Hello, im new!

Hey there folks, im a new member, hello to you all!

I live in a dark corner of England known as Cornwall.

I dont own a ukulele at the moment, although i have been playing guitar and bass for many years, although musical inspiration is running somewhat dry with these instruments. I am really keen on getting a uke to expand my musicality and escape guitar drudgery.

I would like to explore and play a little fingerstyle and some leads as well as strumming, i figured the extra frets and larger scale of a tenor would make it more appropriate for my style. The only ukulele i have managed to play so far was a cheap nasty soprano, i found the scale length far too small, i have no real opportunity to go and play anything else without driving the length of the country to find a shop that stocks them.

I have my heart set on a fluke for some reason, the dollar/pound exchange rate at the moment means that i could order one relatively cheaply.

Sorry for the long first post!

welcome to UU!

For all of it's praise and all the stigmas that come with it, the Fluke is a great and very fun instrument. I love my Fluke. If you slap some Aquila strings on her she really sings! I'd also opt for the rosewood fret board. Oh, and if you're used to geared tuners, the friction tuners will show you the other meaning of fine tuning (oops, you've turned them 1mm too much! now you're 10cents sharp!).

P.S. just as a warning, the Fluke probably won't be your last uke (many, many others, including myself, will attest to having UAS - ukulele aquisition syndrome).

I do intend to get a rosewood fretboard as i would like to try out wound strings. Are the tuners that come with the koa model a significant improvement, how do they differ, are they geared?

Well I don't have a Fluke.....but WELCOME TO THE UU FAMILY!!!!!!!!!

Futch said:

I do intend to get a rosewood fretboard as i would like to try out wound strings. Are the tuners that come with the koa model a significant improvement, how do they differ, are they geared?

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I asked the folks at fleamarketmusic to upgrade my surf fluke with the grover 4b tuners (the ones that are used on the koa model) and they are still friction tuners. They are simply designed a little better to stay put (and not spin back out of tune - as they are held in place w/ friction). If you take a look here: http://www.ukuleleworld.com/home.php?cat=34 you can see the difference between the grover 2b and grover 4b tuners.

Rubbertoe said:

I asked the folks at fleamarketmusic to upgrade my surf fluke with the grover 4b tuners (the ones that are used on the koa model) and they are still friction tuners. They are simply designed a little better to stay put (and not spin back out of tune - as they are held in place w/ friction). If you take a look here: http://www.ukuleleworld.com/home.php?cat=34 you can see the difference between the grover 2b and grover 4b tuners.

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So I guess the question you have to ask is 2B, or not 2B.


Thank you, I'll be here all week. Try the veal.

Ahh I see the difference now, Ive been trying to find out what the difference is between the two, with no success, until now!

Nothing like a good pun Deach!

How much extra do they charge for the upgrade to 4b tuners, and is such an upgrade worth it, or are the 2bs functional enough?

Thanks, Futch

I think the 2b is functional enough. I had to even loosen the 4b tuners a tad on my koa flea. They were doing too good a job staying in place. You adjust that by loosening the screw on top of the tuner an eetsy weensy teeny tiny bit.

I've never tried the grover 2b's but i'll agree with plainsong, the 4b's are very, very tight. they charged me an extra $12 for the upgraded tuners.

deach said:

So I guess the question you have to ask is 2B, or not 2B.


Thank you, I'll be here all week. Try the veal.

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LOL... hahahahahaha.....Deach you are good LOL

deach said:

So I guess the question you have to ask is 2B, or not 2B.


Thank you, I'll be here all week. Try the veal.

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Post of the week.

WELCOME TO UU BRUDDAH!


you said ( i think) that you needed a uke with a rosewood fretboard and that has bigger frets and what not.

If i were you, I would get either a baritone or a tenor ukulele. They are bigger ukuleles and you would probubly feel more comfortable with those because you are used to big instruments like guitar and bass.


if you want to get a fluke, go ahead, by all means get one.

Be aware though that I think they come with plastic fretboards.

That isnt a bad thing at all.

From what I hear the plastic fretboard sounds great on it but just be aware of that.

look around on ebay for a nice ukulele.

There are alot of nice sellers that I know would be happy to help you out.

happy playing!

nikolo727 said:

Be aware though that I think they come with plastic fretboards.

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I believe Flea Market Music sells them with a rosewood fretboard.

Welcome BTW

Hey ther Futch! Welcome to the forum!

As far as the tuners go, you'd be just fine and never lacking with the 2B or the 4B. I've got the 2B on both of mine and have no issues using them after several years -- the little screw on the tuner adjusts the amount of tension you feel. That said, I would not make turn an otherwise immediately-shippable order into a special over this subject.

As far as which model of Fluke you choose, I'd highly recommend getting one with a wooden bridge (found on the Tiki Surf, Koa and Tiki Mug models) in lieu of the plastic bridge (typ. on the 'standard/base' models). All three of the models with the wood bridge come standard with the rosewood fretboard that you want, and the wood bridge will give you the ability to adjust the saddle if/when needed and you can later install an undersaddle pickup if you desire. The plastic bridge included on the base/standard models is not adjustable and forget about a saddle pickup, stickyback types only.

Soundwise, both of the Tiki models will have lots of volume and depth, while the Koa will sound just a little thinner. Strung low-G as you noted, any of these 3 sound will great. Also, these 3 models can easily be found in-stock from online sources (ebay, direct sellers, etc) for less than they can be had direct from the maker.


Have fun!