Soprano Flea or Concert Flea? etc.

CountryMouse

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I just sold a bunch of books and have enough to get a Flea! I already have a concert Fluke, which I love. All my other ukuleles are sopranos. Will the concert strings and the slightly longer neck give it a bit of a richer tone than if I get a soprano Flea? Hmm. Or maybe I should ask at the Magic Fluke Co.!

I'm probably going to go with the friction tuners, as they are not driving me too batty on the Fluke. ;) And since I want a fairly low-maintenance ukulele, no rosewood fretboard.

I'm thinking that my fingers will instinctively remember that when I have that black fretboard beneath them, it's a concert-sized fretboard. AND I just got some Kala Red concert strings. They would look AWESOME on the Denim Flea.

:smileybounce: EXCITED! Any comments welcome!

CountryMouse
 
I have the concert Flea. I don't think the longer neck changes the sound much, since they are still tuned to the same notes as they would be if they were on a soprano neck. Its really the body that changes the sound most, and the concert and soprano Flea have the same body. The concert neck is only an inch and a half longer, but its nice to have that extra room when you are reaching for the higher chords. I think it only has one more fret.

I really don't know what all the fuss is about friction tuners. I have both, and like you I don't have that much trouble tuning mine, or getting it to stay in tune. I will say that the tuners are on the Fleas are easier to use than the upgraded friction tuners (Gotoh) on my Ohana soprano. It may just be their position out to the side that makes it easier to turn them without hitting the next one.
 
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Just one guy's opinion, there is not much difference between the finger positions of a soprano & a concert. The whole scale is usually less than an inch longer, so you probably won't notice a big difference.
 
I have both a concert flea and a concert fluke, both have the rosewood fretboards. My new fluke has the upgraded Peghead tuners. 4:1 ratio. I find that the ugrade is worthwhile, especially when the uke is relatively new, when the strings are still settling and you are tuning more often. After they settle in, I found that the standard friction tuners are more than adequate. I will say however, that they require a fair amount of screw tightening with just moderate temperature swings. I have taken it camping and fortunately had a screwdriver with me as the temperature dropped.
 
I have the concert Flea. I don't think the longer neck changes the sound much, since they are still tuned to the same notes as they would be if they were on a soprano neck. Its really the body that changes the sound most, and the concert and soprano Flea have the same body. The concert neck is only an inch and a half longer, but its nice to have that extra room when you are reaching for the higher chords. I think it only has one more fret.

I really don't know what all the fuss is about friction tuners. I have both, and like you I don't have that much trouble tuning mine, or getting it to stay in tune. I will say that the tuners are on the Fleas are easier to use than the upgraded friction tuners (Gotoh) on my Ohana soprano. It may just be their position out to the side that makes it easier to turn them without hitting the next one.

I think I was thinking about concert strings vs. soprano strings, thickness of strings, although lots of sets can be used either/or.

Ah, okay--the Fluke body is bigger than the Flea's; but since I already have a Fluke, I've been thinking for some time that I wanted a Flea also, sorta to keep it company. :rolleyes:

I have noticed that there is a little bit of difference in fret distance on the Fluke compared to my various soprano ukes. But I think having a second concert will help me on being comfortable with that. Right now my Fluke is the only one that feels "bigger" to my left hand.

Thanks!

CountryMouse
 
I have both a concert flea and a concert fluke, both have the rosewood fretboards. My new fluke has the upgraded Peghead tuners. 4:1 ratio. I find that the ugrade is worthwhile, especially when the uke is relatively new, when the strings are still settling and you are tuning more often. After they settle in, I found that the standard friction tuners are more than adequate. I will say however, that they require a fair amount of screw tightening with just moderate temperature swings. I have taken it camping and fortunately had a screwdriver with me as the temperature dropped.

I had no idea that not only strings can change with temperature changes but that the screws loosen in the friction tuners too! Fortunately I had a Phillips head screwdriver handy when this suddenly happened to me. I think I'm gonna get a small screw driver from Flea Market Music to put in my pick box to have handy, though!

Thanks!

CountryMouse
 
CountryMouse,

What about the Eleuke pineapple?

That must have been a truck load of books you sold!!
 
CountryMouse,

What about the Eleuke pineapple?

That must have been a truck load of books you sold!!

I ended up getting a Soprano Mahogany Eleuke instead of the Pineapple. It needs a little work on the action plus a change of strings before it's ready for prime time. :)

It WAS a lot of books. Half-Price Books pays more for non-fiction (which they were), plus they were all in very good shape. You wouldn't believe how many books I still have! We are total bibliomaniacs here!

I just ordered the Denim Flea with a concert neck. Otherwise, no extras, just the standard stuff. Yay!

CountryMouse
 
Knowing how much you like to make videos, and also of your troubles with the microphone on the camcorder, you might think about budgeting for a microphone or a webcam with a good mic somewhere in there too.
 
Knowing how much you like to make videos, and also of your troubles with the microphone on the camcorder, you might think about budgeting for a microphone or a webcam with a good mic somewhere in there too.

A Blue Snowball microphone will be showing up on my doorstep tomorrow. DH sprang for that last week. It was on sale at amazon.com. :)

CountryMouse
 
Hope you enjoy that Flea when it arrives!!! I think you will.
 
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