Internet that the nylon version was not planned at first at all, and someone was suspicious as to how much sense it makes to make a nylon version based on the same construction than the steel. Something to do with the tension or whatever.

Quite little experiences found anywhere.

Any thoughts?

I think you might be overthinking it.

I had the nylon string version.

It's pretty much a normal ukulele, just with a cool "semi-acoustic" design and excellent electronics.
The acoustic sound is OK, but is quieter than most other ukuleles at its price range.
 
Yeah, I do like the design, and it feels very nice on the hands.

Overthinking is whay I do when I can't justify my purchases because of too lazy and/or bad playing :D. Has happened with other hobbies too... But OTOH I realize that hobbies have many dimensions to them.
 
I have the nylon version. Like other Godin Ukuleles the nylon strings feel soft to the hand. The Fretboard for me is comfortable to play.

I don't play it often which is why I plan to sell it. It is one of about 20 ukuleles.
 
I think the steel string model would be the most versatile. Although you may need a pick for strumming.
The steel strings do not usually have problems like thuddy C strings.
You need to check string availability if you do choose steel strings, if the normal acoustic guitar strings will work there is no problem finding them. If you need special strings, you will have a problem because you will need to change the steel strings more often than the plastic strings.

Nylon or steel strings between Ukulele and Guitar are always interchangeable.
You just need to find an appropriate tension.

For a Seagull, based on past experience, you should be able to string it up to GCEA using DGBE strings from a guitar set.
I would probably stick to an electric guitar set. Acoustic guitar strings might be too much tension.

The Seagulls do come with truss rods to handle tension + adjust for strings.
Godin would have a list of recommended tensions somewhere too.
 
I've played many Seagull guitars, and especially like their plain-Jane S6, with solid cedar top, and cherry B&S. Great sound, and very affordable. I wish that Seagull would come out with a tenor uke with these same woods and plain styling, like the S6, with a 1.5" nut. I bet it would be sweet (I love cedar tops), and sell well.

I saw the below pic on a video here today, and thought that's what a Seagull tenor would look like.

20191110_073106.jpg
 
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^ I've played on quite a few Godin company instruments too...not all were Seagulls but some were...I've never played a bad one. I agree. It would definitely be cool if they came out with an uke styled after one of the simpler guitars.
I also think it'd be neat if they did one based on the M4 dulcitar...or the mandolins...Lots of options there.
 
I emailed Seagull with my comments above, and got a response back from Godin support saying they have no plans to make any new models as I suggested, and sent me to the 2 existing thinline models, which I don't like. Too bad.
 
^ I've played on quite a few Godin company instruments too...not all were Seagulls but some were...I've never played a bad one. I agree. It would definitely be cool if they came out with an uke styled after one of the simpler guitars.
I also think it'd be neat if they did one based on the M4 dulcitar...or the mandolins...Lots of options there.

A Godin 5th Avenue Kingpin Archtop guitar (acoustic + P90 pickups) will always be fondly remembered as one of the best guitars I had ever owned.
Sadly sold it. Regretful.
 
I personally don't mind the soprano scale and I think there's a place for one like that in the market (are there any other (semi-)solid body soprano ukes out there!?) but I do wish the fretboard would be roomy (=wide) enough.

Tell you the truth, I'm not sure what is a good width; that's why I hoped for user reports.
 
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