Durability of Magic Fluke and Flea

I always recommend the hardwood fretboard upgrade. That's a must for me on their Flea/Flukes. I've had pinging in the nut before with the plastic. I love Fleas/Flukes/Fireflies though. Everyone needs one if only to leave on the floor/ on the desk for immediate playability. Hands down, my most-played ukes. No problems with the tops.
 
I always recommend the hardwood fretboard upgrade. That's a must for me on their Flea/Flukes. I've had pinging in the nut before with the plastic. I love Fleas/Flukes/Fireflies though. Everyone needs one if only to leave on the floor/ on the desk for immediate playability. Hands down, my most-played ukes. No problems with the tops.

It was this forum that got me to buy into the concept - literally. Two members of our group have a Flea and a Fluke, and I've seen others with them, but the praise for them here is dramatic. I got a basic walnut Flea from Amazon, and then I ordered a Woodie Fluke with wooden fretboard and extra sound hole. I'll have to wait at least two weeks for that. I was going to pick it up in person to save shipping charges, but the sales tax is almost equal to the shipping charge. : (

Last night, I got a nine year old Flea soprano with the Tiki graphic, wooden fretboard, and Pegheds on ebay. I hope that's the end of my Magic purchases - three in three days.
 
...Last night, I got a nine year old Flea soprano with the Tiki graphic, wooden fretboard, and Pegheds on ebay. I hope that's the end of my Magic purchases - three in three days.

If you are like most of us here on UU, this is just the BEGINNING - LOL...

Congrats on your trifecta of MFC ukes. You've got a great start, and are now ahead of the game. :music:
 
If you are like most of us here on UU, this is just the BEGINNING - LOL...

Congrats on your trifecta of MFC ukes. You've got a great start, and are now ahead of the game. :music:

This is hardly a start. The three Magics were numbers 33, 34, and 35 in my collection. I have a Gold Tone ResoUke and one other awaiting delivery, but they're already counted in my total. One I plan to buy is a Dewdrop, from a maker in Baltimore. His latest batch should be finished later this month, and I'll either drive there or wait to see him at the uke event in Allegheny, PA, at the beginning of April. I hope I can find a way to stop buying ukuleles. Storage is becoming a concern. :)
 
I'm thinking about getting a Magic Fluke or a Flea, but I've read and seen two negatives. The finish on the top tends to wear away, more so than on other ukuleles, from contact with the player's hands. Whenever Jim Beloff appears, he has his Fluke, and the top is well-worn. Yes, he plays it a lot, but I haven't seen that kind of wear on any other ukulele. And, aside from being hard to see, the plastic frets tend to get dented from the strings over time. Barry Maz mentioned both of these conditions in a long term review of his Fluke. Have you noticed either of these?

Magic Fluke has these instruments available with graphics printed on the top, but if they're going to wear away, what's the sense?

Forgive my late contribution to this thread. I didn't read any of the responses and am only responding to the OP.

I don't mind wear, in fact I think wear is cool. After all it's an instrument that I play, not collect. Now the frets wearing down, that's a serious issue, but I'm sure you have to really play it a lot and hard. I'm sure some strings are more harsh than others.

My experience was, and this was completely my fault, I left my Flea in the car in what was likely a hot day. I didn't notice because it was in its bag. But when I pulled it out to play it some days later, the strings had pulled off the top from the bridge side: not the bridge but the top. It looked like a ramp.

I mailed it across the country to FMM and they fixed it, I think for free. I just paid the postage to get it there, if even that. But, unfortunately, it didn't sound the same. I used to compare my Flea with my Koaloha Pineapple. And though they sounded different, they were both enjoyable. But after I got my Flea back from repairs, it sounded a little dead, as if I lost some of the high end. I'm speculating here, but I wouldn't be surprised if FMM might have added a little more glue than there was originally to secure the top better to the plastic bowl, and that caused it to lose some of the brilliance of it. Again, all speculation, and any comments on tone differences is at best subjective.

I've since acquired other ukuleles that I play so my Flea doesn't get much attention anymore. But I love their product enough that I also own two of their concert-sized and triangle-shaped Flukes. I've also learned to not leave instruments in the car - stupid me for having to learn that the hard way.

If anything, great service over there at FMM.
 
I don't mind wear, in fact I think wear is cool. After all it's an instrument that I play, not collect.

I don't mind wear, but I've heard about accelerated wear on the plastic frets and the sound board. I'll have to try to keep my strumming fingers and nails off the wood. : )
 
Thanks for that. I have Aquilas on almost everything (except my Martin), but if the Martins give me better sound, I'll get them. I plan to put Grover 9NB geared tuners on the Flea or the Fluke or both.

Please pardon my ignorance and my interruption of the thread but could some please clarify the change of tuners for me. As I understand it Grover 9NB’s are right angle worm and wheel tuning heads (https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...tite-ukulele-tuners-nickel-with-black-buttons). Is it actually possible to change from standard friction tuners to traditional geared ones and if so does it have to be the Grovers or are there others that work too? I don’t recall the thread that Booli alluded to.
 
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These are the Grover 8N tuners. The 8N has a slightly longer string post than the 9. You can see that there is still plenty of room between the posts in the middle, and you have more room on the post for string winding. Sides of the tuner plates have been ground down to fit the width of the headstock. One hole on each tuner plate has to be relocated and the plate ground down to make the plates fit end to end. Also note that I used the bushings supplied with the tuners to give the tuning shafts some stability since they are smaller that the holes in the headstock.
 
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These are the Grover 8N tuners. The 8N has a slightly longer string post than the 9. You can see that there is still plenty of room between the posts in the middle, and you have more room on the post for string winding. Sides of the tuner plates have been ground down to fit the width of the headstock. One hole on each tuner plate has to be relocated and the plate ground down to make the plates fit end to end. Also note that I used the bushings supplied with the tuners to give the tuning shafts some stability since they are smaller that the holes in the headstock.

Looking at my order, I see that I ordered 9NB, instead of 8NB. When I did a search, they showed up, so I clicked and ordered them. Booli used the 9s, so they should be okay.

I noticed you had to use bushings, but Booli had to ream out the holes for the 9s. If the 8Ns are thinner and longer, I think I would prefer them. If I sell the Flea, which is unlikely, the tuner holes would be the standard size.

EDIT: It seems that no one is selling the 8NBs. :(

EDIT: Even Grover doesn't have them, but Stew-Mac has Grovers that seem to be the same size as the 8s, so I ordered a set.
 
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Please pardon my ignorance and my interruption ...I don’t recall the thread that Booli alluded to.

As mentioned previously here in this thread, as well as all across UU over the past week in several other threads about MFC instrument, there is a 'Magic Fluke Company Appreciation thread' which I often refer to at the 'megathread' since in the first post of that thread, I have links to MANY other discussions on MFC instruments.

This megathread, as well as threads on other topics is easy to get to by clicking on the 'JUST THE FAQs' link in my forum signature below.

I cannot repost direct links as it is a PITA to keep copying them over, and over, and this is the purpose of the FAQ page, i.e., for F]requently A]sked Q]uestions.

It is easier for you to just go to the FAQ page I have made for everyone to use.[click below]

Having said that, YES it is possible to change from standard friction tuners to the Grover 9NBs and the entire process is documented by me online here on UU.

You can find it via the FAQ link >> MFC megathread >> 'Pure Blasphemy" thread.

I am not the first to do this install of geared tuners on a Fluke/Flea, and was inspired by 3 different videos I found on YouTube by other folks who had done this previously and were kind enough to share the video.

Hope this helps! :)
 
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These are the Grover 8N tuners. The 8N has a slightly longer string post than the 9. You can see that there is still plenty of room between the posts in the middle, and you have more room on the post for string winding. Sides of the tuner plates have been ground down to fit the width of the headstock. One hole on each tuner plate has to be relocated and the plate ground down to make the plates fit end to end. Also note that I used the bushings supplied with the tuners to give the tuning shafts some stability since they are smaller that the holes in the headstock.

Nice job on the install. Your procedure was nearly the same as I had documented previously. Did you do this by yourself, or had you followed my install process in the thread I made entitled "Pure Blasphemy..."

BTW - if you hit REPLY WITH QUOTE instead of REPLY, then your reply will be in context to the conversation. I notice that you have not done this before and it make the conversation easier to read when knowing whom you are specfically replying to. Otherwise your reply has no context. Thanks!
 
I don't mind wear, but I've heard about accelerated wear on the plastic frets and the sound board. I'll have to try to keep my strumming fingers and nails off the wood. : )

In 4 years, playing with nails I have very little visible wear on the tops of any of my ukes.

This seems more a matter of proper technique than the durability of the instrument.

Also, allowing your fingers to strum/pluck/touch anything other than the strings as intended is inefficient in terms of both conservation of movement and application of the energy of your hand.

Same reason I do not 'plant' a pinky on the soundboard.

While an 'anchor' it also drains your energy from the rest of your hand and it limits the range of movement as well. Some professionals swear by it, and that's fine for them, but it is like training wheels and if used as such will be a hard habit to break for more advance P-I-M-A 4-finger technique, and will limit your ability later on.

I come from formal playing of classical and flamenco guitar, and will not slouch those techniques because some folks only think of ukulele as a 'casual' instrument.

Achieving finger dexterity takes work, but the payoff of being a much better player is worth it.

Not everyone cares to be a better player, and that's fine.

We each have different goals, and I am not one to judge. :)
 
Thanks Booli.

This is where I needed to look: http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?93637-The-Magic-Fluke-Company-Appreciation-thread and within the initial post there is a link to follow to the info I seek :http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com...ke-amp-Flea-installed-photos-amp-explanations .

I don’t follow Fluke and Flea posts normally. They are dearer here in the U.K. than in the USA, not many come up for sale second hand and when they do they’re almost always expensive. Potential problems with fretboard wear have made me wary and I find the frets hard to see too, but I wonder whether both those issues are that important and so take a little interest for the future.

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.
 
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Thanks for the suggestions and insights Bill.

I will keep a watchful eye on eBay and see what turns up. There might well be something decent tucked away in a cupboard gathering dust that one day gets listed for ‘sensible’ money, if so I’ll like jump on it and see whether a the Fluke or Flea works for me. I’ve not used friction tuners but normally get most stuff to work, however having the back-up of being able to fit the Grovers is a reassurance.
 
Nice job on the install. Your procedure was nearly the same as I had documented previously. Did you do this by yourself, or had you followed my install process in the thread I made entitled "Pure Blasphemy..."
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Thanks. I used both your thread and the YouTube videos to get a handle on what was required. That along with some improv on my part during the process and it came out pretty well.

As a side note, your info on strings should be required reading for all new forum members :cool:.
 
In Australia the MFC ukes seem expensive, as are others, because there is a 10% GST tax and because the shop owners claim high overheads. I have bought 3 ukes and several books direct from MFC over the years. In Australia this is the cheapest way to acquire an MFC product under $1000. You save the 10% GST which is not charged for items under $1000, and there are no shop overheads. The products are well known and come set-up ready to play, and you can keep the boxes which are the right shape and size and packaging for for long term storage (in your house). Its fairly safe to order factory direct and know that you wont need a set-up and if there are problems caused during transit, you can liaise directly with MFC to get them resolved. When you send your order and do the emails etc. you get to deal with the company owners in a lot of cases. There are no middlemen sales staff. Even if you live in Australia you get to deal directly when you order factory direct.
So if you are looking for a MFC uke, make sure you check out the prices for dealing direct with the factory via the MFC or FMM web-sites.
Also I recall reading posts on other boards from early in the century when the Flea and Mahalo U30 sellers were competing for marketshare in the low cost uke market in UK. I was never there, I just read the posts. The Mahalo sellers found a lot of problems with the Fleas, (Plastic? Ugh etc) and the Flea sellers found issues with the Mahalos (toys ugh). Much like we see on a UU thread at the moment which compares HPL Enyas with the MFC products, same marketshare competition. Of course now 10 or 12 years later, Fleas are still maintaining a good marketshare and the Mahalo U30s are not in production, and their replacements are not getting much respect. So if you live in the UK there is going to be a legacy of people talking about "issues and problems and plastic" in respect of the MFC products. Maybe they now are comparing to items like the Enya products instead of Mahalo products.
There is not much you can do about customs duties etc. so they are an added cost as is postage, which will always make imported ukes more expensive. If we get a trade war happening this will only get worse.
Flukes and Fleas have been in production since the 1990s, I think Jim Beloff started publishing his books around 1994, so maybe the MFC started around then as well. Going back to the question in the OP which is about durability of the MFC ukes, there is a very good chance that a uke purchased new in the 1990s is still in excellent working order. And 1998 was 20 years ago, so in the UK there has to be a few MFC ukes hiding in cupboards waiting for the right offer. This may be a way to access a MFC uke in good condition if you are looking in the UK (or anywhere really) and don't want to just throw money at postal services and customs duties for little return. In addition to buying a good condition used MFC product, you would also be acquiring a uke which is just going to be more and more collectible as time passes.
Note that the same thing will probably apply to 1990s and early 2000s Mahalo U30s.

I like this post ^

Some great insights here Biil. :)
 
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