Winners of the Ukeeku.com Acoustic Challenge 2012 Are…
February 20, 2012 at 11:42 pm | Posted in General, Giveaway | 7 CommentsTags: BugsGear, Eleuke, Giveaway, Kala, NAMM, Play, uke, ukulele
Without further a do…the Grand Prize Winner is……
Dana of Malibu CA!!! for her video of Teen Spirit
There were so many great entries, and sorting through 163 was crazy. I could not be happier with the turn out of this contest. You all made it a hard choice, but out of all of them Dana( also known a ukuleleginge on UU) stuck out. It was innovative, fun, and very well done. So everyone congratulate her.
HERE is a link to all the videos that were submitted to YouTube.
What about the rest of you?
Good question. I wanted to send everyone something, but when it came down to it I had to limit it to 15 people, very sorry. To Send out 71 Kazoos would have been really expensive. I am not going to name all of them, since some have not been contacted, but I do know the winner of the other Eleuke!
Michael (Known as ReaderMO on UU) from Omaha NE was the lucky winner!! I think he made 12 videos? so he had 12 entries to win at random.
Some of the other prizes are a bunch of cool stuff I was able to get at NAMM, one being a press bag with a ton of stuff like stickers and other fun things.
I will be contacting 13 others to tell you if you have won at least a few Ukeeku.com stickers and a Ukeeku.com branded Kazoo.
The Kazzoos
All the winners are going to get a gold Ukeeku.com Kazzoos. I have pulled all the gold ones for this contest, so if you see one you will know that that person is a real winner, or at least at this contest they are.
Thank you all for entering, it was so awesome!!
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Eleuke EAS-C Acoustic Full Review
April 11, 2011 at 3:34 am | Posted in Concert, Eleuke | 5 CommentsTags: BugsGear, cheap, Electric, Eleuke, Full review, Laminate, posts, review, Solid, uke, ukulele
A little over a year ago I was able to review a solid body concert Eleuke (the CCK100BL-MP3, review here) and I really liked it, so did the guy I was able to give it to. All I ever knew Eleuke as was a solid body ukulele with really cool electronics. A uke you could play and listen to with your headphones without bothering everyone around you. Now they have acoustic models? I was so confused, and many people that I showed it to ask the same question “Why did they make that?” My only answer was “Because they could!!” and I am really happy they did. I see the need and how it is still as relevant as the solid body ones. Sure you can’t be as discreet with it but really it is still awesome to have an instrument that you don’t need headphones to hear and you can plug your mp3 player into it and a set of headphones and play a long, how cool is that? Another thing that I do is plug the headphones in and plug it into my amp, kind of works as a monitor so you know how well you are playing. The cool thing about Eleuke is that they keep coming up with new products and they also listen to their customers. I am pretty sure people had asked for this uke and they delivered. (Keep your eyes peeled for the peanut)
Read on to see what I thought of this ukulele.
And did I mention that I am giving away 2 of these? Stay tuned for more after Banjo Uke week April 17-23.
Specs:
Concert : 19 3/4 Frets (E and A have 2 more than G and C)
Tuners: Silver Sealed Geared
Nut & saddle: Bone
Top: Solid Spruce
Sides: Rosewood Laminate
Back: Rosewood Laminate
Neck: Mahogany with a Rosewood fretboard
String Attachment: Tie
Finish: Matte
Pickup: Under saddle piezo Eleuke custom pickup. MP3 Input, headphone output, 1/4 inch output
Case: Super padded Custom bag
Full Specs:
http://www.eleukeusa.com/item/eleuke-acoustic-electric-spruce.html
Looks
First look: (4) I would give it a 3 if it was not for the off center sound hole and the fretboard coming down into the body really far. Honestly from a far it is pretty plain, it is the sound hole and the knobs sticking out that will grab many people’s attention. If it was not for those two things it would look like any other plain Jane uke with a spruce top. I wish it had some binding to cover the laminate edges and that they would make a nicer headstock logo, instead of the gold that blends into the wood.
Body Shot
Side shot of the solid Spruce top
Fit and Finish: (3) I think I have the first 2 off the boat so they may have fixed the issues, but the review ones I received have some issues. The first one I received had the sound hole all beat up and some minor finish issues that are hard to see unless you look at an angle in the right light (Yes I look at everything) also both have some rough edges that needed to be sanded down. I think these things are the result of keeping it under $200. NOTE: When I had the sound hole issue they fixed it right away and I know these people, they stand behind all products they sell.
Sound:
Sound Type: Mellow, but clear, plugged in it is smooth and not over driving. You can really tell that it is an acoustic
Nice Knobs!
Intonation: (4) Found that it is about 5% off at the 12th fret. Not uncommon for most inexpensive ukes. If you are super sensitive about that kind of thing then don’t get this one unless you are willing to have it professionally setup. 99% of players would never notice. The nut is pretty low, so the issue of going sharp on the first fret will not happen.
Volume: (4) The top is solid spruce and respectably thin. It could be louder, it seems to not want to push the sound out as much as I thought it would. In the end it is not bad, but could be better.
Sustain: (3) Not super long. Seems to die quickly. in some ways this is good since it is meant to be plugged in.
Feel:
String Height: (medium) It is good, not awesome.
Neck RadiusDepth: (3/4″) Basic C shaped neck.
Frets: (3) The first one I received the frets are perfect, dressed right. The second one is not as good and you can feel them all the way down the side of the neck. I would expect it from a cheaper instrument.
Tuning: (5) I do like traditional friction tuners, but it seems that few mass produced ukes do that anymore. These are nice and easy to tune with. Kind of wished it had a built-in tuner, which would be nice.
Comfort: (4)You don’t notice how heavy the solid body Eleukes are. The battery and other electronics make this acoustic version feel heavy. Still easy to play, I wish they would round the corners a little more; it leaves a line in my arm that feels like it is cutting in a bit.
Sound Hole Smell:Glue
Final Thoughts
I don’t want to leave you with the feeling that I don’t like this ukulele. I think it is a weird mix of compromises. On one hand it sells for under $200, but it has a ton of features like solid spruce top, sealed tuners, and a custom Eleuke pick-up system with a personal amp. To do this, things like binding, better back and side woods, and maybe quality had to be compromised a little bit to keep affordable.
When it comes down to it I would say this is a good all-around uke for someone who can only have one ukulele and they need it to be durable, play pretty well, and have a pick-up in it. The heavy gig bag alone is worth $25, and the pick-up system would be $100, so the $80 you pay for the actual instrument seems to be dead on for the quality.
All Rating on a scale of 1-5
Click here for an explanation of reviews
| First Look | 4 |
| Fit and Finish | 3 |
| Sound Type | Mellow, nice plugged in |
| Intonation | 4 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Sustain | 3 |
| String Height | Medium |
| Neck Radius Depth | 3/4″ |
| Frets | 3 |
| Tuning | 5 |
| Comfort | 4 |
| Sound Hole Smell | Glue |
Mic
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- Laminate back
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- In its case
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- Body Shot
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- Electronics seen from the soundhole
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- Headphone and MP3 jacks
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- Nice Knobs!
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- Side shot of the solid Spruce top
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Family Photo 2011
January 1, 2011 at 5:48 pm | Posted in Family Photos, General | 2 CommentsTags: banjo, banjolele, BugsGear, cheap, cigar, cigar box, DIY, Electric, Eleuke, home made, Laminate, laser, Oscar Schmidt, OU-2, posts, uke, ukulele
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! And what a year!
Just like last year I am posting all the ukes that are at my house currently. Some are my personal ukes, while others are reviews pending or have not been sent back or given away…..yet.
Click to make it bigger
* The blue one is my customized Oscar Schmidt OU-2
* David Gill Concert Pineapple (Link to review)
* Lanikai CK-S
Eleuke EAS-C – I actually have 2 of these, funny story that I will tell later
Kiwaya KS-1
BigIsland KT-SP (Link to review)
*Papa’s Boxes Concert cigar box (Link to reviews)
*Nameless soprano banjo ukulele (Link to articles)
*Bushman Jenny Concert cutaway – Will be leaving next month, she is sold
Paulele KBUS – Review almost done
Kala KA-SSTU (Travel soprano)
* Makala Dolphin that I got for the Reddit secret santa
* Early Papa’s Boxes cigar box uke (Link)
* Grizzly Kit- will throw in fire at UWC
* Risa soprano Solid – Sitting in front of the lat 3
Cordoba 25CB – Review very soon
Ohana SK-21 – better known as the sopranino
Cordoba 10CM (Link to review)
aNueNue Papa II concert (Link to review)
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Summer NAMM 2010
June 22, 2010 at 2:49 am | Posted in Eleuke, Events, Papas Boxes, Products, Shows | 5 CommentsTags: BugsGear, Chris Martin, cigar, cigar box, Eleuke, Kala, laser, posts, Solid, uke, ukulele
I love tradeshows. I like meeting new people and seeing new stuff. I have been to a few technology shows since by day I do computer stuff and am also a computer nerd along with a ukulele nut. Both actually come in handy from time to time.
The atmosphere at NAMM is over whelming in so many ways. You want to look at everything and the noise from all the instruments is deafening at times. It made it real hard to hear the instruments or to take any kind of video that you could hear anything on. The summer NAMM is pretty much just one giant room, not like winter, so I am told, were it is several floors and there is an acoustic floor. I really hope I can make it to that one.
Mim From Mimsukes.com with here Ohana sopranino
While at NAMM I talked with a ton of people and vendors about everything about ukuleles, straps, and home recording. I have about 30 different business cards from the vendors alone and I also made a couple connections with people that sell them like Mim from Mim’s Ukes. She Has a Hawaiian shaved ice store and she also sells ukuleles there (and online) in Charlotte North Carolina. Also in the post before this I have a pic of Chris Martin of martin guitars holding 2 of his ukes.
Funny story about Meeting Chris Martin, I actually almost knocked him over coming out of the Martin booth, so I stopped and asked if I could take his picture and he said sure. The funny part was that I texted 2 of my friends that were with me that I had just met Chris Martin. They thought I met the Chris Martin from Coldplay. It was not until I showed them the picture that they realized who I actually met. and for the record I would rather meet the Chris Martin that I met. Very cool and nice enough to talk with me for 5 minutes
Cool stuff that I saw:
Bamboo Pauleles
Bamboo ukes from Kiwaya called Pauleles. Played nicely and I am hoping that I will have a chance to review one along with their Kiwaya KS-1. I don’t have a picture since it was not at NAMM, but Cordoba is also coming out with a bamboo uke very soon.
Banjo ukuleles from Morgan Monroe, and they are under $300 street price!!! That to me seems like one of the holy grails right now. They are loud and really well built. I am hoping that sometime in November, when they catch up with orders, to get one in my hands to review and show people.
Morgan Monroe Banjo Ukulele
- Morgan Monroe Resonator Banjo Ukulele
Mahalo Camp Ukulele
So, I was at the Saga Music booth looking at the Mahalos and I see what I know to be a camp ukulele, but I look at it and it says banjo ukulele. I scratched my head and laughed a little. An owner of a music shop wanted to know what I was laughing at. She thought I was being condescending about the products on the wall. Yes they are on the lower end, but they are still ok. I said to her “that is not a banjo ukulele” She asked then what is it because she has one in her store an no one will buy it. I told her that it is a camp ukulele, I have seen several of them and it is called that. She rushed over and grabbed the sales guy and told him “you need to talk to this young man, he knows his stuff!!” I proceed to tell him what it is and he pulls out a pen and changes the name of it on the little tag hanging with it and tells the marketing guy to also change the name in the catalog. It was a good feeling to have someone change something because you recommend it. Excuse me as I go deflate my huge head.
Maholo Wall
Felix Bass
One of the interesting ukuleles I saw were the Oriolo ukes. The Oriolo family owns Felix the cat and the brothers decided to start a guitar company. They look fun. I like the way they did the base with Felix’s head, his nose is a knob of some sort.
Grapic on a Orio Guitar
Felix Ukulele
Riptide Golf Ukulele
On the topic of interesting design, Boulder Creek Guitars had a booth showing off their guitars and ukuleles. They are the ones with the off-set front sound hole and one on the side. They have the regular laminate mahogany and a line of solid wood ukes, but they are also coming out with a couple with a printed top. The designs are fun. One with a wave and the other with a golf theme.
Riptide Wave Ukulele
For completely crazy design I would give that to Eleuke. A “tie dye” electric. I like the idea, I am not in love with the colors they used.
Eleuke Tie Dye
Kala Pocket Uke
We cannot leave Kala out. They had all of their well known products like the U-bass, and that is all the guitar and bass people talked about, and the travel ukuleles. They had 2 things that I really thought were cooler than everything else. The pocket uke and the new 10 watt “Round about” amps.
Kala Round About Amps
The last new thing that I will talk about is from Papas Boxes. I did not even know they were going to be there. I just ran into their booth. They now make whole ukuleles and they are beautiful. They use lasers to etch the boxes and cut the holes. It was fun to go to a booth where the owner is really happy to meet you. I think they will be very successful with their new instruments along with the kits.
Papa's Boxes
A couple I lusted after:
A Collings
I can dream can’t I? I had to stop by the Collings booth. I played the one pictured and it is like butter. I also played a Santa Cruz, and a few of the high end Big Island Ukuleles ( I was able to take their least expensive home for a review, a SP-KRGT, so watch the site for the review). Also while I was at the Kiwya booth Augutino LoPrinzi ukuleles was also in the same booth. Very very nice ukuleles. the one pictured was really neat with the 2 shoulder holes, very loud. If I say loud I mean it, it was loud in the convention center.
LoPrinzi Ukulele
The other side:
Crappyleles
Ukuleles are popular. They are blowing up. I heard from several companies that their ukuleles sales are 75% of their sales in the last few months, so with that people want to jump into it also. I saw several like the ones below that are toys and not real instruments by any means. that makes me mad. Just don’t make them or carry them if they are such junk.
Not sure how I feel about ukulele lamps. I want one, don’t get me wrong, I just feel bad for the little guy.
Uke Lamps
I need to thank all the vendors that I talked to, I am a total spaz at times and I was also sweating like crazy, so embarrassing. Also my two friends, Paul and Marc, for hanging with me and not beating me while trying to leave and I get lost at another booth that caught my eye, and spreading the word about Ukeeku to everyone you saw.
I really want to go to winter NAMM in Anaheim CA, time will tell.
Eleuke Concert Full Review
March 23, 2010 at 3:28 am | Posted in Brands, Concert, Eleuke, Reviews | 37 CommentsTags: BugsGear, Electric, Eleuke, Full review, posts, review, Solid, Strap, uke, ukulele
Full Front View
Imagine if back in the day when Led Zeppelin was forming and Jimmy Page decided that his main instrument would be a ukulele!!! If that did happen, and Eleuke was making these ukuleles, he would have played it. I think Led Zeppelin would have been even bigger than they were!…….. Maybe not, But it would have been cool to see.
When someone says ukulele most think of the standard design of a 3 inch deep hollow box with a wood neck, with the wood grain showing, and friction tuners. They don’t think of a 1/2″ thick solid sparkle blue ukulele with a cut away body, geared tuners, no sound hole, and 3 jacks in the end. But why NOT! Uke players can rock out with the best of them gosh darn it!!! (Gotta keep it family friendly) And with the personal MP3 player input you can rock out along with the best of them without disturbing the whole house when you use the built in amp with your headphones plugged in
Eleuke was nice enough to send me a concert sized eleuke a few weeks ago and below is the full review, enjoy.
Specs:
Full Rear View
Model: CCK100BL-MP3
Concert : 19 Fret
Bridge & Saddle : Rosewood
Nut : Rosewood
Pickup : Eleuke original
Output : 1/4″ Phone Jack, H/P output
Input: MP3 Input with connection cable for your MP3 player to play along with backing track.
String : Aquila
Peg : Closed Gear chrome
Bag : Softbag Included
Looks
First look: (4) Its Bright blue, you can’t miss it. My 2009 Honda Civic is the same color (Atomic Blue) I like it because it makes a statement. For some it may not be to their liking, but you can get these in a pineapple, natural wood (Really cool looking since they do strips of different wood), and they also come in purple and red. One of the details that is really hard to photograph is the sparkle in the paint. It looks like car paint, which is not uncommon and means that it is a really sturdy finish. With the mother of pearl binding around the edge of the body and fret board it makes it look like a well made instrument that people took care in making.
My only real turn-off is with the headstock. It has mother of pearl inlay around the body and the position markers, but the headstock logo and design is screen printed on in a flat gold. Just takes away from the overall look.
Headstock
Close-up of the paint
Fit and Finish: (5) When making and instrument there are telltale signs that it is quality. One of them is smoothness of the edges. Every edge has been rounded (Except the bridge where you want it to be crisp). The paint is perfect with no weird blotches. I will say at first I was worried about the paint because it will look kind of dark at the edges when you look at it at an angle. I think this is a two part thing with the sparkle and major thick gloss finish they use.
Other things like the fret board are also just great. The frets are filed back with no edges to catch on. Every joint and part that is not suppose to have paint on it was handled very well. You can tell that it was taped because you can see a small micro space around the fret board at the body from the tape. Not noticeable unless you A) have your face an inch away looking for it , or B) just too picky and expecting a sub $200 ukulele to not have any tiny finish flaws. Either way top notch.
Sound
Sound Type : Depends on where you have the tone knob. All the way down it is mellow and muted, all the way up sharp and tinny.
Intonation: (4) The intonation is not perfect, but I have yet to find a ukulele that is perfect from the factory. With a professionals help it would take a little time to shape the saddle to make it perfect. The only people that would notice are those who are crazy sensitive to pitch. No matter where you play on the fret board it will sound really awesome and right.
Regular Jack, Headphone, MP3 Player in
Volume: (NA) How big is your amp? Unplugged you can hear it, kind of, it is a solid body electric. If you plug this baby into a Marshall double stack and crank it, you could level a house, if that is how you roll. Don’t forget that this has one really unique feature, A built in personal amp. Just plug in some headphones and turn the volume up to make it as loud as you want without disturbing anyone else.
Sustain: (5) Beside the fact that it is an electric, and you can hear the sound as it degrades for longer, it has really good sustain. The Aquila strings have a lot to do with the sound and sustain.
Feel
String Height: (Medium-High) Both the nut and saddle are higher than I would like. Not slide guitar high. The nut could come down a mm or two, and the saddle has room also to come down a bit.
String Height
Neck Radius Depth: (3/4″) Average radius depth for a C shaped neck.
Frets: (5) I measured the fret spacing and found that they are perfect. Along with the frets they are very well dressed with no issues. For the price I was surprised to not to be able to feel the frets from the side of the neck. This is something that shows that great care was taken on the fret board.
Tuning: (4) I know I will get flack for this, but I think ukuleles should come with friction tuners. The ukulele stays in-tune after the strings have settled. Tuning it is very easy with the geared tuners. Perfect ratio for tuning a ukulele. small turns make small changes.
With a Strap
Comfort: (5) The rounded edges, no frets sticking out the side, and the fact that it is very small makes it very comfortable to play. It can sit on your knee while you are sitting. Also has a strap button/amp jack lets you put a strap on it, you just need to tie it to the head on the other side. Very comfortable to play and nothing gets in the way with the cut-out in the body so you can hit the highest notes.
Final Thoughts
I own a Risa solid soprano, so this is not the first electric uke I have played. I love the volume and tone knobs. Very useful when you are playing and need to adjust the sound. The Eleuke is bigger and less compact, but it comes with a great padded clothe case (No kidding at least 2 inches of padding on both top and bottom) and also easier to hold if you don’t want to strap it on. Just a really well made instrument for anyone who wants to play on stage, practice without having others hear it, or just being loud for loads sake.
IF this was my instrument I would take it in to have the action lowered. The way I got it was totally playable, I just am really picky. I would also buy some more fun knobs like these that got to 11. The last thing I would do is put a strap button behind the neck where it meets the body.
If anyone asks me what solid body ukulele to buy, I would say that this is my top choice.
All Rating on a scale of 1-5
Click here for an explanation of reviews
| First Look | 4 |
| Fit and Finish | 5 |
| Sound Type | Depends |
| Intonation | 4 |
| Volume | NA |
| Sustain | 5 |
| String Height | Medium-High |
| Neck Radius Depth | 3/4″ |
| Frets | 5 |
| Tuning | 4 |
| Comfort | 5 |
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