Plastic Ukuleles choices

[Kerozen]

Hey everyone, first time here.
I’m looking for my first ukulele and since it would be my only one i want to be able to bring it everywhere i go. I’m also a father of three young kids and i want to introduce them to the world of music by playing happy simple songs for them. That is pretty much why i settled it to a plastic uke!

After some research and looking at some reviews like Baz one’s. My choice would be the Outdoor tenor. But then, with shipping cost it would be over 250$cad!

I have narrowed it down to the Enya Nova U or the Flight TUS-35
I don’t really care about the look, what i want is ease to play, sturdiness and of course best sound!

I know one is a concert and the other one a soprano but it seems like the Flight has more room between the strings so it make it about even for me as the ease to play factor (longer neck vs more string width)

Which one would you guys choose?

Thanks!
Kero

 

[HaliUKEs]

I think the Flight are incredibly approachable. If you like the idea of a longer neck, Flight makes the TUSL which is concert scale on the same soprano body although it’s somewhat limited in colour choices compared to the TUS. When I get stock of the Nova I will do a sound comparison between the two.

EDIT: while I haven’t actually handled a Nova yet, I do think the Flight TUS is a better size to hand to a child.

 

[man0a]

For children, I would get the Flight just because it is smaller; easier to hold and easier to carry around. Both of the instruments sound kind of harsh and plasticy out-of-the-box, but replacing the strings with something mellower helps a lot (eg Worth Brown). Both of these are very sturdy instruments.

 

[Kerozen]

Thanks for the help guys! I’m leaning toward the Flight now!
Unfortunately i can’t find any retailer here in Quebec that hold the TUSL model and it’s also not available on amazon unlike the TUS.

So the Enya Nova U isnt worth the extra 40$ for quality, sound and playability?
Are soprano’s a good size to learn?Or is it easier to learn on bigger Ukulele’s?

My worries about the Flight is that i have pretty long arms.
And the string width on the nova U scare me since i have square shaped finger tips

 

[Arcy]

Neither scale is inherently better or easier, and preferences don't correlate readily to anything measurable. Much bigger people than you play smaller, and smaller people play bigger. Either will take practice to master. Either will be masterable with practice. Both have decent sound for their price, and both have reputations for playability.

The Enya is trivially more sturdy: it's completely plastic with carbon fiber reinforcement. The flight is plastic with a wood soundboard. Unless you're doing something extreme (playing in the water, leaving it in a hot car, besting off zombies with it) the difference won't be significant.

Since you don't have a preexisting preference I'd recommend you choose based on price and appearance. They're both good instruments for that range and will serve you well. The one that catches your imagination and makes you want to pick it up and play will take you farther than one that you regret.

I have a flight TUS35 and it's the only soprano I enjoy and play. I have no qualms recommending it. If I didn't have it (and an Outdoor tenor for the car) I'd probably choose the Enya since they look cool and my personal preference is for longer scale lengths.

 

[glennerd]

If you go through the recommended dealer on the Flight website, they actually have pretty cheap shipping from Europe, but I believe they ship DHL, who will collect at about $20 taxes/duties according to another post (as I recall) ... oh, but the dollar just took a nosedive last week.

 

[Dohle]

You shouldn't automatically think that the Enya is better simply because of the higher price, imo. The Flight travel series are incredible value for what they cost. Personally, while I don't mind plastic ukes, I do prefer the soundboard to be wood. Completely plastic ukes tend to have... well... a plasticy sound whereas something like the Flight or a Magic Fluke sound very close to a fully wooden ukulele to me. Then again, the Enya will be more durable if you're after that.

Regarding the scale, the Flight has a decently wide nut and string spacing even though it's soprano scale so that shouldn't be an issue. If you think you need more space between frets then the Enya might be a better fit. Of course it seems like the Flight long neck soprano would probably be the best choice but seems like they're not easily available for you. Maybe you could check some US retailers and import one?

 

[kkimura]

Yeah, get a Flight TUS-35 before they realize they could charge twice as much as they do.

 

[Ms Bean]

I bought the Nova and I like it. It's currently at my parent's place.
I have never tried the Flight TUS, but I would still like to try that one day.
If you would like to expose your children and have them try to play themselves, I would suggest to get both of your choices since they are really affordable. I have just checked on the Musicroom website and it is still accepting 'gotaukulele' as a discount code (saving 10% and hopefully helping Barry out as well).

My Uke partner has recently acquired an Enya HPL model euc X1M (the removable neck swayed her for her travel plans) and she hasn't played her first uke since. She absolutely loves it and it sounds fantastic for such a cheap instrument (under £55). I don't know if the HPL models can be left in hot cars for hours, but they are sturdier than wood and may be a good alternative as well.

 

[UkeStuff]

I have quite a few plastics and am in the process of tuning a new Kmise plastic soprano, which was about $26 on Amazon. If you're looking for a first ukulele, the TUSL is a great choice, and it's hard to recommend any other direction for a first ukulele. The Nova is great, too, but I see that as more of a second ukulele, after you know what you want. There will also be Soprano and Tenor versions of the Nova soon, so it is probably worth waiting for those...in case you don't want a concert.

 

[Dohle]

My Uke partner has recently acquired an Enya HPL model euc X1M (the removable neck swayed her for her travel plans) and she hasn't played her first uke since. She absolutely loves it and it sounds fantastic for such a cheap instrument (under £55). I don't know if the HPL models can be left in hot cars for hours, but they are sturdier than wood and may be a good alternative as well.

I think this is a very good point as well. If you're looking at the Enya anyway you certainly should consider the HPL models. They are also extremely sturdy, I personally prefer the sound to plastic ukes, and most of them are also cheaper than the Enya Nova.

 

[Kerozen]

I never played the ukulele and i already can’t stop reading about it. It’s seems like such a great community and there are so much models to look at! Can’t make up my mind!

I ordered both the TUS35 and the Nova U. But now you guys are making me doubting my choice again. Maybe i should of went with the Enya EUC or EUT-X1 instead of the nova u. So i could have a wooden sounding Uke to practice when the kids are not around.

This is so hard to choose when there’s so many options and you don’t know what you like.
I guess any Ukelele works when you are beginning, it’s just that everyone want to learn on the best quality price and easiest playability ones!

 

[Dohle]

To alleviate your buyer's remorse a bit, I'll say one thing about the HPL Enyas. The sound they make is quite muted, certainly more so than the Nova U. That might be an advantage for some but for me it's the biggest disadvantage of them. I didn't mean to say the Nova U sounds bad, it just sounds different to wooden ukuleles. Also, even the HPL models don't really sound exactly like wooden ukuleles. The only HPL uke that does, from what I've experienced, is the Martin 0X series and those are way more expensive than the Enyas. I doubt you've made a bad choice here. My suggestion is to experiment with the Flight and Enya, see which scale you like the best, and start saving for an actual wooden ukulele.

 

[Arcy]

Congrats on your incoming babies!

Don't stress over this - everything you're looking at is a good choice and will serve you well. There are no wrong answers between the Flight and the two Enyas. You will find others that are different in this price range, but you won't find anything better. If (when ) you decide you need to upgrade you'll spend significantly more to do better.

For what it's worth, my Flight TUS35 is one of my favourite ukes. I enjoy it much more than my Enya EUSX1 both in sound and appearance.