February 2010 – Page 3

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.

Everybody, meet Eleuke (and a rad Pedro da Silva video)

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