Uke Guy – Page 20 – Ukulele Guy

Video: First glimpses of the Eleuke in action!

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.

U900 Freaking Rad Video for “Walk Don’t Run”

Ya know I think Frank Zappa said it best when he said "You can't always write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say, so sometimes you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream." To prove that the reverse of that is also true, I'm not going to say anymore. Just let the goodness wash over you from this video.

P.S. Thanks to @Gmorks on Twitter for this one.

The Scoop on these Pretty Luna Ukuleles

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.

Uke Thong (seriously… wtf is it?)

I've talked about the Uke Thong for a few months now and I kept promising that I was going to make a video to show you what it is, exactly. It has a pretty exciting name, right? I mean who wouldn't want something cute to match their Uke bra and garters.

Nah nah nah.. think "guitar strap" and you are closer to the mark. But, that's still good, though, because I've had quite a few people ask me how to modify their ukulele to use a guitar strap (don't do that). This is the solution for those folks and also for anyone who needs their right hand completely unencumbered for their "shredding".

Anyway, today I finally made the video because I remembered that I was supposed to send this particular Uke Thong to Jon Spencer after he wrote a guest post for the site ("Guest Post: Cigar Box Ukuleles with Jon Spencer" to be exact). A note to future guest post writers, I guess. If I promise to send you something, make sure and hound me about it. I'm liable to see a shiny piece of tin foil, chase it and then completely forget about my promise.

Anyhoo, as you might have gathered, the Uke Thong is the next best thing for those of you who need a strap for your uke. They are only $10.95 and come in variety of colors. If I had known this one was going to Jon, I suppose I would have gotten the Camo one. As it is, he gets pink and black checkers. But, if he still has his Vanns sneakers from 8th grade then he's likely to match, so that's a bonus. Here's an image of the Uke Thong and a link to where you can get them on eBay.

And finally, without any more delay. Here's a video of me describing what you get when you shell out your $10.95. As you watch the video, keep the following in mind:

Ukulele Guy probably shouldn't do anymore close-ups. Or, if he does, he should probably shave and try to do something with his hair
Ukulele Guy (third person reference rules!) should have clipped a battery into his Uke. The flapping cord drives me nuts.
Try and count how many times you can say "That's what she said" during the video. I'm even considering having a contest based on that premise. Maybe giving away another Uke Thong? What do you think?

‘Dreaming of You’ by The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra

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.