Applause Ukulele (Ovation)
RatingsOvation Applause ukuleles are the most popular brand of electric ukulele around. Looks wise, they are very distinctive and look similar to the Applause guitars (made popular recently by Kaki King who also plays a tenor Applause ukulele). As well as the distinctive look, they sound good and are well made. They can be played either plugged or unplugged.
On eBay US
 Applause Tenor Acoustic Electric Ukulele  US $151.00
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 Applause UA10 Standard Ukulele Natural US $129.00
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 Applause UAE20 Acoustic Electric Deluxe Soprano Ukulele Black Stain US $159.99
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On eBay UK
Sorry, this ukulele is not currently for sale on eBay.
On Musician's Friend
On Video
Kaki King playing a Tenor Applause which seems to play well despite her little water spillage incident.
Applause Soprano Ukulele UAE-20 Review
I purchased an applause soprano ukulele just a couple of months ago. I was fortunate enough to catch a classified ad and pick up the ukulele, a small practice amp, a gig bag, and a digital tuner for just over a hundred dollars. Don't you just love deals like that?
They usually list for between 150.00 to 200.00 American dollars. If you're in the states, it doesn't hurt to research Musician's Friend as they go for about a 140.00 dollars through these two retailers.
The Positives: I love the sound of this little uke. That is, I love it when it is tuned to A, D, F#, B tuning, I tried wrapping the strings a bit tighter when I re-strung the instrument, but still, it sounded and felt a bit to "mushy" for me. It has a very bright/crisp tone, it projects well, and it comes with a decent pickup so you can just plug it in instead of putting a microphone in front of it. I also love the neck and the rounded composite back to the instrument (characteristic of all ovation/applause acoustic instruments). The instrument also feels like it is a solid and well-made little unit.
The Negatives: this is purely subjective, but the aesthetics for the ukulele top don't quite do it for me. The sound holes are actually on the sides of the instrument and there are two woody "leaf-like" designs in this area. Some folks that have seen it love it. for me it seems a bit cheesy. Still, this won't keep me from using this instrument when I play live!
By Todd Baio - Folk Musician & Ukulele Evangelist
Applause UA-10 Soprano Ukulele Review
Review by John.
3 Comments
The Ovation Applause UAE-20 in ‘honey’ was my first uke purchase. More accurately it was the first keeper — I went through two other cheaper sopranos first, but found faults in each of them that were only apparent when I took them home and played them in a quiet room. So the Applause was the result of the second exchange and trade up…
I enjoy playing this uke, it has a nice low action and good intonation (both of which were lacking in the cheaper ukuleles in the local music store I bought from). The D’addario strings it came with were a bit too muted for my taste so they were changed for Aquilas, which brightened it up nicely. It is still a relatively quiet instrument when played acoustically — which is actually a good thing for me as I don’t get complaints from neighbours and can take it into hotel rooms and practise when away from home.
The tone is pleasant, but it doesn’t sound entirely like a classic all wood soprano uke. It is a rather more mellow and muted until it is plugged in and amplified (via its passive piezo pickup) — at which point it becomes more alive. Once plugged in however a problem appears — the C string resonates more strongly than the others and needs careful EQing to balance it out.
I’m very new to ukulele and can’t play this uke without a strap — the rounded back makes it rather slippery and it tries to slide away. A more experienced player would probably have no problem, but I resorted to a Uke Leash ( http://ukeleash.com/ ) which sorted it for me.
Reading back over what I’ve written it looks a bit more negative than I intended — I actually rate this a keeper.
Sorry — forgot to rate.
This turned out not to be the keeper I thought it would be. Mine developed a rattle —thought to be from the pickup wires coming loose— so it was sent off for repair under warranty. It came back still buzzing, so a replacement unit was offered. The replacement unit buzzed too, so I got a refund. Now on the lookout for a new soprano uke…
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