Electric Ukulele!

signboy · Post by **signboy** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 6:45 pm

I just finished the latest frankenproject- an electric ukulele for under $100.
I bought a Danelectro mini pastrami overdrive pedal, and basically hot glued it in. I even thought to take pictures:

the pedal

the cut apart uke:

the finished product:

and finally, the audio sample. Other than the cheesy drums, I did nothing but hit record and export. Turns out that using an overdrive pedal for a preamp works way better than I have been told.
http://www.mediamax.com/eeleye/Hosted/electrouke.mp3

I can't wait to molest the next fight with this little bastard.

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 7:14 pm

First: H a ha ha haha hah ah aha hah a hahaha hahahah

Second: Dude, that is really effing cool. Good work... sorry about the laughter but thats just my first instinct.

-listens-

First: H a ha ha haha hah ah aha hah a hahaha hahahah

Second: Dude, that is really effing cool. Good work... sorry about the laughter but thats just my first instinct.

Sounds like Cake. Thats a pretty cool thing you did there.

Billy's Little Trip · Sun Nov 11, 2007 12:07 am

Very cool! Can't wait to hear it.

Paco Del Stinko · Post by **Paco Del Stinko** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 5:02 am

That's pretty cool - good work. What'd you use for a pickup?

signboy · Post by **signboy** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:08 am

The pickup is a $15 piezo strip from Radio Scrap. It's a bit too long for the uke's bridge, so I just let it hang out the ends.

jimtyrrell · Post by **jimtyrrell** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:27 am

I want one. I know so little about electronics, and DIY stuff like this. Do you suppose this would be a good project for a first-timer? 'Cause it looks like something that would be really fun and useful, and it's wallet-friendly.

anti-m · Post by **anti-m** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 10:01 am

Hey, that's pretty nifty! Good work!

Billy's Little Trip · Sun Nov 11, 2007 10:52 am

I want to hear the rest of that song up yahh ^^^

signboy · Post by **signboy** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:01 pm

jimtyrrell wrote:I want one. I know so little about electronics, and DIY stuff like this. Do you suppose this would be a good project for a first-timer? 'Cause it looks like something that would be really fun and useful, and it's wallet-friendly.

If you're looking for a "fun-factor" project, I would recommend this one. Things did get a little widgety at a couple points with the pedal, but most of that was trying to make the damned thing fit inside. Next time I would just pull the whole back off the uke to give myself some elbow room.

Unfortunately, this little bastard has absolutely zero playability. The intonation is so far out that I can only get 3 chords to sound good in one tuning.
The conclusion: if you want something fun to do, do it. If you want a new instrument, check out Ovation's ukes.

Billy's Little Trip · Post by **Billy's Little Trip** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:55 am

signboy wrote: Unfortunately, this little bastard has absolutely zero playability. The intonation is so far out that I can only get 3 chords to sound good in one tuning.

Thats the beauty of a uke, who cares. Just pluck out what you can and sing pretty.