Ukulele Guy

So, I got a press release from Kala saying that their U-Bass is currently on tour with Paul Simon.  Well, I guess I could say that more clearly.  The U-Bass is actually being played by Bakithi Kumalo (thankfully, no one has invented the sentient, walking ukulele... yet. When they do, I'm out of a job.).  Bakithi Kumalo is an incredibly musician and you've probably heard his playing before on Paul Simon records (he played on Gracelenad).

Anyway, reading the press release makes me realize that I need to know more about the

So, I did a little searching and this is what I've come up with so far.  It's a 20" scale bass guitar and the strings are some sort of fancy polyurethane that is some sort of Kala secret ingredient deal.  What is blowing my mind is that, for it's size, it has incredibly rich and deep tones.  I think if you were listening to it and not looking at it, you'd assume you were listening to an upright bass.  So, I guess it's like the musical instrument equivalent of a Bag of Holding from D&D.  Somehow, it's like a magical vortex that channels extra deep tone?

Here, take a listen to these guys covering "Stand by Me" and tell me that this bass sound isn't exceptional deep.

Anyway, if someone has one of these, tell us more about it! Heck, make a video even, why doncha?

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So, @RabbitRemix was asking me, on Twitter, how to tune their 6-stringed ukulele.  At first I thought we were talking about a Tiple or maybe one of those Ukes where the A and C strings are doubled in octave or something.  But, no, there weren't any doubled strings.  So, then I started thinking, "Umm.. are we just talking about a small guitar?"  Turns out, we aren't, I'd just never heard of it.

Yamaha's is calling their GL-1 a Guitalele.  And, from what I can see, it's basically like a ukulele (only with a low G, instead of a high G string) and then you add an A and D string on there.  Or, to make it less complicated, take your normal guitar and then pop a capo on the fifth fret.  So, your open D chord (just how you play it on guitar) would actually be a G chord on the Guitalele.

It's funny because when musicians (who aren't familiar with Ukulele) ask me how a Uke is tuned, I always say, "Imagine your guitar, now pop a capo on the fifth fret and pull off your E and A string."  Well, this is like another hybrid of that.

But, all I really know is that I NEED ONE.  I can't find them on Amazon or Musician's Friend right now, but I've listed some eBay auctions below that show some off.

It looks like it has 18 frets and it's built to a 17" scale.  Oh yeah, and it's cute as all hell.

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So, while I'm still going to make a longer video showing off the adorable Kala Pocket Ukulele, I wanted to answer your biggest question first.  So, while I could have just told you that it's 16 inches long, it still might be hard to visualize that, right?  Well, hopefully that won't be an issue after this video.  If it is, I don't want to hear about it .

Video Notes:

• In case you were wondering, I rolled a natural 20 with that die.
• The Rubik's Cube I show you actually has 6 sides (it's a cube, after all) but each face is 4x4.  Sorry for any confusion about 4-sided cubes and whatnot.

Anyway, here is your size comparison video for the

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So, I got my Kala Pocket Ukulele this morning and I haven't been able to put it down for very long.  It's so freaking fun!  I'm going to make a few videos to show you more about it but I wanted to give you a quick picture to give a sense of scale.  People keep asking me, "Just how small is it?".  Turns out, they were talking about the ukulele.  Hi-yooo!

Anyway, here is a picture of my guitar, baritone ukulele, tenor ukulele, soprano ukulele and the

More to come soon!

Guitar, Baritone Uke, Tenor Uke, Soprano Uke and Kala Pocket Ukulele

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I found another great Ukulele songbook (in pdf format) and apparently I asked the fellow if it would be alright if I were to link to it. I honestly don't remember that, so it must have been some months ago. Well, Stewart finally got back to me and he's cool with it. So, check out his great songbook at stewartgreenhill.com/blog/ukulele/. There are 48 pages of Ukulele tab goodness here, so it's definitely worth your while. Two songs that immediate jumped out were "Elanor Rigby" by the Beatles and "Turning Japanese" by the Vapors!
Honestly, what Ukulele play could resist a chance to play an early 80s proto-ska song about masturbation, right? It's practically MADE for ukulele.

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So, as you may or may not know, when I'm not "Ukulele Guy", I play in Volumen.  We are a heavy new wave band from Missoula, MT, and we've been playing weird sonics since 1996.  Well, yesterday was Wednesday and Wednesday=Volumen Practice.  So, I went in a little bit early and brought my Eleuke so that I could make some videos of it through a better amp.

I lucked out because Volumen^2 (my brother) showed up just minutes later with a case of Coors and he agreed to hold the camera for the second half of this video.  Woo hoo!  I didn't really have an idea of what I wanted to play, so I just went for it.  Sadly, my wah wah pedal badly needs a new battery, apparently, so that part is a little bit weak, but you get the general idea right?

After we finished recording this video, we had regular Volumen practice and then I convinced the boys to play "Halloween", by the Misfits, with me on the Eleuke.  We'd never played it before, but we picked it up easily enough.  I'll post that video tomorrow, or maybe later today.  It's a little blown out, because we are so damn loud, but that just makes it punk rock, right?

P.S. Whoever can tell me what I'm playing during the "clean" portion of this video wins extra special bonus Ukulele Guy points.

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Well, my Eleuke arrived on Friday and I've been as giddy as a schoolgirl ever since.  For those for those of you who don't know what an Eleuke is (shame on you, you mean you aren't hanging on my every word?) check out my "Everybody, meet Eleuke (and a rad Pedro da Silva video)" post.  I imagine that this will be the first of several videos talking about the Eleuke and showcasing what it sounds like.

I was in such a rush to do this video that I didn't even leave my office.  The down side to that is that the only amp I have in my office is a wimpy little guy, but it'll give you an idea anyway.  Tomorrow I'll run the Eleuke through my Fender SuperAmp and various pedals (Electric Mistress, Marshall Guv'ner, etc.)  Maybe I can even run through a song with my Heavy New Wave band, Volumen.  I'm thinking Misfits (Maybe Halloween?), but we'll see what I can talk them into.

Anyway, on to the Eleuke itself.  This is the model that I have in my grubby little mits:

Eleuke Solid Body Electric Ukulele Concert MP3 - Blue CCK100BL-MP3

Just holding the Eleuke is pretty soothing for some reason.  I think I am so used to playing Electric Guitar that the smaller body and weight of an electric instrument feels more natural to me.  So, if you spend more time on Electric Guitar than you do on Acoustic, then you might have a similar experience with this Electric Ukulele.

I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with the Eleuke, overall.  Sure, It's the first solid body electric ukulele that I've played, but to be honest, there aren't really that many of them out there.  It's well constructed, sounds great and the design is really interesting.  It's also hard to believe that it's only $220.  That seems like a scream of a deal.  Anyway, enough of my jawing.  Here's the first of what I hope to be a long string of videos showcasing this little number.

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You might remember, from my January 18th post "Luna Tattoo Pineapple Soprano Ukulele (it’s new to me)", that I seemed a little surprised by Luna Ukuleles.  Basically, I was a little stunned that something as cool as their Polynesian tattoo and floral designs had snuck right on by me.  Well, I'm not feeling so flabbergasted now.  Today I was contacted by Yvonne at Luna and that was apparently their first ukulele shipment.  I think they've been making primarily guitars up until this first Uke foray.  I asked about possibly reviewing one of these beautiful ukuleles but Yvonne informed that their first just flew out the door.  So that seems like a good sign for their first effort.  If you want to learn more about Luna, you can check out their website at www.lunaguitars.com.  The Ukuleles are listed under Acoustics.  You can also take a look at this neat flash animation that shows off their line of ukes (in exotic locations, no less).  Yvonne tells me that they expect their next shipment around March 15th, so I might be able to get my hands on one around that time.  If I do, you know I'll post a video/review so everyone can take a look and listen at these ukes.

Oh yeah, and I created a Luna Ukulele section on my site as well, where you can buy their guitars.

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Somebody was nice enough to send me a link to The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra's web site recently.  However, they sent it as a Twitter Direct Message so it's a miracle that I ever saw it.   Seriously folks, Twitter DM-land is just auto-responder-spammer hell.  I have to be pretty drunk to go there on purpose.  However, if you tweet @ukulele_guy, I'll pretty much always respond.

Anyway, I was check out the WIUO site and it looks pretty classy and professional.  Heck, they've got T-shirts!  Even kid's sizes, I think?  Awesome.  I always get pangs of jealousy when I see all these towns with their own Ukulele Orchestras, but I suppose I should just get off my ass and make the Missoula Montana International (because Canada is so close) Ukulele Orchestra.  Maybe one day it will happen.

Well, my jealousy was compounded after I watched this video.  I mean, they do The Coral covers?  I freaking love The Coral!  Any band that makes a video inspired by the 1973 version of Wicker Man is tops in my book.  Anyway, enjoy The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra doing The Choral's "Dreaming of You".  The claim the video was made in 11 minutes with a budget of $5.98.  But, for my $.02, I'd gladly watch this over and over again.

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So, as you might have noticed this morning, if you follow me on Twitter that is, I discovered a rad little solid body electric ukulele.  Or, that is to say, I discovered a whole bunch of them made by EleukeUSA.  Frankly, I was a little embarrassed that I hadn't discovered them much earlier.  Especially considering that they sell them on Amazon and, again, if you follow me on Twitter you will know that I'm obsessed with tweeting random Amazon ukulele-related items.  (Ukulele Salad Tongs anyone?)

Anyway, I've talked with the good folks at EleukeUSA and they are going to send me one to test drive!  I think I'm getting the K-Series Blue Ukulele.  Here's a picture of this little beauty:

Eleuke Solid Body Electric Ukulele Concert MP3 - Blue CCK100BL-MP3

They have quite a few styles available, though, check out all of Eleuke's Solid Body Electric Ukuleles on Amazon. Another one that really dig the look of, is the Eleuke Mahogany Electric Uke.  It looks like something that Les Claypool would play (that is, if he played  Ukulele).  Here's a picture:

Eleuke MP3 Solid Magogany Concert Solid Body Electric Ukulele

I know what you are thinking, though?  What does a $200-250 electric  ukulele sound like?  Well, here's an answer, in video form.  This is Pedro da Silva pretty much melting faces with an Eleuke (Mahogany, I think?).

When I get my hands on my Blue K-Series, I'll definitely make some videos for everyone to check out. Don't expect such proficient wizardry as Pedro, though. But, I think I will test drive it through my Fender SuperAmp and all of the effects pedals I use when I play guitar in my Heavy New Wave band. So, that'll be fun! It will surely be my loudest video to date, anyway.

Anyway, expect more posts about Eleuke in the coming days.  I'm pretty intrigued by the MP3 input on the Uke.  I'm trying to think of weird ways in which to make use of that.  So, hopefully I'll have it figured out by the time I test drive it.

Here's more information for those who are interested.

EleukeUSA Website: http://www.eleukeusa.com
EleukeUSA Twitter: http://twitter.com/eleuke
EleukeUSA Facebook: http://facebook.com/eleuke

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