Solid Body Electrics?

Mogate

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Looking for a decent but fairly inexpensive solid body electric so I can practice and not wake my kid or annoy my wife (even more). Intrigued by the Mahalo EUK-200 but that
 
Steel string or nylon?

On the steel string side the Vorson/Clearwater is pretty good value for cost, with the standard cheap uke caveat that quality control may be highly variable. I had to adjust action and intonation on mine, but I didn’t need to do anything drastic. I’ve heard of others having bigger problems. If you want better you’ll need to spend more: check out Risa and Fanner.

https://www.gotaukulele.com/2019/06/vorson-flpuk-2-lp-clearwater-ucwlvs.html?m=1

I’m not aware of any good nylon string solid bodies on a budget. Godin and Pono chambered ukes have a great rep at a price. Godin’s Seagull brand may still have a less expensive model (nope: not solid body. https://www.gotaukulele.com/2018/02/seagull-uke-steel-sg-burst-eq-electro.html?m=1 )
 
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A Risa Stick might be what you are looking for. It has the added advantage of being easy to pack in a carry-on.
 
I recently was also looking for a solid body electric uke to practice at night. However, it seems they are generally low quality, so I decided to just make a mute for my ukulele. The mute works really well; I should post a video sometime. Basically, it is just a piece of pipe insulator fitted on the strings to dampen their amplitude so you still have the sounds of the ukulele when strum normally but quieter.
 
Here's how to make a practice mute for less than $1

 
Looks like I never finished my original post. Intrigued by the look of the Mahalo EUK-200 but it seems to have quality control issues and is not worth the money. I'd be willing to go up to around $300-350 for now so long as the quality is there.

Not particular on steel or nylon so long as the quality of the instrument is there. I also like the idea of a direct headphone jack, which the Vorson's don't seem to have. The UFO looks awesome and that review is glowing but that's a little more than I'd like to spend. Also think I'd like a concert size and most everything is tenor but am willing to compromise.
 
Magic Fluke SB20 solid body are decent value for money.

Is it just me, or does charging $15 for side fret markers seem unnecessarily petty? Not having side markers is something I would expect from a cheap import, not a fairly-expensive US-built instrument.
 
Is it just me, or does charging $15 for side fret markers seem unnecessarily petty? Not having side markers is something I would expect from a cheap import, not a fairly-expensive US-built instrument.

I know this annoys a lot of people and fair enough; everyone has their own deal breakers. For me, I quite like my Fluke SB, and while I would have liked if the side dots had been included (heck, I wish the whole thing were 50% cheaper!), I’m very happy with my purchase and think it sounds & plays great!
 
Is it just me, or does charging $15 for side fret markers seem unnecessarily petty? Not having side markers is something I would expect from a cheap import, not a fairly-expensive US-built instrument.

I think sometimes the item is sold cheaply and money is made up in the accessories/options, e.g. printers. So long as you don't go for the options, then the item is below market price.
 
Magic Fluke SB20 solid body are decent value for money.

This does seem like a neat ukulele, walnut looks pretty good; not too expensive and US-made.
Now I'm interested... but I already have 7 ukuleles... hmmm, decisions , decisions..
 
Well, I pulled the trigger on the Magic Fluke SB-20 Tenor and don't think I'm going to regret it.

Now to figure out amps, chords, etc... I guess there are more expensive hobbies/vices.
 
Hi there!

There are a couple of solid body Ponos on ebay right now for around $750... not sure what cheap means to you... But there are scads of cheaply made ones available as well there... They are usually styled like tiny electric guitars. Depends on your budget I suppose, but if you want to play it only occasionally it might be ok to buy a more "mass production" quality uke and deal with the limitations...

Bill
 
The Pono solid/chambered body uke isn’t quiet, if that’s what you want. My wife could hear me two rooms away, I returned due to damage during shipping, but I would have returned it due to how loud it was. For quiet you need a solid body, no chamber. My Jonathon Mann uke is great quiet playing or connect to a Line 6 Pocket Pod with headphones for lots of fun.
 
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Well, I pulled the trigger on the Magic Fluke SB-20 Tenor and don't think I'm going to regret it.

Now to figure out amps, chords, etc... I guess there are more expensive hobbies/vices.

Hope you like it. I tried one in the store not that long ago, and while I really did like how it played, I just couldn't get past the shape. Why couldn't they have made something that was easier to hold? And that didn't require a strap to play?
 
Hope you like it. I tried one in the store not that long ago, and while I really did like how it played, I just couldn't get past the shape. Why couldn't they have made something that was easier to hold? And that didn't require a strap to play?

Got it yesterday and loving it so far. Great action and playability. Absolutely beautiful instrument I look forward to playing for many years to come.

Any amp suggestions? Looking for something small for practice that'll be versatile enough to support distortion/effects for experimenting with sound but also work well when I eventually get an electro-acoustic.
 
Got it yesterday and loving it so far. Great action and playability. Absolutely beautiful instrument I look forward to playing for many years to come.

Any amp suggestions? Looking for something small for practice that'll be versatile enough to support distortion/effects for experimenting with sound but also work well when I eventually get an electro-acoustic.

The best small amp for these purposes I have used to date is the VOX Soundbox mini.
https://voxamps.com/product/soundbox-mini/

Upon side by side comparison, it just blew everything else away in terms of sound quality, features and solid construction.
Unfortunately they're a little hard to find.

Similar sized small VOX amps, as well as Roland Microcubes will also do the trick.
 
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