Epiphone Les Paul Concert Ukulele, Vintage Sunburst with Gig Bag

* SHIPPING. The Epiphone comes wrapped in protective foam, inside a gig bag, which is inside a sturdy standard tri-shaped box, which is itself shipped inside a HUGE box twice its size and totally surrounded by sturdy bubble plastic. That huge box is then inside yet ANOTHER huge box. Honestly, to protect this better they'd have had to contact Tony Stark. It would take real skill and intent to damage this thing in shipping. EXCELLENT job. 5 stars on that alone.* SIZE. Overall length 24". Fretboard 10". Nut to bridge 15". So good overall medium-size. I like that it's a bit larger than a 20-21" soprano uke. It is "concert" size (which I greatly prefer over soprano. Frankly, I'd like to see a baritone version). The 24" length is an excellent size for both adult and youth / child fingers.* QUALITY. From stern to port, this instrument shines. Beautifully lacquered flawless finish, protective edging, plastic finger-guard (which itself was guarded in adhesive plastic), solid neck screw-joined to heavy-wood body. The whole unit is heavy-wood and very durable. Nevertheless the sound is quite good. The tuners are acceptable quality (nothing amazing, but they work well). The frets are actual metal and not molded into the fingerboard like cheap ukes. The amp-jack is chrome-metal back-plated to the body; it's NOT coming loose. Strap holders are already mounted, saving users the hassle. And of course, the impressive EPIPHONE and LES PAUL signature stamps on the head for sheer class.* SOUND. I found this to sound as good as most ukes right out of the box, despite the fact it's pretty solid-wood electric (I expected it to sound dull. It doesn't.) But I still bought a set of d'Addario strings (a brand I've loved for years) and according to other reviews here expect the sound to improve significantly once those are added.* ACTION. I've rarely seen a purchased instrument that has perfect action off the shelf and this is no exception. The action is fairly high (not uncommon with off-the-shelf instruments). One will need to remove the strings (keep them for emergency spares), file down the bridge bottom (easily done with a flat surface and sandpaper) and add a new set of quality strings. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to action (as are most players I know), so this will be tweaked.* DURABILITY. It's very durable. That counts for the gig bag too. No cheap "tent nylon" there-- but thick nylon that will really resist tearing. As others mentioned I'd still look for a decent hard case; they average under $40. A good instrument is worth protecting. But I'd say this could take some real punishment and still play well-- not that I'd go bashing it against a stage floor. That would be goofy.* WEIRD SUGGESTION: Hang on to the box it comes in. It makes a great temporary "hard shell" case. It's made of rather sturdy cardboard and does a pretty good job of protecting the uke. Great for hauling around in your car if you can't shell out for a shell. Seriously... that is some stiff cardboard. Protects well. : )* ELECTRONICS. The sound is clear. Sadly there is no volume/tone control, no battery to preamp, and thus the signal to the amp was quite low. They could have done better on that end. But wow, at this price how can one gripe?Two solutions to this:1) Open up the end plate and totally replace the electronics with something better (including a tone and volume knob somewhere accessible). That's the tricky way.2) Put a preamp on this. You can buy one here on Amazon for about 15 bucks. If you have a mini-mixer you can do the same thing with that. Even with that little extra expense you'll come out ahead.Aside from the passive electronics... this is a PRIME instrument.Considering what you get for the price... I don't think this can be beat. Unfortunately, my extra-long fingers find this size somewhat difficult to play... something I didn't consider when ordering a uke. But that's a physical difficulty and no fault of the instrument. The product itself is excellent.

I just got my Les Paul uke today from Sam Ash. It is surprising solid, and very pretty. It has a a warm, soft tone unplugged. I am waiting for a set of aquilas to replace the stock black strings to see if that improves the volume, but if not, that is fine with me. As it is, it is plenty loud enough to play and sing to my friends in my living room. I doubt it would be loud enough to hold up against other acoustic instruments in a jam, though. There are some things that I'm disappointed in. The nut and saddle are really rough, and will need some sanding. When I first plugged it in, the pickup didn't work. I stuck my finger up in there and messed with the wire, and it started working. This sucker screams through an amp. All together I am pleased with this purchase. I would hate to part with my little Les Paul, so if the pickup poops out, I will fix it myself. Anyhow, it was only $100. Well worth it even with the flaws.

My husband got this for me for Christmas. It's my first ukulele and I love it. I've learned lots of tunes and it's a great way to relax and be distracted from the daily routine. This uke has a great sound, is very very good looking. I went to a group uke lesson in a music store in Salem, OR, and out of the 50-ish people there, my uke was totally unique. Everyone was "wow"ed, and even the instructor liked it and had to check it out. Now that I own a ukulele I'm surprised to find that there are a lot of uke players out there. Even two new friends were found to own and play the instrument! There might even be a movement, although it might just be that it looks that way now that I'm playing and talking about it. For my birthday hubby bought me a stand and a hard case (the one that comes with it is cute but won't really protect the instrument) and the HoneyTones tiny little amplifier. Wow, what a big sound, and super cute. I'm thrilled to own it and love to play! I highly recommend this Epiphone Les Paul Acoustic/Electric ukulele for it's fun, easy learning (YouTube has taught me everything I know) not to mention it's small enough to take anywhere! PS You'll want to get new strings...asap! The ones that are on it aren't the best...

What a disappointment. This little uke had so much potential. It has such a cool vibe: it looks as if it could be used as a jazz box. The finish is flawless. The fatal flaw is the intonation. I got all the open strings tuned with a tuner. By that I mean they were dead on, no Hz sharp or flat dead on. However, after the open strings are in tune, the seventh fret of the C string is not in tune with the open G string. There is no way that I can see to fix this problem. Consequently I can't recommend this ukulele for serious players.I should note that I didn't check the intonation until after changing the original black strings to Aquila Nylgut strings. I did notice a visible bow to the neck after changing strings. The Aquila strings do seem to be stouter than the originals. It may be that higher tension bowed the neck and caused the intonation issue. However, I can't be certain, since I didn't check the intonation until after the strings were changed.Open chords and barre chords up through the fifth fret seem to be OK. So I think this would be OK for a starter uke or for someone who doesn't get out of first position very much.

Magnifique cadeau pour les quarante ans de mon frère. Il adore en jouer!

Se oye muy bien y el acabado es muy bueno.

A beautiful instrument with high quality construction. Amazing sound when plugged into an amp. Does not require batteries as indicated in Amazon listing. Did not work when plugged into a powered speaker. An amp is required. The strings are low quality but fine to learn on. In particular, the C string goes out of tune frequently. Small problem with an easy remedy of string replacement.

Cumple con lo indicado, muy bien producto

It's great. Because of the slim body it's not that loud acoustically but plug her in and your off. This size uke is very suitable for beginners the soprano can be a bit cramped on the fingerboard.