What Are The Top 6 Best Electric Ukuleles?
Selection Criteria – The Best Electric Ukuleles
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Best Electric Ukuleles – The Basics
The best electric ukuleles you can get are usually the ones anyone would need to master the ukulele.
In this review, we’ll explore the different types of electric models you can get, their pros and cons, to help you arrive after which one is top suited for you.
Additionally, we’ll help you make a decision on the best electroacoustic ukuleles with preamp you can get, in their different sizes, and the most convenient specs for each one.
This guide is a resource we didn’t have a few years back when picking the right electric ukulele for ourselves, which led us to fail catastrophically. Mostly because:
1 # – You need to know what to look for to avoid a great disappointment
When we made disinformed decisions in the past, we were stuck with an instrument that didn’t work as expected, with no reimbursements or chance to change it.
The sad part is not that – anyone can make bad choices.
The real issue is that most mainstream choices are plain bad and their low price doesn’t really represent how much you lose.
2 # – You can lose more than money
Related to the point above, money is not the only thing you lose when you buy the wrong instrument.
We’ve seen many people feeling disappointed about their pick, including ourselves, and that’s totally ok – but many also walk away from music altogether because of that.
However, when you buy your first instrument and feel good about your pick, you don’t waste an ounce of the motivation that led you to buy it.
You’ll also feel motivated to play an instrument you love, you just can’t get your hands off from it, and want to play and learn all day long if possible – that’s exactly what we want for you!
Buckle up and get ready to make the best possible decision about your future in music!
Electric Ukuleles – Electroacoustic with pre-amplifier Vs. Uke without pre-amplifier Vs. Solid-Body Uke
So, first off, let’s start with the basic types of electric ukuleles you can get.
You have three main options – the electroacoustic with preamp, the electroacoustic without a preamp, and the solid body ukulele.
The electroacoustic ukulele without a pre-amplifier is the one that comes with a simple integrated pickup – although you can amplify any acoustic ukulele with a pickup.
That means you can plug it into your amplifier and, well, amplify the rather raw sound that comes out of it.
It’s a decent pick if you’re getting started into the world of E/A ukes and want the most affordable option to do it.
The electroacoustic ukulele with preamp also comes with a pickup, and you can plug it into any amplifier (we’d recommend electroacoustic amps), and get better sound, without losing acoustic sound quality.
The sound is optimized because of the built-in mechanism that allows you to pick the top possible setup to optimize the sound quality you get through your amplifier.
Usually, they’re the most recommended picks – and also most available – because they’re convenient.
Some of them come with built-in chromatic tuners and simple LCD screens to use the built-in equalizer – and of course, they require batteries.
Last, but not least, the solid body ukuleles are the ones designed without an acoustic body, and of course, look the coolest.
They’re silent when compared to the other types of electric ukulele, but when you plug them into an amplifier, you get a purely electric optimized sound with little to no feedback.
You can also fine-tune their sound quality with EQ knobs, just like with a standard electric guitar.
Those are the main three options, and of course, you can find most of them in the different sizes of standard models as well.
It’s worth mentioning that there’s another choice; the bass ukulele, which is a different type of solid body ukulele with the deepest sound range of them all.
Electric Ukuleles – Acoustic-Electric Ukulele with pre-amplifier – Best Brands
The top brands you can get depend on what you care most about.
If you’re a professional player, and you really want to invest in a high-quality instrument, regardless of its price, a hand-made custom ukulele is usually the best choice.
The very fact that they’re custom-made means they take into account all of your specific needs in terms of design, sound quality, and playability.
However, if you want an instrument that’s affordable, beautiful, and sounds good, two brands come to mind: Kala and Luna Guitars.
They are among the top leading brands when affordable has to be in the equation – although both brands have big-price options which can offer amazing quality to pros as well.
For this guide, we picked these brands and others to share with you instruments that offer those same properties, and a little bit more.
Comparison Table – Best Electric Ukuleles
Last update on 2023-11-29 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Electroacoustic Ukulele with pre-amplifier – Best Sopranos
You might wonder: why we picked acoustic-electric ukuleles with preamps for this buying guide?
Well, there are many reasons, but one stands out.
While researching for this article, we found out that they’re basically the go-to option, since they’re widely available.
Also, we picked mainly sopranos since they’re the most famous and are regarded as the standard version of the uke.
Not to mention that they’re also one of our favorite options, so please bear with us.
If you’re looking for the top E/A ukuleles in bigger sizes, just keep reading – we’ve added the top three choices for tenor, concert, and baritone, too.
Here are the best E/A ukulele sopranos with preamp:
Best Overall Soprano Electric Ukulele – Luna High Tide Soprano
- This beautiful Luna ukulele features a deep koa body, producing full, deep sound along with the instrument's soprano body size
- This series is crafted from exotic tropical hardwoods, and the Luna "full moon" sticker inside the sound hole is framed by an abalone ring
- The full moon at the first fret causes the abalone wave fret markers "rise" as they make their way up the fretboard towards the moon's pull
Last update on 2023-11-29 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
The best overall soprano electroacoustic ukulele is made, without a doubt, by Luna.
The Luna High Tide line is regarded as one of the best choices for beginners and intermediate musicians, and it’s a decent pick for pros.
Now, we love the High Tide E/A Soprano because it has different properties that are worth appreciating:
- The design details are beautiful. It comes with different details that are reminiscent of the sea and the moon, which have important roles in the Hawaiian culture.
- It’s made out of Koa wood, which is the OG material for ukes and surfing boards. The best models are made out of Koa!
- The other materials are also top-notch. From the fretboard to the strings, all you get is top-notch quality, without that being enough to break the bank.
- It has an amazing sound quality. When we tried it, we were amazed at how good it sounds for an instrument in this price range.
This instrument is a superb pick any musician would admire.
Somehow Luna achieved a recipe that creates solid instruments, with amazing materials, and even better sound quality.
It almost seems like they’re giving them away at this price range – don’t let them know though.
Its sound quality is great, whether you plug it or play it as is, and we’d argue that you can even record decent pieces if you pair it with the right recording equipment.
The downside? Some people have complained because they received a faulty instrument – but this didn’t happen to us, which makes us think that was caused by the shipping.
Still, highly recommended!
Pros – about this ukulele
- Best materials – it’s made out of Koa wood, which is the traditional wood used for ukuleles, and other top-notch materials that accompany it.
- Its design is absolutely beautiful, as it also has different aspects reminiscent of Hawaiian tradition and culture.
- It has great plugged and unplugged sound quality.
- It’s got a great price as well.
Cons – about this electric
- Some people have complained about receiving faulty instruments – we blame shipment!
Best Budget Pick Soprano Electric Ukulele – Aklot E/A Soprano
- Acoustic & Electric: Aklot electric ukulele has been installed 3 Band (Bass,Middle,Treble) Pre-amp, allowing it to be connected with speckers when you play it at stage and can tune the timbre...
- Stays in Tune: Comes with the 18:1 geared tuner machine and Aquila string, it makes the electric ukulele keep in tune better when the string is settled down, we pre-tuned every ukulele before shipping...
- Solid Mahogany: The best features of a solid material electric ukulele is that under the same condition, compared with Laminated wood ukulele, natural solid mahogany wood is more natural and compact,...
Last update on 2023-11-29 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
The best soprano E/A ukulele for budgets comes from Aklo.
This ukulele is obviously not the best one you can get, but it’s definitely the most convenient one you can get for this price, and with all the addons it comes with:
- It comes with a rather generic standard 3 band preamp.
- It’s made out of mahogany, which keeps it affordable, and although we know it’s not as solid as the first pick, it’s decent.
- It comes with a gig bag, a few picks, a decent strap, replacement ukulele strings, a cleaning cloth, and a manual.
This electric ukulele is perfect for absolute beginners who want to get to know everything they should know before advancing to a better uke.
Keep in mind that we picked this one because other similarly-priced choices of E/A soprano models are absolute garbage – the kind we got when we were first starting out and didn’t know any better.
Aside from that, we wouldn’t recommend this pick for more advanced players who can afford something better for just a few bucks more – like the next pick.
This is just the most decent budget pick!
Pros – about this ukulele
- It’s made with good materials that keep it affordable.
- It offers more-than-decent sound quality and durability.
- It’s got the lowest price on the list!
- It’s the best for beginners.
Cons – about this electric
- It’s great just for beginners!
Best Runner Up Soprano Electric Ukulele – Luna Vintage Mahogany Soprano
- Luna brings a full-featured, all mahogany ukulele at a stunningly low price with this Vintage Mahogany Soprano Electric Ukulele
- The mahogany body, and walnut bridge and fretboard add sustain and clarity to your tone
- The open-style tuners keep the instrument in precise tuning
Last update on 2023-11-29 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Now, if you can afford a better instrument, let it be the Luna Vintage Mahogany uke.
It’s yet another great instrument, which at this price range is surprising us with their resourcefulness to create more-than-decent acoustic-electric ukuleles.
This is an all-mahogany-made ukulele, which is the only sacrifice you’ll have to accept if you want a quality instrument for this price.
To be completely honest, we think this is a great instrument among electric Ukuleles Luna.
It has:
- Good appearance. This is one of the best-looking electric ukuleles under the $110 mark!
- Its sound quality is much better than the budget pick. It has better sustain, acoustic projection, and just a tiny bit of feedback when plugged.
- It comes with a Luna UK-T2 preamp system which has a tuner function, and a bridge piezo pickup that delivers consistent quality.
- It’s made out of a mahogany body and rosewood bridge and fretboard.
We think there’s not a better soprano electroacoustic with preamp uke under the $150 – only this one is worth it.
This ukulele is suitable for advanced beginners and intermediate players – pros are better of with the top pick or a custom-made electric ukulele.
Still, we highly recommend this ukulele because we know that, if you pay more for a similar instrument without addons, you’re throwing away your money.
And, that’s exactly the only downside of this pick – it comes with no add-ons, just a well-priced uke!
Pros – about this ukulele
- It’s made with very good materials from the solid Mahogany top to bottom.
- It has a great plugged sound quality and a good unplugged sound quality – the difference is marked.
- It’s the best within this price range!
- Great for beginners and intermediate players.
Cons – about this electric
- It’s just the instrument – no ukulele accesories.
Electroacoustic Ukulele with pre-amplifier – Other Sizes
As we said, of course, there are different types of ukuleles, and with them come new electroacoustic options that are well worth exploring.
Starting from the concert uke, then the acoustic-electric tenor ukulele, and finally, the baritone, they are all amazing choices if you pick the right instrument.
For this segment of the review, we didn’t want to add more choices than the ones that actually matter.
That’s why we’ll show you only the top overall electroacoustic picks for the other three sizes of standard ukes.
We used the same standard to judge them, but keep in mind that they’re generally more convenient because of their bigger size, improved acoustic range, and improved playability.
Best Overall Concert Electric Ukulele – Luna High Tide Concert
- High-Tide ukes are crafted from exotic tropical hardwoods and soundhole framed by an abalone ring
- The full moon at the first fret causes the abalone wave fret markers "rise" as they make their way up the fretboard towards the moon's pull
- This beautiful Luna ukulele features a deep koa body, producing full, deep sound along with the instrument's concert body size
Last update on 2023-11-29 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Once again, Luna’s High Tide line offers an interesting instrument that’s superior in quality, while its price doesn’t fully reflect that.
The Concert version of the High Tide is a bit different.
Obviously, the cutaway design makes this acoustic-electric concert ukulele easier to fingerpick and gives it a modern appearance that flows well with the rest of the design.
This Concert offers:
- Koa wood for top and body. It’s a very solid, sturdy ukulele that illustrates the quality of weight, just like the first soprano on this list.
- The fingerboard is made out of walnut, more solid material for comfortable playability.
- A design and finish that’s also reminiscent of the sea, the moon, and the High Tide.
This is a very respectable concert electric ukulele which again proves that Luna delivers consistent quality from uke to uke, even between different sizes.
The main difference between each instrument in this line is size.
Just like the first high tide we mentioned, the sound quality delivers great results, without breaking the bank.
This acoustic-electric concert ukulele is the better-looking cousin of the first soprano, though, and we really mean that. Somehow, the cutaway puts together the whole design, making it worthy of showcase.
We recommend this electric ukulele as a good option for pros and even better for beginner and intermediate players who want an improved electric-acoustic instrument that looks great!
Pros – about this ukulele
- This electric concert ukulele has great materials – just like the first soprano.
- Very beautiful design, also reminiscent of the essence of Hawaii, but with a nice cutaway for improved fingerpicking.
- This Concert got a better acoustic sound projection and delivers great amped sound quality.
Cons – about this acoustic-electric concert ukulele
- No downsides for this Concert.
Best Overall Tenor Electric Ukulele – Kala KA-EBY-TE Tenor
- Tenor size
- Striped ebony body
- Walnut fingerboard
Last update on 2023-11-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Kala enters the race with an amazing tenor electroacoustic uke.
Kala is in the same quality category as Luna, and usually, their instruments are similarly priced.
The Kala KA-EBY-TE is an excellent instrument that’s, again, a little similar in quality to the Luna High Tide.
Keep in mind that this is an acoustic-electric tenor ukulele, and is slightly bigger in size than the one above, thus it has a more comfortable fretboard which improves its playability.
What we like most about this electric ukulele is its appearance – it looks simple, traditional, but the color of ebony wood changes it all, making it impress with how sober it looks, almost elegant.
Of course, there are other details we like about this tenor ukulele.
- It comes with a simple design that’s comfortable to play with – although a cutaway would have improved it.
- This Tenor Electric Ukulele is a bundled product – nothing fancy though. You get a gig bag with backpack straps (don’t fall backward!), a clip-on tuner, an instructional DVD, and a polishing cloth.
- It comes with Kala’s UK-300TR, which are decent electronics.
And that’s about this tenor ukulele.
This electric ukulele is not as fancy as the other – it’s just a good uke.
Although it sounds great, has good sustain, and has good projection, this instrument is not perfect.
There’s something we didn’t like about this tenor ukulele – its weight.
This uke feels flimsy, almost delicate, although that’s not necessarily the case.
Still, you will get a great sound quality, whether plugged or unplugged, and great acoustic projection.
It’s a great instrument for beginners because of the add-ons, which are perfect if you don’t have any of them.
Intermediate players can also see this as a viable acoustic-electric tenor ukulele because of the ukulele alone, since it delivers nice quality for a decent price, and looks great doing so.
Pros – about this ukulele
- Generally, it has excellent materials.
- It’s a bundled product, and comes with addons that are decent and always good to have.
- This tenor ukulele delivers great sound quality and improved acoustic projection and playability over the one above.
- Its price is right for its quality.
Cons – about this acoustic-electric tenor ukulele
- This tenor ukulele is a little flimsy – can’t complain within this price range though.
Best Overall Baritone Electric Ukulele – Caramel CB103
Last update on 2023-11-29 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Last but not least, is the baritone electric acoustic ukulele.
This one was a hard choice, mostly because Luna’s High Tide line also has a great EA baritone which delivers the same amazing quality.
Still, taking into account how good this one is for its price, we couldn’t let it pass unchecked.
This electric ukulele comes from Caramel, yet another interesting company that’s been around for a while.
The Caramel CB103 is a piece of art.
This is a beautiful instrument from any angle you look at it:
- It has a beautiful high gloss finish.
- The Zebrawood is also a nice wood which gives it that unique look.
- All the other craftsmanship details are in line with its appearance.
- It offers a great sound quality that’s similar to what you should expect from Luna’s High Tide.
- Its preamp is more than decent.
- It has an adjustable truss rod so you can adjust the action to your liking and the wrench to do so.
- It comes with a gig bag, a strap, and a nifty uke wall mount.
This acoustic-electric is part of this list because it offers great value for your money, making it slightly better than Luna’s High Tide baritone – at least in terms of value.
However, the only discernible downside of this pick is the uke, which of course, is not as good as the Luna’s.
Still, it makes for a very interesting pick for beginners and intermediate musicians alike, and we can guarantee is more than you can expect from a uke within its price range.
Highly recommended!
Pros – about this ukulele
- This is a bundled product that delivers in every aspect.
- Excellent materials and craftsmanship – it’s eye-catching, we love the glossy finish along with the Zebrawood.
- It offers an excellent acoustic sound projection and playability thanks to its size, but also a delicious warm tone that works great with a good amplifier.
Cons – about this electric
- There are better ukes – this one offers amazing value because its bundled and the ukulele is excellent for its price.
Best Accessories for These Ukuleles
There are tons of accessories that absolutely improve your time when playing electric and electroacoustic ukes, making your life easier.
Specifically, for electric models, you’ll need a couple of high-quality cables to use with your amp and picks to mix up your playing style a little bit or play more comfortably.
Other general accessories include a gig bag or Hardcase, achromatic or clip-on tuner, a comfy strap for ukuleles, a good wall mount or ukulele stand, a polishing wax and cloth, a humidifier, and many more.
You must consider them if you’re serious about taking care of your uke and want to take the most advantage out of it, especially if you invested a bunch of money in one.
Learn more with our article about the most essential accessories for ukuleles you need!
Frequently Asked Questions – Best Electric Ukulele
Yes! Electric ukuleles, and on our opinion, electric acoustic models are great instruments
Whether you pick a solid-body uke, or the ones recommended above, all of them provide beautifully amped sound, which allows you to get the best of both worlds.
All the range the different types of ukes can offer an amazing amplified sound that can light a room!
Not necessarily. Electroacoustic ukes with and without pre-amplifier don’t require an amplifier to sound – they can offer you delicious acoustic sounds like any other uke.
That’s why we like them the most.
However, solid body ukes do require a ukulele amplifier.
You can still play the instrument without an amp, but you won’t get more than a few discernible notes across the room due to the lack of a resonance box.
That makes them great for apartments, though, and they’re still the best to amplify because they’re made exactly with that in mind.
It depends!
If you want an affordable instrument, you can pay anything from $80 to $300 and it would still be affordable. These options are the best for beginners, intermediate, and advanced players.
If you want a high-quality instrument, you can find custom-made options that cost up to a thousand bucks, or more.
These deliver the most beautiful amplified or electroacoustic sound money can buy but are usually reserved for professional performers which will make an investment that will pay for itself in the long term!
From widely available brands, you can find superb options, like the high-end options from Kala, Luna Guitars, Cordoba, or even Oscar Schmidt.
Even renowned performers find that these options suit their needs.
However, the best electric-acoustic and solid body ukes are handmade and custom-made by the best luthiers.
Conclusion – Top Electric Ukuleles
Although they are rather new in the industry, you can find a few electric ukulele options that are worth investing in – like the ones we mentioned here.
They offer the next step for traditional music because they’re the obvious evolution to keep this instrument relevant.
And this applies especially for live performers who need their ukes to stand out with the rest of the band playing – we absolutely love our acoustic ukes!
Still, indeed, you could never achieve that with an acoustic ukulele.
The ones we picked are the safest ones to get if you want a hassle-free instrument, that will provide you with beautiful amplified and acoustic sound, that is perfect for learning ukulele, showing, and why not, bragging about a little bit.
Just pick the one that suits your need and jam your way to the top. Do you have your eyes set on an electric acoustic uke?
