Aileen SG Style Electric Ukulele: Shades of AC/DC in Uke Form

Body And Neck:
Hardware:
Sound:
Value:

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Playing the ukulele is just as satisfying as playing any other instrument, but there can be some ‘cool factor’ missing from it. With this popular electric uke from Aileen, you have all the street cred you need! It’s a great instrument at the right price, and it fits in very nicely with the ever-growing number of electric-ukuleles-disguised-as-electric-guitars that are out there on the market today.

Body and Neck

This is the highlight of this uke! Featuring a solid body, compared to the acoustic box-style body found on a traditional ukulele, the Aileen also has a shape that is instantly familiar, closely resembling a miniature Gibson SG. It is a tenor uke with a solid wood body enrobed in the classic wine-red glossy finish you’d expect from a typical SG.

The solid neck is bolted onto the body, with a rosewood fingerboard that offers 15 frets – all of them easy to get at due to the double-cutaway design. The black headstock is also pretty close in appearance to that of its Gibson big brother, with a 2+2 configuration.

Hardware

The hardware you’ll find on the Aileen is more along the basic line of thinking. There are no visible pickups, just a piezo transducer underneath the bridge, while the output is controlled by one volume and one tone knob.

Some other models in this genre feature more advanced bridge designs, which allow you to adjust individual string intonation. That would be a nice feature on this one, but with the piezo setup of the Aileen SG, that isn’t an option. Not a complete deal-breaker as most traditional ukes use a solid style of bridge anyway.

The die-cast tuners are chrome-plated, and there are preinstalled strap buttons as well. This may not seem like a big deal, but most traditional ukes don’t have them, so they are a nice touch. There isn’t a gig bag included, but it does come with a 10” instrument cable, which is another good addition for the price.

Sound

The Aileen isn’t the most expensive electric uke on the market, but, for the price, it actually sounds pretty good when run through a decent acoustic amp. The overall tone is nice and full with a good amount of clarity on individual notes. Chords sound rich and smooth as well, and the tone knob – while fairly basic – does a decent job at letting you dial your sound to your liking.

As with most solid-body electric ukes, the Aileen SG doesn’t sound the greatest when it’s unplugged. It’s fine for a little dry practice, but it was certainly intended to be hooked up to an amp – as if the aesthetics don’t already suggest.

Conclusion

The Aileen SG Style is far from perfect, but it’s a great low-cost option to help give your uke playing a little visual flair while sounding pretty good in the process. All you need is a schoolboy outfit, and you’ll be able to take on Angus Young himself without any issues – providing you know how to rock out ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ on the ukulele…

For more info about the Aileen SG Style Electric Ukulele, click here.

For more of the best electric ukuleles, click here.