Lanikai vs Eleuke

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Tamblyn

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I have been playing for a few months now and definitely want to upgrade from my $30 uke. I don't need anything too professional my price range is up to $300 (Aus) and I want an acoustic electric ukulele. I have had trouble finding a store with a decent range of instruments that I can play but I have found a concert lanikai and a concert eleuke both acoustic electric I like them both I think they sound reasonably similar to my ear. The eleuke had a hotter pickup (guy in the store described it this way). I can't find much info abou eleuke acoustic electric and was wondering what some more expert opinions are on quality sound etc, which one do you think i should go for? Thanks, JT.
 
Aloha Tamblyn,
Welcome to the UU and our forums...you are fortunate you can go in the store to try them before you buy...play them side to side for a comparison which you like better for sound, intonation, comfort and playability......if you cannot ask the salesman to play then for you and listen and ask his opinion too.. Good Luck and let us know what you get...Happy Strummngs...I hope it helps..MM Stan
 
Welcome to UU! I don't know much about acoustic electric Ukes, but just wanted to echo what mm stan said, go for which ever one you find suits your needs, if you want to, you could search YouTube for sound samples of each one as both acoustic and as electric and see which one you prefer, this isn't always the best way to do it, but can help with that decision.

Be sure to let us know which one you choose!

Keep Uke'in
 
personally i wouldn't get an acoustic electric, i would get an acoustic kala and a solid body eleuke, both concert. my reason why is i find acoustic electrics dont sound great acoustic or electric.
 
Well I don't know about that. I think it depends on the instrument and its electronics and what it's being plugged into and what's being used between it and the amp. Solid bodies are handy though.
 
mrjewkulele said:
personally i wouldn't get an acoustic electric, i would get an acoustic kala and a solid body eleuke, both concert. my reason why is i find acoustic electrics dont sound great acoustic or electric.
Click to expand...

Plainsong said:
Well I don't know about that. I think it depends on the instrument and its electronics and what it's being plugged into and what's being used between it and the amp. Solid bodies are handy though.
Click to expand...
Short story: Last night I was at a uke jam at a local music store. We were all learning "Vida La Vida" by coldplay and we were all really in sinc (a rare occurance for this group of begginers:p)... anywho, we had a self-proclaimed "guitar player just messin' around" who grabbed one of the store's solid body eleukes. In the past when I've played with a bunch of acoustics and someone throws an electric in the mix, the electric overpowers everyone and is just kind of annoying. This time (this guy new what he was doing) the settings on the uke and the amp where such that I forgot that there was an electric there. I listened in and it sounded just like an acoustic and wasn't overpowering. He enjoyed it because he was able to stick with that electric vibe he's used to and it was nice having him there.

Soooooo, long story short (too late)... I agree, it does depend on how you dial in the uke and amp. I've also played with someone who plugged their eleuke into a distortion pedal and wahwah pedal and it mixed in very nicely, then someone would nod at him and he'd hit a solo... I'm not sure if I'll ever own an electric, but I'm glad other people do.
 
mythidiot said:
Short story: Last night I was at a uke jam at a local music store. We were all learning "Vida La Vida" by coldplay and we were all really in sinc (a rare occurance for this group of begginers:p)... anywho, we had a self-proclaimed "guitar player just messin' around" who grabbed one of the store's solid body eleukes. In the past when I've played with a bunch of acoustics and someone throws an electric in the mix, the electric overpowers everyone and is just kind of annoying. This time (this guy new what he was doing) the settings on the uke and the amp where such that I forgot that there was an electric there. I listened in and it sounded just like an acoustic and wasn't overpowering. He enjoyed it because he was able to stick with that electric vibe he's used to and it was nice having him there.

Soooooo, long story short (too late)... I agree, it does depend on how you dial in the uke and amp. I've also played with someone who plugged their eleuke into a distortion pedal and wahwah pedal and it mixed in very nicely, then someone would nod at him and he'd hit a solo... I'm not sure if I'll ever own an electric, but I'm glad other people do.
Click to expand...

:agree: I've only heard electrics on YT, but I do think it's a case of how you play and the amp and the Uke
 
So if any one was interested I went into the music store the other day with the intention of buying my new Uke. I ended up with neither of my first two preferences and ended up with an acoustic electric Kala Concert size solid top mahogany with a Shadow pickup. I felt it had a better acoustic feel than the other two, it was a little bit out of my original price range but I convinced my self that a better quality intrument now would actually save me money later on because i wont need to upgrade again or at least i hope :p
Thanks for everyones posts, comments and opinions, love this site!
JT
 
mrjewkulele said:
personally i wouldn't get an acoustic electric, i would get an acoustic kala and a solid body eleuke, both concert. my reason why is i find acoustic electrics dont sound great acoustic or electric.
Click to expand...

Hi everyone - this is my first post! I'm a saxophonist with some guitar skills and last weekend I borrowed a low-end Lanakai to play a song with a party band. I fell in love with the uke (not the particular instrument) and everyone loved it!
I did immediately realize that I needed a better instrument and one with a pickup - mic-ing it sure isn't practical for my scenario!
I've tried out the Fender and Ibanez acoustic-electrics, but have not been able to try the Eleuke eas-c.
That was my precise question - will the Eleuke acoustic-electric sound good unplugged?
It's the only one of the three with solid construction, plus the company sounds top notch and it's the cheapest or same as Ibanez in tenor form.

Between the Fender, Ibanez, and Eleuke, what would I be most happy with?

Thanks so much - fabulous forum!!!
 
The Eleuke is a solid body, which means it has no soundhole, no hollow body that will carry the sound. This means unplugged it's very quiet. It does have a headphone out, which you could plug something like Koss Portapros into and play without disturbing anyone. You can even plug an iPod into it.

I so want to love the Fender. That tele headstock... yum. But out all three brands, it's Eleuke that is actually taking an active interest in what players want. There are lots of uke brands out there, you're not limited to what you can find in a store. And in terms of money, you can spend as little or as much as you like. :)

Welcome to UU!
 
Wow... I can't believe I overlooked that on the Eleuke!
Ugh.
Any suggestions on an acoustic with electric pickup in the $200 range?

Thanks for your patience!
 
I know I accidentally said solid wood construction. I meant the Eleuke is not made from laminate wood.
Looking on Eleuke's site, it looks like the EAS-C model is hollow.
It looks like you can see into the tone hole in this picture:
easC.jpg


Does anyone know how this sounds when it's not plugged in?
 
Hey! I see your questions now!

I would go with neither 3 you mentioned. Unless some of the new tonewoods were available by Eleuke. Though it is hard to get an electric concert. I would opt more for the Kala and Lanikai ukes. I do have some prototype acoustic Eleukes in concert rhat have a passive pickup in them, but they are in the $250 range. One is solid mahogany and one is solid Spruce/Rosewoods. But they are quite different than the current Eleukes. The nice thing about the new acoustic Eleukes though is that they do have tone and volume controls easily accessable on the top. Acoustic wise I would go with the spruce acoustic over the mahogany.
 
although I love my Lanikai!, would i change it for an eleuke? to be honest, probably not :S

I wouldn't feel comfortable taking it around y'know? I take mine to uni, work, beach, everywhere! eleuke? would i? no.
 
Personally, i would go for a lanikai. i just think it would perform much better when you want to play it when its not amplified! I wish you the best in your purchasing decision!
 
Eleukes are pretty darn durable though. It's become the default travel uke... at least until I maybe put a PU in the Flea, then it becomes a choice of personal preference.

What's making the Eleuke default for travel is that we're addicted to this white noise Rainshower soundtrack while we sleep. I can't even begin to sleep without it. The Mobile Cube is great at being the speakers. If we're taking the Mobile Cube, may as well take something to plug into it...

But the eleuke is plenty durable. As uke players we're spoiled for choice as to what to take with us. They're all portable. :)
 
avantworld said:
Looking on Eleuke's site, it looks like the EAS-C model is hollow.
It looks like you can see into the tone hole in this picture:
easC.jpg
Click to expand...
If you do end up getting the Acoustic Electric Eleuke, I would recomend the spruce top (or the acacia if you can find one).
 
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