RafterGirl
Well-known member
Wow, that was fast! Six days from time of order to delivery from Japan. The uke arrived in great condition. Well packaged. The finish looks good, and it is a satin finish as I had hoped. The label on the inside of the uke reads Famous Ukulele Eco Series FLS-1G. As far as I know the Eco Series is all laminate, which is fine with me. I had some conflicting information on whether this would be an all laminate ukulele, or a solid top/laminate uke. Since the brochure that came with it is 100% Japanese, I can't tell for sure.
Workmanship appears very good. The fret dots could be a little bigger, but that's a personal thing. It does have the fret dots on the 3rd, 5th, double 7th,10th, and 12th. It also has side dots which I really like. The nut size is 37mm, so 1 7/16 which it what many Famous/Kiwaya owners had posted. That's the same size nut as my KoAloha and the Loprinzi I'm having built, so I'm happy with that. The neck is comfortable. I think it's a "D" shape neck as opposed to a "C' shape, but not chunky to me.
Sound is very nice. More resonant & brighter that my Islander laminate soprano. Of course I'm most comfortable with a concert scale, so that's why I wanted to try out a long neck soprano. I'm not sure what to think about the strings that came on it. They seem softer than what I'm used to. I'll probably switch them out pretty quickly. I like the Worth Clears that I put on my Islander, and I have some Oasis Brights already that I could put on it. The Oasis Brights really helped out my laminate starter concert quite a bit. I love the Living Waters that are on my KoAloha, so that's another thought.
It fits perfectly in the soprano hard case that I bought for the Islander soprano. Overall, it's just a smidgen longer than the Islander which has 14 frets to the body, but a soprano scale. However, it's a tight squeeze in the soprano gig bag. Doable, but I wish there was a little more room. A concert gig bag is way too big though. I guess I'll prowl Amazon or maybe a UU member has a suggestion for a long neck gig bag???
For now, I think I'll keep both the Famous and the Islander ukes. I have a feeling the Islander might get neglected, especially once I put better strings on the Famous long neck. The Islander can always be a loaner, or extra uke on river trips.
Workmanship appears very good. The fret dots could be a little bigger, but that's a personal thing. It does have the fret dots on the 3rd, 5th, double 7th,10th, and 12th. It also has side dots which I really like. The nut size is 37mm, so 1 7/16 which it what many Famous/Kiwaya owners had posted. That's the same size nut as my KoAloha and the Loprinzi I'm having built, so I'm happy with that. The neck is comfortable. I think it's a "D" shape neck as opposed to a "C' shape, but not chunky to me.
Sound is very nice. More resonant & brighter that my Islander laminate soprano. Of course I'm most comfortable with a concert scale, so that's why I wanted to try out a long neck soprano. I'm not sure what to think about the strings that came on it. They seem softer than what I'm used to. I'll probably switch them out pretty quickly. I like the Worth Clears that I put on my Islander, and I have some Oasis Brights already that I could put on it. The Oasis Brights really helped out my laminate starter concert quite a bit. I love the Living Waters that are on my KoAloha, so that's another thought.
It fits perfectly in the soprano hard case that I bought for the Islander soprano. Overall, it's just a smidgen longer than the Islander which has 14 frets to the body, but a soprano scale. However, it's a tight squeeze in the soprano gig bag. Doable, but I wish there was a little more room. A concert gig bag is way too big though. I guess I'll prowl Amazon or maybe a UU member has a suggestion for a long neck gig bag???
For now, I think I'll keep both the Famous and the Islander ukes. I have a feeling the Islander might get neglected, especially once I put better strings on the Famous long neck. The Islander can always be a loaner, or extra uke on river trips.