Sep/24/10
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Risa Les Paul: Ukulele Window Shopping

There’s no shortage of Les Paul type ukuleles but the RISA Les Paul is more authentic looking than most. It has steel strings so it gets the humbuckers and toggle switch. And I want one.

A couple of ukulele manufacturers venturing into the 6-string world. Kanilea with a guitarlele. And a Kamaka guitar from the 20s(I had no idea they’d ever made a guitar).

Super-sweet mango and spruce soprano from Michael J King.

But sometimes mango can make it look like someone has vomited down uke.

Robot made my Kate Micucci.

For glamour… and l’amour…

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7 Comments

  1. Tess September 24th, 2010 6:30 pm

    Yeah… but the RISA is a solid body. A lot of the electrics out there are right now.

    I have a semi-hollow LP style I had made for me that just rocks my socks. But I’m partial to semi-hollow and hollowbody guitars too.

  2. Ian Emmerson September 25th, 2010 10:21 am

    I have to say I’ve looked at that Risa LP once or twice myself with twinkly eye.

  3. JCMcGee September 25th, 2010 1:53 pm

    The Risa is pretty sweet….but check out this converted mandobird….less than half the price, with some great reviews on Harmony central:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PjNK5iR_VI

    Oh…and welcome back! Just intime for my Birthday yesterday…we missed you…I was online at 9am yesterday saying “He said he would be back today!!”

  4. Woodshed September 25th, 2010 2:44 pm

    Tess: The solid body wouldn’t put me off.

    Ian: Yeah, I expect I’ll cave at some point. Even though I don’t usually go for low-G and steel strings are pretty much heresy.

    Jimmy: Happy Birthday! The price of the Mandobird makes it really tempting. What did you have to do to convert it to uke? Anything drastic?

  5. Chris September 26th, 2010 12:09 am

    That Risa…I want one…Sooo much!

  6. JCMcGee September 26th, 2010 10:42 am

    There’s a video about converting one here:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EFGffRnzAw

    intonation adjustment is a little tricky.
    Iused the highest 4 strings from a guitar set…
    .10 or .12’s.

    The only real problem is that the neck is thinner which means it really lends itself best to be played with a pick…but the steel strings would destroy fingernails anyway.

  7. Adam July 25th, 2016 3:56 pm

    Hey there!
    Longtime reader/chord+tab seeker, first time poster.
    I recently took the plunge and bought myself a Cherry Sunburst LP Tenor by Risa, and I’ve loved it so far. The intonation has been grand, the humbuckers and (added) distortion/effects pedals are super cool (coming from an acoustic-only background). I love a screaming solo. It’s an EXTREMELY beautiful instrument all around, the only potential flaw is that there is a little plastic nut instead of bone or wood or metal. I imagine it will be fine, but it seems out of character when compared to the rest of the uke. If you’re still interested in getting one and have any questions, I’m more than happy to answer them (I know this thread is a little dated). There are so few reviews/videos/demos/etc. of them even now (six years later). I was very nervous when I bought mine because of that.

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