Harley Benton unveils a pair of budget and travel friendly ukuleles just in time for summer holiday season
The Rocker Uke Red Satin and the UkeBass OPNT are affordable, stylish, compact and might well be the ideal travel partner or back garden companion
Harley Benton has expanded its range of affordable ukuleles with the Rocker Uke Red Satin and the UkeBass OPNT.
The Rocker Uke Red Satin has a boxy T-style shape, onboard electronics, with binding a classy touch that really ties the uke together, while the solid-bodied UkeBass OPNT looks every inch the scaled-down contemporary bass guitar, and has an active piezo system.
Priced £73, the Rocker Uke Red Satin could scarcely be easier on the average player’s fiscal reserves but there is a lot going on for the money. Yes, the binding gives it a premium vibe and the matching painted headstock is tip-top, but this all-okoume uke has a Graph Tech nut and an HB pickup and preamps system with a 2-band EQ.
Rounding out the spec we have a set of black die-cast tuners and a purpleheart fingerboard and bridge. It is is the sort of instrument to keep the fingers moving when on the move this summer.
The UkeBass OPNT, meanwhile, has a solid American swamp ash body, a three-ply maple and okoume neck, and a rosewood fingerboard with 24 medium-jumbo frets. Its 20.86” scale makes it a very attractive proposition for young bass guitar players whose hands are not quite ready for a full-sized instrument, or as a travel option.
The active piezo system has controls for volume, treble and bass, with a ABS nut and die-cast tuners completing the spec. It might be compact, but Harley Benton promises a serious instrument with “traditional bass sounding vibes.”
The Rocker Uke Red Satin and UkeBass OPNT are both available now exclusively through Thomann. As mentioned above, the Rocker Uke is £73, while the UkeBass OPNT is priced £147.
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See Harley Benton for more details.
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Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.
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“They haven’t agreed on anything for 20 years”: How Ice-T got Roger Waters and David Gilmour’s go ahead for Body Count’s Comfortably Numb cover
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