electric ukulele – Ukulele Guy

Got myself a magical new ukulele

Alright folks, as you might remember from my post, "Yessir, we got ourselves a real band!", my new project is called "Shane Hickey and his Magical Ukulele.... and Jerry". Well, to really sell a name like that, my ukulele better be pretty freaking awesome. Also, I'm going to need something that will take the focus off of my playing. Cause otherwise folks might wonder why they just shelled out $3 to see a couple of hacks. Heh.

Well, as luck would have it, I found a fella who makes magical instruments. There is a local luthier named Ryan Rukavina and he does some pretty magical work. I got wind that he was making a couple of Teleukes (Solid body electric ukuleles patterned after the Fender Telecaster. When I heard about them, I asked him to keep me up to date on the projects because I was probably interested. By "probably interested" of course I mean, insanely interested.

So, I was pretty much on cloud nine yesterday when I dropped by Ryan's shop to pick up my new Teleukulele! I will post some videos very soon so you can hear how great it sounds but, until then, you can feast your eyes on this baby.

Here's more good news. If you are looking for your own custom electric ukulele, then look no further. Ryan also made a brunette to the blonde that I purchased. Check out the eBay auctions below and you will see it listed with some more of his creations.

Ukulele Guy Video Responses (YAY!)

So, I'm going to just come right out and admit that I know very little about the inner workings of Youtube. I mean, I'd always seen these so-called "Video Responses" but I guess I didn't really get it. It seemed like something that people did to argue more with a political video or something. Imagine my surprise when I realized that I have two Video responses to my ukulele videos!

I have pretty much been smiling for days. Anyway, the first video response I ever got was from russelljenkinsfearn and it was actually from a little while back. He responded to my Kala Pocket Ukulele rendition of Ween's "Help me scrape the mucus off my brain". In all honesty, his version is better. Doh! Anyway, check it out:

My next video response came over this weekend. It was posted by "TacoBum311" and it was a response to my Eleuke Electric Ukulele version of Halloween by the Misfits. Their version also features an Eleuke (the pretty sunburst one) and they do a rocking version of the best Misfits song of all time, Hybrid Moments. Check it out!

Like I said, I feel like a proud father or something. I know it's a little ridiculous but I can't help it. So, if you want to make my freaking day then please post a Video Response to one of my ukulele videos.

Escalating Electric Fence Wager (part 4)

Alright, we've rounded the corner on this ridiculous night of beer-drinking, trash-talking and wagering. If you had told me, before this thing started that I would be able to get my youngest brother to put his testicles on my electric fence and all it would cost me is $20 then I would have never believed you. This is the guy who said he wouldn't even touch it for less then $75 and that was with this hands. Heh.

Now, I realize this has absolutely nothing to do with Ukuleles. However, if you remember from Part 1 of the wager, I was holding my Eleuke electric ukulele. So, I'm going to allow it. Also, I make Colin plug UkuleleGuy.com in part 5 of the video, so we can tie it all together. If you are offended by drunkenness, swearing or grown men acting like idiots and talking about their genitals then this might not be the video for you.

Video: The Escalating Electric Fence Wager (part 3)

Heh, I forgot I was uploading these videos. I think there are two left and, as you can see here, the stakes are going up. This video takes places literally seconds after part 2 (where I touch the fence for the first time). What we didn't know at the time (although I suspected) was that it takes some time for the capacitor in the fence to fully charge up. So, if you touch it and then touch it again shortly thereafter, the shock isn't so bad.

So, after this video was taking, Colin decided he wasn't paying me $20 for my touching of the fence. However, we do come up with a compromise that you'll see in part 4 of the video. Let's just say that Colin attempts to "double up" by touching the fence again.... with a more sensitive part of his body. Ahhhh yeah!

You might be asking yourself, "What the hell does this have to do with Ukuleles?". Yeah, I'll admit, it's a stretch, but in part 2 of the video I was holding my Eleuke electric ukulele when I touched the fence. I say that counts. 😉

Video: The Eleuke Escalating Electric Fence Wager (part 2)

Ok. If you just came into this sequence of drunken buffoonery, make sure and check out Part 1 so you aren't lost. Actually, I guess you'll probably get the gist of it.... unless you are currently drunk, in which case you probably better watch Part 1.

Anyway, I should fill you in here. My brothers and I are pretty competitive. I can't really explain it because none of us really did much in the way of sports growing up (Bryan, your football season doesn't count). Yet, if you get all three of us in one place, playing cards or (God forbid, Monopoly) and there is bourbon nearby, you can expect it won't end well.

As part of this we have a running gag about staging an eating contest. So, let's say we're at a BBQ or picnic or something and one of the brothers remarks, "Man, I love deviled eggs!" Within seconds, one of the other brothers will respond with "Yeah? How many do you think you could eat in an hour". And off we go.

So, with all of this in mind, it should come as no shock to you that as soon as I put an electric fence in my backyard (to keep marauding black bears from effing up my compost bin and childrens' faces) it was less than 20 minutes before the conversation steered to, "How much money would it take for you to touch the electric fence?". If I recall correctly, Bryan started high with something like $1000 and then worked his way down to $125 or something. Colin started at $85 or something. I said $40 and then was somehow talked down to $20. And so the story begins. Don't worry though, there's quite a bit more video to come still.

To make this video acceptable for UkuleleGuy, you'll notice that I'm holding my Eleuke Electric Ukulele. Ahh yeah! Apparently I should have been playing it though, Eleuke is having a contest right now.