A few Eleuke questions...

(the) Indigo Getdown

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Hey everyone, feels like I haven't been on here in a long time. Still lurking pretty regularly, but its been a while since I last posted.

Anyway, I'm picking up my quest to acquire an electric uke in a few months and the Eleukes have really caught my eye. Forgive my ignorance, but can you play these through a regular guitar amp? Is a smaller sized amp of any benefit to an electric ukulele?

I'm also wondering if some of you folks who've gotten your hands on a Peanut could briefly talk about your experiences with that particular model. I'll probably end up leaning more towards a Tenor size...but I'm tryin to keep an open mind while I'm still at the browsing phase.

Oh, and speaking of which, if anybody wants to throw another brand out there, please do. Like I said, trying to keep an open mind at this point.

Thanks!
 
I've been in the same boat- the electric market that is... Eleuke stood out to me due to the MP3 jack output so you can use your headphones to play...BUT I'm stuck because if ii'm looking to put down so much $$$ i have been considering an electric PONO or something higher in quality that is also acoustic... too bad i didn't win that recent megamillions
 
I play my eleuke through my fender amp, into my iMac with garage band, and in headphones all the time. It's my travel uke since it's so sturdy. It just looks sexy, and I bought it from Mim. I would buy it again.
 
I purchased a peanut from Mim and I'm really happy with it. I don't see a reason a guitar amp wouldn't work with one, but I haven't really tried. I use a little honeytone amp because I didn't need anything more than that. One of the reasons I wanted an electric uke is for quiet playing. With the peanut (and all other Eleukes), I like that I can plug in headphones and also plug my iPad into it to watch tutorials and not disturb anyone else in the room. The peanut travels well because of its size and solid body, setup from Mim is fantastic and the playability is great, but with the closed geared tuners, I find it headstock heavy. I definitely need a strap to play comfortably with it.
 
A guitar amp is fine. You can get away with a small amp too as you don't need to support the bass of a normal guitar. The appeal of an eleuke for me is really the headphone jack. It does have a little bit of a hum with headphones, but that is not an issue on the amp. The real difference over an acoustic with a pickup is the ability to play quietly. And when you use effects on it, you don't have to blast it to mask the acoustics of a hollow body.
 
1. Using a guitar amp is the whole point of an Eleuke. There's no real such thing as an "ukulele amp". Well there is, but it's not all that much different to a guitar amp.

2. Bigger the amp, *generally* better the output. You get a fuller sound, more head room, etc. However, your Eleuke will sound less and less like a ukulele and more like an electric guitar :)
 
I use a cheap solid state guitar amp of I think 40 watts with my eleuke. It works fine. Sounds just like a louder ukulele because of the nylon strings. Of course you can keep the volume as low as you like and the amp gives you a bit more control over the tone withe the bass and treble knobs. The amp makes it very unforgiving of my style of playing because it picks up every error I make.
 
I have a MIM setup tenor sunburst solid body (I bought it used from someone who got it from MIM.) It is VERY easy to play, excellent action. It is beyond fun to put on headphones and play but even more fun through a not-terribly-expensive Fender Mustang. The amp lets you set up various presets and you can download more from the website--they transfer to the amp via a USB connection. You can get anything from classic Brit electric guitar sound to dirty heavy metal. Quite versatile.

I'm working on a song project for a friend who sings gospel, trying to use eleuke, keyboard and such mixed in an arrangement with some mixing software. I went with a tenor because that's what I like to play--the neck is narrower than on my acoustic uke and it's very easy to play and I have the greater range of frets.
 
Hey everyone, feels like I haven't been on here in a long time. Still lurking pretty regularly, but its been a while since I last posted.

Anyway, I'm picking up my quest to acquire an electric uke in a few months and the Eleukes have really caught my eye. Forgive my ignorance, but can you play these through a regular guitar amp? Is a smaller sized amp of any benefit to an electric ukulele?

I'm also wondering if some of you folks who've gotten your hands on a Peanut could briefly talk about your experiences with that particular model. I'll probably end up leaning more towards a Tenor size...but I'm tryin to keep an open mind while I'm still at the browsing phase.

Oh, and speaking of which, if anybody wants to throw another brand out there, please do. Like I said, trying to keep an open mind at this point.

Thanks!

Ear buds, computer speakers, guitar amps...all work. I picked up a NIB Fender SP-10 for $20, works great!
 
I have an Eleuke Mahogany soprano. Part/most of the reason I got it originally was for playing on headphones when everyone's asleep. BUT I just got a Roland MicroCube amp, and WOW! Soooo pretty! Makes the Eleuke sound like a million bucks! Yep, it sounds more like an electric guitar, but I don't care. I have plenty of acoustic ukuleles (see my .sig file!). There's someone next door that sometimes does garage band music...I sooo want to go join! LOL!

Mousie
 
I just got a little Smokey amp for my tenor Eleuke, it fits in the top compartment of the gig bag easily. It's nice if you want to play quietly to a couple of people, it's way too "dirty" for me to play louder than that. Otherwise, we play the Eleuke through any of the other amps in the house and it's great for what it is; a solid body electric `ukulele.
 
I'm thinking about getting a Peanut. What is the body made of?

Also, can you use the same amp for an Eleuke and an acoustic/electric uke?
 
Thanks for the input everyone, I figued as much but wasn't sure as most of the Eleuke videos I've seen feature those mini-amps. I have a couple Marshall amps, one's a small practice amp and the other's a twin stack....they should do nicely ;)

I'm really leaning Tenor right now if only because an amped up instruments seems to scream for more neck room, but still not sure. And if I do end up going the Eleuke route, I'll certainly be ordering from Mim. I've heard waaay too many good things not too.
 
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