Electric uke looks like an oil can but is a gas to play [Reviews]

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Now you're cooking with gas, err, motor oil.
Now you're cooking with gas, err, motor oil.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

I’ve heard of cigar box guitars, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen an oil can electric ukulele.

Bohemian Guitars makes a ton of unique metal oil can guitars, basses and ukuleles, and they’re as fun to play as they are to look at. This electric uke is easy to play, sounds great through an amp, and is the probably the most unique uke you ever did see.

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While it won’t win any awards for quality specs (the parts are all lower-end from China), this is a great uke for the price, coming in well below other electric ukuleles I’ve played. The tuning pegs are solid and sealed against crud getting in and keeping them from turning. The pickups and volume/tone knobs are basic but useable, while the included guitar strap is fantastic (and almost worth the price of the whole thing).

The included guitar strap is all kinds of great.
The included guitar strap is all kinds of great.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

The strange thing here is the choice to put steel strings on it. Most ukulele players use their fingers to pluck and strum the complicated patterns of uke music; the harshness of a steel string almost cries out for a pick, which doesn’t quite mesh with the mellower tone or attack of a standard, nylon-stringed ukulele.

Plugged into my Fender Super Champ guitar amplifier, this Bohemian electric uke screams. It sounds great on both the clean and overdriven channels and would make a fantastic addition for any rock band that wants unique chordal voicing in their music.

The only niggling issue is the output jack — where you plug the guitar cable in to connect to an ampifier. Since the body of the uke is made of metal, it’s generally reinforced on the inside with wood. Somehow, Bohemian Guitars missed out on reinforcing the cable port, which will definitely strip out after a bit of use and/or abuse. Luckily, you can take off the back panel of the oil can to get in there and do the work yourself, but it should have been taken care of in the design phase.

Stays in tune with solid, usable tuning pegs.
Stays in tune with solid, usable tuning pegs.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Aside from that bit of trouble, this electric uke is a blast to play and even cooler when displayed; there’s no one you know that has one of these, yet. Plus, the square end of the motor oil can has four rubber feet on it, making it a cinch to set down on a table or shelf without any extra stand needed.

For less than $150, you can grab your own motor oil uke from Bohemian Guitars for very little scratch and have a ton of fun (and garner some interested looks along the way) playing your favorite uke tunes through an amp at your next gig.

The motor oil electric uke is available for $149, only at Bohemian Guitars. The company provided Cult of Mac with a unit for this review.

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