NUUD, new used uke day. Walnut Fluke

Last week I bought a walnut Fluke from the Marketplace. The leader of my group, Cali Rose, is good friends with Magic Fluke and highly recommends their stuff. I've been considering a beater uke to leave out, and when I saw this one for $150 shipped, I went for it.

It had low G, which I don't play, so I changed the strings to what I had on hand, but they're not bright enough for me. I also realized the saddle had been replaced with a narrow ivory colored one, which I lost (I don't know how) when I changed the strings, so I replaced it with one of mine. Neither fit properly, the action is too high, so I called Magic Fluke and they're sending me 3 with different heights for $10, hoorah for them.

This is my first uke with friction tuners, one of which would not stay tight, so I tightened the knob screws, but that makes tuning a little difficult. I'm going to need to tweak those screws.

I also added strap buttons to the bottom edge and the neck heel because I always use a strap. I always hang my ukes on a stand, so I don't need the flat bottom.

The Fluke has good projection, and I'll check the intonation when I install the proper saddle. This one has the plastic fretboard and frets.

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9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 8 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 33)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video

Check with the Magic Fluke or look at their web site. The sell Grip Strips for the back of the uke. They are black and are almost invisible. The outer surface is grippy so it might eliminate your need for a strap.

They also have stick-on straps. Click on the link below and go t the bottom of the page.

https://www.magicfluke.com/category-s/1881.htm

EDIT: You can also install geared tuners, either Gotoh or standard geared tuners that will have the buttons facing backwards.

Kohanmike, you might want to check out the mega-thread about Magic Fluke that Booli created and has been running a long time now (linked below).

Therein you will find links to other threads where people have replaced the friction tuners with geared tuners, and Booli explains in his "Pure Blasphemy" thread (linked in the first post of the mega-thread) that you need to be aware of the length of the tuner shafts, since they are opposing each other.

Also, looking at the schematic you posted from GraphTech in the thread about their tuners, it seems that those tuners have posts that are 23.75mm, which according to Booli, the tips of the tuner posts might stick out too much to allow them to be installed.

If you have a ruler or calipers you can measure the outside width of your Fluke headstock, and then divide in half, and then subtract maybe 1-2mm from that value to allow for the tuner posts to have room and not touch (since they are opposing each other).

Also, there are some threads linked there that show what Booli and other people have done for a strap for their Flukes and Fleas.

See here:
https://forum.ukuleleunderground.co...7-The-Magic-Fluke-Company-Appreciation-thread

For now I'm going to stay with the friction tuners, but I have a set of geared tuners that will fit the fluke. I'm going to NAMM on Sunday, will stop by the Graph Tech booth and see if they have the Tune-a-leles on hand just for general information, the shaft is too long for the Fluke.

Cali and others with Flukes and Fleas in my group have those strips, but the strap buttons I installed are perfectly fine, no need for anything else. I install strap buttons on all my ukes that don't have them.

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9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 8 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 33)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video

I replaced the stock friction tuners on my Flea and Firefly with Grover 6s (the stocks are Grover 2s or 3s, I think). I had to use a file to open the post holes just a fraction of an inch, but I'm really glad I did it. They still have friction tuners, but these are much smoother operating than the stocks.

You'll love your Fluke. They're fantastic just to mess around with or for serious playing.

I received the 3 new saddles from Magic Fluke today, they're .205, .215 and .225. I used the .205 and it works great. The intonation on the A string is on, E is slightly sharp, the C is on and the G slightly sharp, all-in-all pretty damn good. At first I wasn't sure about the Fluke, but the saddle changed my mind completely, I'm now happy I have it.

My fluke tuners have a chrome collar below the black finger knobs, I see on the Magic Fluke site a set of Grover 2B tuners for $6 that have a black collar under the black knob, I assume they are the basic model that comes with the Fluke. I see at Sweetwater a set of 6B for $18 that have a chrome collar below the black knob, does that mean I might have a set of 6B? I'll have to ask Magic Fluke tomorrow.

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9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 8 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 33)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video

I put pegheads on my walnut Fluke. I could not live with friction. Easy install. Well worth the $69 I spend to have my Fluke stay in tune. Intonation is perfect. I have the stock black saddle. My Fluke loves dAddarrio fluro Strings Easy to find. Last a long time. Congrats