Risa solid electric uke/mando

[powercat]

I stumbled upon a company in Germany called RISA. They have a couple of solid bodied electric ukuleles / mandolins. The one that really interests me (probably because I've never seen one quite like this) is the RISA Uke-Solid-Soprano (Ukulele/Mandolin). The DaSilva Ukulele Company (in the US) sells both the solid electric "skeleton" version and the more standard solid body electric ukulele / mandolin. Does anyone have any experience with the "skeleton" version? It looks like it might make a great small practice mando when supplied with the right strings (in GDAE tuning) and a headphone amp.

[JEStanek]

This Risa thread had a lot of detail. I pulled it from this set of search results.

Jamie

[powercat]

Weird. Before posting this I searched for RISA in all of the forums and came up with nothing. What did you search on?

[jefflester]

Weird. #Before posting this I searched for RISA in all of the forums and came up with nothing. #What did you search on?

Keyword: risa
Type of Search "Posts and or topic titles"
Choose the forum(s) to search in "All open forums"
Search in... "Titles and Posts"
Search From: "This Month" and #"Older" (or "The beginning")

I think the "Search From" is what trips up a lot of people. They don't notice it down there at the bottom.

[powercat]

Ah, I had the wrong time setting. That would explain it. I wasn't going back far enough.

Thanks

[Martin Jonas]

That other thread linked above was about my Risa, which I bought last summer. It's been a life-saver since: I was stuck for three-and-a-half weeks on business in a hotel in India in October and having the Risa with me saved me from going spare. It's so small and so robust that I can just throw it in my checked luggage. I play through a Korg PX4-A effects box which I use as a headphone amp, on one of the presets. The Korg has a terrible user interface and is too expensive to use just as a headphone amp, but the Risa sounds great through headphones and tuner, cable and Pandora box all fit into the small gig bag that comes with the Risa.

I have replaced the clear fishing line supplied by Risa for the fourth string with a black-died fishing line of my own, which for some reason sounds nicer (and blends in better with the black lower strings that Risa supply).

Be aware though that the tone and the picking action are quite different from a mando, because of the single string and because of the lower tension of the nylon.

Martin

[powercat]

Would it be possible to use all real strings (D'Adario or somesuch) or would that not work?

[arbarnhart]

They don't have geared tuners, so you might not have much luck with strings that require much tension.

[MyLittleEye]

Risa listened to their customers and these are now made with geared tuners as standard.

They don't have geared tuners, so you might not have much luck with strings that require much tension.

[Tim2723]

Would it be safe to use four steel mandolin strings though? It has no truss rod, but then, neither does my bowl back and it has eight strings.

[Michael Richmond]

Would it be safe to use four steel mandolin strings though? It has no truss rod, but then, neither does my bowl back and it has eight strings.

I've been considering doing exactly this with my RISA with geared tuners. One issue is how the strings are attached. They are simply knotted and then pass though holes above the nut. I've kicked around ideas such as using ball-end strings, or maybe shaping a metal bar to sit on the back of the neck and hold the loops.

Mostly, I've been held back by the fact that I noticed that the E string (fishing line) provided by RISA has cut fairly deeply into the wood above the neck. I've been concerned that steel strings will continue cutting further into the wood.

For what it's worth, I replaced the stock RISA strings (and fishing line) with a set of the Aquila 5th-tuning strings. This set sounds better than the stock strings and the E string is easier on the finger than fishing line was.

[John Flynn]

I'm a long-time Risa-solid (the "skeleton version") owner. I pack it in my suitcase when I go on trips. The one thing I found with mine, though, was that when tuned as mandolin, the intonation was off on all but the E string. I had a replacement bridge made by a luthier and now it's spot-on. Personally, I wouldn't try steel strings on it. It's just not made for them. I don't mind the nylon strings at all. It still allows me to play tunes and practice my right and left hand coordination. I don't really consider it a mandolin, but more of a "mandolin practice device" that I use when a regular mandolin would not be practical, such as when I'm traveling or when I want to play without disturbing anyone in the next room.

I've tried multiple headphone amps with it. The usual run of the mill ones sound awful. I have a Korg PX4A that sounds good with it, but as the previous poster said, the programming and functionality are not very user-friendly. What I use now is an iGtr, which is a great little unit. However, most often I just play the Risa acoustically. If I'm playing it alone in a room, I can hear it easily with no amplification, which is all I need.

As a previous poster said, I understand Risa now puts geared tuners on them. I looked into getting mine retrofitted. It would have cost about $80. I'm glad I didn't go through with it. Using friction tuners takes a little more finesse, but you can get them to work fine with nylon strings and they are smaller and lighter in weight. BTW, I use beeswax in the grooves on the rod that the strings turn around going from the tuners to the front of the instrument. It helps make the tuning smoother. I appreciate the tip on the Aquila strings. I'll have to try them.

I think the Risa is a great product. My only two complaints are the intonation, which I mentioned, and the neck shape. I wish they would make it fully rounded, rather than a "rounded square" for lack of a better term. But I've even gotten used to that.