Valerie
Well-known member
I came home from school today to find Fluke on my doorstop.
So first thing to say is: Thanks, Deach!!! You are awesome! And the second thing is a review. The truth is I've tried out a Flea before, and was not impressed. But that Flea had some cheapo GHS strings that were really old and dead sounding. Even so, I just didn't much care for the feel of the instrument.
So now, I've got one I can mess around with, change out strings, and see if I can discover what it is about the Fluke/Flea that creates such brand loyalty in uke players.
Here goes: First impressions
The good:
The Bad
So, so far more good than bad. The problem is that the two most important things to me sound and playability are both in different categories....
Anyways, more review to come as I have some time to tinker.
(it really does look awesome! It's a pretty little thing.)
So first thing to say is: Thanks, Deach!!! You are awesome! And the second thing is a review. The truth is I've tried out a Flea before, and was not impressed. But that Flea had some cheapo GHS strings that were really old and dead sounding. Even so, I just didn't much care for the feel of the instrument.
So now, I've got one I can mess around with, change out strings, and see if I can discover what it is about the Fluke/Flea that creates such brand loyalty in uke players.
Here goes: First impressions
The good:
- It is a concert fluke, a beautiful red one that reminds me of the ruby slippers in the Wizard of Oz. The stock pictures online really don't do it justice. I'll upload some pics later (my room is a mess right now, as I'm in the middle of study season.)
- I love the feel of the neck. It's flat bottomed, rather than rounded and makes fretting really easy- especially bar chords, as I don't have to worry so much about my thumb placement.
- The harmonics are very playable at the 12th fret, and semi playable at the 7th. And the intonation is spot on at the 12th fret (and only very slightly off in between- depending on finger placement.) I don't think the intonation could possibly be any better.
- Fretting is very easy. The action is much lower than my Lanikai, making hammer ons and pull offs very easy. (Makes me wonder if I should look into having the action on my Lanikai adjusted...)
The Bad
- I'm not fond of the feel of back of the instrument- Very slippery. And I was suprised to see that the Fluke actually weighs more than my Lanikai LMF-C. Since so much of the fluke is plastic, I thought it would weight a lot less than it does. It's in no way a heafty instrument- just solid feeling.
- The sound is loud, but the sustain is poor, about half the ring-time as my Lanikai. It also doesn't seem to have as rich a tone as my Lanikai- not as full. Of course, this *might* be the strings (hilo)talking and I'll switch those out in a day or two to match it with what I have on my Lanikai. But, truthfully, they arn't bad sounding strings.
So, so far more good than bad. The problem is that the two most important things to me sound and playability are both in different categories....
Anyways, more review to come as I have some time to tinker.
(it really does look awesome! It's a pretty little thing.)