Fluke anti slip stickers?

Hello,
I have a tenor Fluke on the way. Finally! It looks like the anti slip stickers in the back would come in handy. Is there something special about the ones MFC sells or could I get material from a hardware store and cut it to my liking? What have people used?


Thanks

rug gripper stuff works well and can be cut to size. Dulcimer players use it as well, which is where I first saw it and was given a piece for a gig. Worked really well. I was not using a strap and was sitting down. I just laid it across kind of like a cloth napkin and rested the uke in there.

I've never had a fluke or flea but I use the non-stick rubber shelf liner from any department store, attached with 3M spray trim adhesive, on the back of my soprano ukes. No reason it wouldn't work well for the Fluke/Flea ones.

The trim adhesive did damage the finish on one uke (my Kiwaya longneck soprano) but it hasn't bothered any of my other ukes including some satin finished ones and my KoAloha longneck soprano. It certainly shouldn't hurt the plastic back of the Fluke/Flea!

John

Any pics of how this sort of thing looks?

For what they are they are nice. But imo they don't work. I had to rig up a strap for my Fluke and the grip strips started to peel off within a month. They did replace them no questions but they really didn't work for me. My set up now however is stellar, just using velcro on the bottom hooked to a leash. Perfect!

Thanks Captain!

Captain Simian said:

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I use a strap anyhow. It sounds like I may not need the strips in that case?

steel rider said:

Hello,
I have a tenor Fluke on the way. Finally! It looks like the anti slip stickers in the back would come in handy. Is there something special about the ones MFC sells or could I get material from a hardware store and cut it to my liking? What have people used?


Thanks

Click to expand...

You can use about anything you choose that you consider anti stick and has adhesive on the back. You won't hurt the back of the uke. It's just that tough. I wouldn't use neoprene though. If you ever play without a shirt and you have any hair in the area the uke rests, it'll pull it...pretty hard.

OldePhart said:

I've never had a fluke or flea but I use the non-stick rubber shelf liner from any department store, attached with 3M spray trim adhesive, on the back of my soprano ukes. No reason it wouldn't work well for the Fluke/Flea ones.

The trim adhesive did damage the finish on one uke (my Kiwaya longneck soprano) but it hasn't bothered any of my other ukes including some satin finished ones and my KoAloha longneck soprano. It certainly shouldn't hurt the plastic back of the Fluke/Flea!

John

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Do you still have your video of this, John? It was helpful.

I notice the shirt materials worn make big difference when playing. I wonder if you could make shirt with a patch or a strap with a patch of rubberized material?

I bought a strip of non-skid at home depot, cut out a few strips, peel off the sticky back and done. (this is a formica Martin OXK)

coolkayaker1 said:

Do you still have your video of this, John? It was helpful.

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I pulled the video when I realized that it did, in fact, damage the finish on my Kiwaya longneck. It wasn't terrible damage, or anything, but I didn't want to lead people astray if they just came across the video on YouTube and didn't take time to read the full story.

Basically I spray the back of the shelf liner, pretty wet, and then put it on while it is still a bit wet instead of waiting for it to dry to complete "dry" tackiness. I have found that a large circular patch doesn't tend to shift like long strips do. So now I cut a circular patch that will fit on the back in the treble bout area with about 1/2" clearance all around from the edges (this matches up good with my ample body...if you've got a lean physique some other location might work better for you).

I've had this on KoAloha ukes and other satin and gloss finish ukes for years and removed it with no damage. But, like I mentioned, the rubber cement actually "ate into" the finish on that Kiwaya. I was able to clean it up with steel wool, then I slapped a new patch on! LOL You know me, ever practical!

But, bottom line is I probably wouldn't do it on a valuable vintage uke or something with a potentially delicate finish. I think the Kiwaya uses a very thin, delicate finish. I've noticed when I played my Kiwaya at UWC with a bit of sunblock and bug repellent on my arms it made the front of the uke sticky, too, while my other ukes were unaffected.


John

Ukuleleblues said:

I notice the shirt materials worn make big difference when playing. I wonder if you could make shirt with a patch or a strap with a patch of rubberized material?

Click to expand...

I've thought about making a light vest with the rubber non-skid stuff on it, or maybe something like a basic prayer banner or shawl that one can drop around the neck and over the chest with non-skid surface. But, I always come back to the simple fact that sticking a non-skid surface to the uke works great and can't be forgotten...

FYI - straps can be false comfort. I had to fill in for our worship leader one week a couple of years ago and I decided to use a baritone uke instead of acoustic guitar. Everything went fine in rehearsal...but, it got warm so I removed my sweater just before service started. I was wearing a slick shirt under the sweater and the stinking uke and strap slid all over the place. I pretty much looked like a (poorly) trained monkey that Sunday morning... LOL

John

Do you think a strip of the non skid stuff on the underside of the strap would help?

I bought some anti-slip stickers from the automotive section of Canadian Tire. Peel-and-stick type. Cost me about $5. Work well with the Fluke.