Alic Soprano Review - in two minds

bazmaz

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I appreciate your review and respect your opinion on copying the flea. I do however disagree that Alic did anything wrong or less than ethical when making this uke. I just don't see the flea being all that original. It seems as if they took Ovation's idea of a composite back changed the shape and added a plastic fretboard. This is clever and good design but not really completely original. Nothing wrong with it just not that original. So now Alic comes along and changes the Flea shape and keeps the plastic fretboard. Again good design but not original and there is nothing wrong with that. It seems as if pretty much every uke maker is copying someone's design to some extent.

What concerns me about the Alic is your observations about the fretboard and how it may not hold up over time. Looking forward to updates on that.

Again thanks for the review.
 
CJay - yeah on reflection perhaps I made to much of a thing about the Flea comparison - you might be right. I am just a big fan of Jim Beloff and what he's done.
 
Couldn't agree more on Mr. Beloff's contributions. As a matter of fact I just purchased his Daily Ukulele book this weekend.

Also want to thank you for your blog Baz. You taught me how to change ukulele strings as well as pointing me in the right direction on several uke issues. I check your blog each day for new post. Keep up the good work.
 
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I don't think using the same materials as a flea is bad in any way. Mixing wood and plastic in this way may have been a good idea but is certainly something someone else could have come up with on their own. I think this uke actually fills a nice niche. It has similar benefits to a flea but is much cheaper and slightly more traditional looking. I love the idea of the fleas but can't get past the looks. If they sold Alics in the US I would be really interested.
 
I don't think using the same materials as a flea is bad in any way. Mixing wood and plastic in this way may have been a good idea but is certainly something someone else could have come up with on their own. I think this uke actually fills a nice niche. It has similar benefits to a flea but is much cheaper and slightly more traditional looking. I love the idea of the fleas but can't get past the looks. If they sold Alics in the US I would be really interested.

If the fretboard wears down quickly, like with the Schoenhut (I bought one and it's useless as a soprano uke now because of this), then IMHO, you are probably better off just getting something else, like a Dolphin or even that Octopus soprano that Baz has reviewed previously.

Time will tell. Hopefully Baz will update us after the Alic has a meaningful number of hrs of play-time on it and see how the fretboard is holding up.
 
Thanks for the review Baz. As always, detailed, thorough and doesn't pull any punches.

Like you, I'm a little torn on this. I think maybe you are a little hung up on the Flea "rip-off" aspect. I certainly can't see this Asian Factory model taking too much business away from the Beloff's given their reputation and cred is well and truly established. Also because we're talking about two distinct price points here and thus, two different markets.

I find the Alic uke especially ugly - from the shape of the body all the way up the neck to the open geared tuners - and if I had 50 pounds (which equates to AUS 100 bucks) I would invest it elsewhere or save a little more and then still invest it elsewhere! That said, it's filling a niche as a beginner uke and will no doubt have some sort of market. I am a slave to aesthetics to some degree I confess and would not buy this simply for that reason alone. It's fugly. Fullstop.

But yeah, amazed at how almost identical the sound comparison was. Very interesting.

I've owned several fleas and flukes, with both the polycarbonate fretboard and the rosewood. Just a personal opinion, but I would never buy a Flea with the plastic board again. I found the playability and feel of the wood board so much better it wasn't funny. But the trade off as we all know is the enormous extra cost involved if one makes the upgrade on the Flea. Looking at around 400+ dollars AUS once shipping is factored in...so, in terms of sheer value for money the Alic has a fair bit going for it for folks looking for a cheap option. Not gonna tempt me though.

Thanks again for the review mate. Cheers.
 
I have one of these - I use it as my "beater" uke. £50, great sound and nearly indestructable - what's not to like? It may be that the fretboard doesn't hold up as long as a £200 version but it won't get enough use to know for a while yet. It's also, as Baz points out, small child safe which is great. As for avoiding using another manufacturer's style - wouldn't that rule out almost every instrument not made by the original people to do that? I've not seen complaints about something being mahogany because someone else did mahogany first. Does anyone wear jeans not made by Levis, who held the original patent? It seems an odd thing to be concerned about when it's a great instrument for the price. Also, not mentioned was the pretty decent gig bag that comes with them - a nice touch, I thought.
 
Didn't say it was against the rules or anything - just that I find it lazy. That's all.
 
Bought a black one for 52,40 euro in the Netherlands (shipping included), mine came with labeled Aquilas. It arrived today and came double boxed with 'airbags' in an unbranded ukulelebox, inside a cheap and thin gigbag, so I can't tell if they even looked at it in the shop. I was familiar with the name of the shop, mainly as a medium sized local store about 80 km from here, never even knew they had a webstore.
After selling my other ukes I only own and play a Dolphin and own a Korala ABS concert, which I rarely play.
The action and intonation are way better than on my Dolphin, the zero fret came as a really nice surprise. The neck is up to my taste, the fretboard took a while to get used to, but it feels better than I expected, being familiar with the fretboard of the Korala ABS concert. Fretting is easy, but it still feels a bit weird, being used to wooden fretboards with metallic frets. The sound is waaaaaaaaay less plastic-like than I would have expected, As a matter fact not plastic-like at all, I guess the plywood top makes a big difference. The volume is about the same as my Dolphin, but it sounds fuller and warmer, both strummed and picked. I' ll guess I' ll see which uke I play in couple of months, the Dolphin or the Alic.
 
i hope you still have frets after a couple months.
 
i hope you still have frets after a couple months.

Me to. So far I really like this ukulele, the zero fret, the action, the neck. I would recommend it as a good starter ukulele, and will probably buy another one if the fretbord will give up on me. So far it doesn't look that way.
 
Glad to hear the frets are holding up so far. I am interested in these ukes and would appreciate any dates on how it holds up.
 
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So... flea invented the plastic fretboard?
Or, they copied it from Maccaferri, or someone else?

Baz likes the dolphin (plastic body/ply top), but a dolphin with a plastic fretboard is ethically wrong because.... Im not really sure why.
I don't understand what the beef is, or why it's lazy for one company to do it, but not another.
 
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I quite like the instrument. But even Alic themselves admit they took their cues from Flea. Just think it would be nice to see something different that's all.

It's nothing like a Dolphin. It's VERY like a Flea.
 
I got one of these a few days back and I can't stop playing the thing. It looks like a toy but it just sounds great, I always struggle describing sound but it sounds really full (if that makes sense) and it's loud too. I've never played a Flea and no idea if the frets will hold up (the frets seem tiny too), but so far so good. It's really impressed me.
 
Update: Sold mine to a fellow uu-er. Shipped it all the way from the Netherlands to New Mexico. It still had it's frets when I sold it, I actually could not find any marks on any of the frets.

Reason for selling: I promised my wife I would finance all ukes plus accessories by selling other items belonging to me (not us, me). And I really needed a baritone, and I would never sell my Dolphin (like anyone would ever buy it ;) )
 
I have one of these Alic ukuleles..for the money? Mine cost £20! They are incredible.. The only fault I can find is the frets being same colour as fretboard.. Nit picking really.
 
In the US they're branded Mahilele. I did a review of mine on here. I really liked it. Sold it, and sort of regret that I did. Way better than my granddaughter's Dolphin and about the same price. Also, super durable. I kept it in my car for almost a year, no problems.
 
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