Ukulele News – Page 4

Sneak Peak: Kala’s Solid Body U-Bass

Kala has really revolutionized both the Ukulele and the Bass guitar with their U-Bass. Heck, the U-Bass has been featured in live performances and studio recordings for the likes of Sting, Paul Simon and Jimmy Buffett. I was lucky enough to play one at a local music store and it blew my mind. The strings feel like nothing you've ever played. What's even better is that if you close your eyes you'd swear it was an upright bass. It has BUCKETS of bottom end.

So, what did Kala do? Yup, come out with a solid body version of this bad boy. Now I have to explain to my wife why we need to have two ukulele bass guitars in the house. Heh. I just finished convincing her that I just HAD TO buy my new 1973 Gibson EB-0 bass. Doh!

Feast your eyes on the Kala Solid Body U-bass:

If you want to see a demo of this beast, check out this video of Hutch Hutchinson pretty much slaying it.

Rock ’em Sock ’em Ukulele

Got $900 burning a hole in your pocket? I'm sure you do, right? Well then, friend, you are in luck! Check out this rad Rock 'em Sock 'em Robot Tenor Ukulele (aka the Robolele).

Celentanowoodworks, from Ashville N.C., will build you one of these babies to order. Looks like the ukulele is mostly maple and can be made to different sizes, if you so desire. Can I get a "hell yeah" up in this piece? If you think this is rad, take a look at the other cool instruments the etsy shop.

The broken and rusty gears in my brain are definitely spinning now. You see, I have a good friend who also lives in Ashville (at least, I think that's where he lives). Maybe I can talk him into heading over to Celentanowoodoworks' house and southern-charming them down on the price. It's worth a shot, right? While we are talking about my friend, you should probably check out his rad Etsy shop for his ceramics and pottery and stuff. His store is called Mudstuffing.

Sean Kochel Guitars (and Ukuleles!)

I've been meaning to post something about Sean Kochel for quite some time. I'll be honest, the holidays make me incredibly lazy. But now I am, officially, off my ass so here goes.

About 3-4 years ago, I was at the People's Market here in Missoula. The People's Market is sorta like the Farmer's Market (and it happens on the same day) except it's more about crafts and whatnot. Anyway, I was drawn to a little tent that had about a half dozen cigar box guitars. I spent some time talking with the craftsman involved in their creation (Sean Kochel) and I got pretty excited. The fret markets used 22 caliber shell casings and the nut and bridge of the guitar were made with elk bone. I pretty much had to have one and I'm pretty sure I paid less than $100 for it. This was my first cigar box guitar purchase and I was already addicted. That first cigar box guitar had 4 strings and it was tuned to an open G. But, it didn't take much thinking for me to realize that I needed a Cigar Box Ukulele!

So, shortly thereafter I asked Sean to make me a ukulele. It was made from reclaimed barn wood and this one actually used a hand-wound pickup instead of a piezo. Oh wait... maybe I didn't mention that before. The original cigar box guitar I bought from Sean was electric! It sounds pretty rad out of an amp. Here, check out this video:

Well, here it is, several years later and Sean is making all sorts of stuff now. Here's some pictures:

As you can see, Sean isn't just making cigar box guitars or cigar box ukuleles anymore. He's also making Stompboxes and cigar box amplifiers! If you want to learn more then just check out the Kochel Guitars Facebook Page or the Kochel Guitars website.

The aNueNue U-900 Ukuleles are HERE!

You remember these adorable guys?

Well, it looks like aNueNue has released U-900 Ukuleles. Yup, and the one for the bear is even an pineapple uke! These are just starting to trickle in, but we're likely to see more in the coming days and weeks.

Here check out a picture. This is what the U-900 Rabbit Soprano Ukulele looks like:

And as if that weren't adorable enough, check out the case for that uke:

And, of course, the Bear needs his uke to be a pineapple shape, right? Yup. Take a gander:

And here's the case for the Bear:

aNueNue U-900 Bear Pineapple Ukulele Case

So, if you are looking for one of these little beauties, then just check below. This page will update to show you which aNueNue U-900 Ukuleles are available on eBay at all times! Warm up your refresh button! 😉

Oh yeah, and if you have my name for Xmas.... GET ME ONE OF THESE!

Guinea Pig Sabotage (listen all a y’all)

So, during the same lunch hour in which I recorded my introductory video for the aNueNue concert banjo ukulele, I also needed to record a song. During this particular take, my son's guinea pig had something to say.

I guess I could have moved to a different room, but I've never a recorded a video in here before and I wanted to showcase my son's sweet Star War sheets and pillows. So, I just put a pillow over the guinea pigs face and everyone was happy for the second take (which I'll upload later today or maybe Monday). Jokes!

Jimmy the guinea pig is just fine and dandy, don't worry. Besides we could always replace him the a Zhu Zhu Pet, right? Gross.

I guess he had a reason to be pissed at me. I had clipped my Flip MinoHD to his cage using my gorillapod, afterall. Honestly, though, I don't think he was scared. I just think he thought the gorillapod was food and he was mad that he couldn't reach it. You see, he's a real lard ass.

Anyway, the real take is coming soon, but until then, enjoy the guinea pig sabotage: