Epiphone Other Instruments

The Epiphone Les Paul Ukulele is something that showed up locally at Long and McQuade and when they took it out of the box, I was laughing. It looks just like a cherry sunburst Les Paul (complete with faux pickguard) but it's a little ukulele! It even has a faux flame top and the Epiphone headstock that's featured on the real Epi LP Standard. That would be cool enough on its own... but I should also mention that it has an onboard pickup. That's right... you can plug this thing in and wail on it into a distorted Marshall! They're made in China and come with a gigbag as well. It's a full bodied ukulele with a sound hole, so it's basically like an acoustic-electric instrument. UTILIZATION The design isn't exactly what I'd call ergonomic. It's fairly small and light, and certainly has better upper fret access than most ukuleles, but it's still not stellar. That being said, for what it is it's got more than enough. I had more trouble getting my fingers to fit on the frets than I did with upper fret access anyway so c'est la vie. It's a light instrument too which is nice, but it has enough density to not feel like a cheap plastic toy. Getting a good sound out of this ukulele is what it is... you plug in and that's your sound. There are no controls to adjust the EQ or even the volume of the pickup, so you're at the mercy of the amp to dial in the tones you're using. SOUNDS There's really not much to describe soundwise. It's not an instrument that was meant to ever be plugged into an electric amp (especially with distortion applied) so what sounds I did hear were basically a novelty. However, I had loads of fun turning to a high gain setting on the amplifier and just trying to do my best Yngwie or Slash impression on the thing. Fortunately it doesn't tend to feed back much, so that's a good sign. The pickup is decent on it too, it has a nice clear sound that belies its cheap price tag. OVERALL OPINION When they first showed me this little thing, I assumed it was a toy and that it probably wouldn't play or sound all that great. However I was mistaken. This, though it is a novelty in essence, is still a fully functional uke with an onboard pickup... plus it just happens to look like a Les Paul! For the $140 new they cost, it's worth having around just to use as a party favour... who knows.