Electrifying a flea or fluke?

Anyone ever put a pick-up in one? Wondering about drilling through the plastic.

I don't have anything "helpful" to say... but I did drill through some plastic pots over the weekend. With a good drill, it works pretty well. But my pots cost a dollar each. I wonder if you could find some plastic that is similar to the flea to practice on before you commit yourself...

Im just gonna take a shot in the dark and guess theyre made of ABS plastics. If that is the case, you should be able to drill it with no problem.




And if you dont believe me:





"ABS plastic is an easily machined, tough, low cost rigid thermoplastic plastic with high impact strength, ideal for turning, drilling, milling, sawing, die-cutting, shearing."
http://www.gopolymers.com/plastic-types/abs-plastic.html


Edit:
Upon visiting their website:
"The fluke ukulele is an amazing little instrument! The back is made of Injection molded ABS with fiber glass reinforcement (a type of plastic) and the fingerboard is made of Injection molded Polycarbonate..."

Go ahead and drill it, maybe get a one dollar pot to drill in first as practice

double edit:
Im not sure about the fiberglass part however, maybe hold off on drilling till someone else can shed some light on drilling into the fiberglass reinforcement. UNLESS they are saying the reinforcement is the binding? I don't have one so im trying to go by pictures.

fiberglas

I would ask the Flea/ Fluke manufacturers. Who knows how the fiberglas is reinforcing the ABS. Is it imbedded in the plastic, or was it laid into the ABS shape, and coated in resin? Fiberglas is sure to change the workability of the ABS. After all, the fiberglas is used to make the shape of the uke less likely to crack. It might be just fine, with just a little fraying around the edges of the drilled holes. I wouldn't risk it without some more info.

Good Luck
–Lori

Haven't even gotten the fluke yet. Just saw the coolest one at Island Bazaar. It's tie dyed. It would look so cool to use in my band but I would have to put a pick up in it. My hubby's done my soprano and my baritone and says the plastic Fluke bottom would not be a problem to drill through. I was just wondering if anyone had done it before. Now I just have to figure out how to afford the Fluke......

salukulady said:

Haven't even gotten the fluke yet. Just saw the coolest one at Island Bazaar. It's tie dyed. It would look so cool to use in my band but I would have to put a pick up in it. My hubby's done my soprano and my baritone and says the plastic Fluke bottom would not be a problem to drill through. I was just wondering if anyone had done it before. Now I just have to figure out how to afford the Fluke......

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You could always order one directly from Flea Market Music with a pickup installed. (Or have Island Bazaar order it for you.)

http://www.fleamarketmusic.com/store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=55

Rigk from Ukulele Surfer shop http://www.ukulele.de offers pickup installation for every uke you can buy in his shop EXCEPT Flea nad Fluke. You can email him and ask why - maybe he will have some valuable information.

Both good ideas, cpatch and paw123los. Yes, I'll look into those.

All the fleas and flukes that I've seen have a solid one piece plastic nut/saddle.

it was hard to tell from the pics i could find on the net, but i noticed that some flukes have a two piece bridge and saddle combo. in that case, i dont see why an undersaddle pickup couldnt be installed. but i noticed also in a large pic of a flea, that the bridge and saddle appeared to be one piece. in this case, it would not be possible to install an undersaddle pickup.

but...

its still possible to install one attached to the soundboard, using the method that ricdoug posted. it would cost about $5-10. but as far as sound quality from it... ive never heard it in person so i cant say. i hope ric can make it to the jam session next month and bring one of his in. i would love to hear it in person.

Flea Market Music offers two pickup options with each Fluke or Flea: a K & K Big Shot soundboard transducer or a B-Band UST with pre-amp and volume control. My guess is that if you order the UST it comes with an upgraded bridge and saddle.

salukulady said:

Just saw the coolest (fluke) at Island Bazaar. It's tie dyed.

Click to expand...

I saw that one, too! I'd love to have one, but there is absolutely no way I could justify getting it...not even to myself!