Electric Uke and Amp

thatguywiththeukulele

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what is a good quality electric uke and amp that i can get for an all together price less than 700 USD thanks for the help :D
 
stagg electric uke the and just pick up a beginer fend amp for around 50-75 $
 
It's very easy to get a good electric uke + amp for under $700.
By "Electric uke", I'm going to assume that you're after a solid-body uke (no hollow sound chamber) purely for amplifying electronically.
(ie, not 'acoustic electric')

For the best quality Electric uke, check out the ones made by "Risa" at www.Ukulele.de . They're made in Germany and have the best build quality for solid-body electric ukes.
They have the "Uke-solids", which are nylon string electric ukuleles (I used to have one), and come in Soprano, Concert or Tenor.

Risa also has the cool steel string electric ukes (which I'm saving up for, and would buy if I had a spare $700 lying around). But the steel strings will feel rather different from the traditional ukulele, and feel more like an electric guitar.
They're pretty much electric guitars with a ukulele neck and headstock.

I think Risa have better build quality and parts than the Eleuke, which are from China. I think the Stagg electric ukes are also made in China.
(not that there's anything wrong with being Made in China. It's just that compared to something made in Germany, they may falter in the quality control in comparison).

Now another difference of the Stagg + Eleuke compared to the Risa Uke-solid is that the former take 9 volt batteries and have an "Active" pickup system, whereas the Risa uke stick is "Passive" and takes no batteries.
If you're using an amplifier, there isn't a huge difference between each type, as guitar amps are designed for either pickup types. But an "Active" pickup is more convenient if you want to plug it into a big PA/mixer system directly, such as at a church. And the apparent advantage of a "passive" is that you don't need to worry about batteries running out. You can also use an external pre-amp, DI-box or effects box with a passive pickup to make it active.

Another thing worth mentioning is that the Risa uke-solids have friction tuners, which are a bit more difficult to use than geared tuners (Eleuke + Stagg have geared tuners).

As for amps, does it need to be a big and powerful amp?
Or just something convenient to practice with at home an performing in front of a small audience?
I find that the Roland Cube series of amps work well. The most affordable one being the Roland Microcube.
 
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Check out eleuke.com i think they are more attractive than the risas, and the electronics are just as good.

If you buy an amp dont be tempted by some cheapo one, go with a good brand. for example peavey, fender or marshall are all great amps.
 
Check out eleuke.com i think they are more attractive than the risas, and the electronics are just as good.

If you buy an amp dont be tempted by some cheapo one, go with a good brand. for example peavey, fender or marshall are all great amps.

I owned both the Eleuke and Risa electric ukes :)
Strangely enough, I sold my Risa uke-solid to buy an Eleuke because I felt it would better suit my preferences.

The Risa came with great action (comfortably low), perfect intonation, perfect balance in tone for the strings and great durability. BUT the things I didn't like were:
-Friction tuners (they were good quality, but i prefer geared)
-Passive pickup (I'm too cheap to buy an external pre-amp when plugging into a PA system)
The Risa is a bit more dependent on other equipment, such as amp, pre-amps and effects boxes to boost and refine its raw, passive signal.


The Eleuke came with high action (had to sand the saddle myself), imperfect intonation (it's OK, but not perfect) and isn't as rugged (I bumped the headstock on my desk, and the finish chipped off rather easily). BUT it had the following things I liked:
-Geared tuners (so much more comfortable than friction tuners)
-Active pickup (cleaner, stronger signal direct from the uke + nifty tone/volume knobs).
-Headphone jack, as well as a regular output jack. The newer models also come with an mp3 jack.
And the Eleuke gets bonus points for "looking" more like an instrument. The Eleuke has the advantage of being more "practical" if you're looking for something to plug-n-play anywhere without worrying too much about other equipment to enhance its sound.

Retrospectively, I consider the Risa to have been the 'better' instrument overall due to the quality of the build and parts.
My heart still says that Risa is better in the long term.

I'll probably end up buying another one in future to replace the one I sold. Perhaps I'll go with a Tenor, rather than the Soprano next time.
 
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Brilliant answer there from KISSING.

The ROLAND microcube seems to really be becoming the amp of choice for uke players....I wonder if Roland is aware of this?

Kissing...what is the white electric uke with one f hole in your picture? Is it a Kala? It looks beautiful.
 

The uke is clearly a re-branded Eleuke, just like the Harley Benton electric ukulele.
As for the amp, it looks like a very typical small practice amp.

Though it is quite limited in features compared to the Roland Microcube for the same price.
The thing I like about the Microcube is that not only is it compact and affordable, it's gives you such an extensive selection of amp sounds and effects all in one package.
You choose from 6 different amp-settings (Acoustic, JC Clean, Black Panel, Brit Combo, Classic Stack, Rectifier), each which are imitating a different kind of amp, so its like having 6 amps in 1.
Also it has various effects (Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Tremolo, Delay and Reverb), so it's also an effects box.
And all the other goodies that good amps come with, such as Line-in (for mp3 players, etc), Line-out (for recording, connecting to mixer, headphones) and you can also plug a microphone into it.
There's also a tuning fork, which I'm not really sure how to use for uke.. but it's there lol.

And this is all in the cheap, standard Microcube. It gets even better as you move to the more expensive Roland cubes.
 
ugh, your repeat question has gone from "how do you strum?" to "does it come with a lead" (its an in-joke I have with him).

No, you have to buy your own lead.
But as people have answered in the other topic, leads are quite cheap. Just buy one that is decent, and you won't have to buy another -_-
 
to be honest, i don't remember xD

Apparently you're looking for an electric uke?

Or is it an acoustic-electric u want?
what uke catches your interest at the moment?
 
That looks like a great uke. Don't forget to buy a lead for the amplifier.

In all seriousness, if you are looking at amplification I would try out the Crate line of acoustic amplifiers. In my opinion amps that are dedicated to acoustic-electric instruments sound better than amps voiced for electric instruments. The Crate Taos and Cimarron should be available at a nearby Guitar Center or larger music store. Crate's amps are affordable and sound great.
 
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rofl, you're going for the Kala Archtop tenor.
If you haven't noticed, I have the same one xD


I was gonna recommend getting it from Musicguymic, but he doesn't have it listed at the moment.
Try sending him an email if he can get it in. It may cost a bit more than what you found, but the setup he provides is excellent. Plus he includes the hardcase for free.

As for the uke itself, it sounds rather gentle acoustically. It's loud enough to hear and sing along to, but it is not that loud and will be difficult to hear over other instruments.
If you were looking for something loud that really projects acoustically, this is not it. It's very good for quiet practice without being too disturbing though. Or some recording in front of the microphone.

However, with an amplifier, it sounds rather superb. I like to use mine on the Roland Microcube on the JC Clean setting with a bit of Chorus.
It doesn't distort well though, since it has an acoustic body making it prone to feedback. It sounds best in clean channels, which you can add effects to if you want.

I currently have it tuned down to DGBE tuning with "high D" to replace my Baritone (which I gave to my sister).

edit: Don't forget to get a lead
 
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That's the Eleuke I own I think it's a lot prettier than a lot of their other designs, but it appears to be discontinued (?)
We've got some pretty cool "jazz-styled" EleUkes coming in the next few months with that F hole. If I remember correctly, We'll have both single cutaway and full bodied styles.... I'll post here when they hit the US.
 
could you possibly explain to me what the mp3 input on Eleuke's is? Probably I'm being really stupid here, but I just don't get it. Does it mean you can play an mp3 through your uke on top of what you play with your hands? I'm pretty sure this is my next instrument regardless, but I'd love to know what this feature does.
 
Basically, you plug an mp3 player (like an ipod, for example) into the mp3 jack using a 2-way cable (provided).
And whatever is playing in the mp3 player will be mixed with the ukulele's output.

Ahh, a demonstration!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjrB7lj8VzU
 
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