Question about bridges and fret sizes on travel ukuleles (Flight, Outdoor, Fluke)...

ejyip · Jun 27, 2019

Well unfortunately, my Flight TUS50's bridge failed last night after a month of having it, so I am on the hunt for something else. The g string tie area at the bridge failed while playing and I got whipped rather nicely, lol.

While the Flight was good for what it was (I guess you get what you pay for), I thought the frets were way too small. Before I go and order a Fluke or an Outdoor Ukulele, I figured I'd ask here to see if the frets are larger than what the Flight has? Also, are the bridges any different, since the plastic obviously failed on the Flight?

I'm basically looking for a durable and relatively small ukulele that I can keep in my Jeep for practice. I'm also open to suggestion if there are any suggestions other than the Fluke or Outdoor. Thanks in advance for any insight!

Bill Sheehan · Jun 28, 2019

Hi, EJ, I'm really surprised that you had a bridge failure on your TUS-50, and sorry to hear about it! Would you describe the failure as having "blown the slot"?

ejyip · Jun 28, 2019

Haha. Thanks. I guess you could describe it as that. I was playing and all of a sudden, SNAP! Upon further investigation, there was a nice crater where the slot formerly existed. There must have been some fault in the plastic coming out of the mold. I looked at ways of trying to repair it, but with the nature of the situation, the string tension would cause another failure.

Bill Sheehan said:
Hi, EJ, I'm really surprised that you had a bridge failure on your TUS-50, and sorry to hear about it! Would you describe the failure as having "blown the slot"?

Ukecaster · Jun 28, 2019

ejyip said:
Haha. Thanks. I guess you could describe it as that. I was playing and all of a sudden, SNAP! Upon further investigation, there was a nice crater where the slot formerly existed. There must have been some fault in the plastic coming out of the mold. I looked at ways of trying to repair it, but with the nature of the situation, the string tension would cause another failure

An easy fix that might work, just drill a 1/8" hole down through the G string slot, and string it up as a string-thru. As long as the bridge hasn't lifted off, you should be good to go.

ejyip · Jun 28, 2019

Ukecaster said:
An easy fix that might work, just drill a 1/8" hole down through the G string slot, and string it up as a string-thru. As long as the bridge hasn't lifted off, you should be good to go.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll give it a try. Worst case, I'll just give it to my young nephew to plunk around on. He likes to pretend he's playing when he's around us.

Col50 · Jun 28, 2019

Want a tough uke, watch this

Lacole · Jun 28, 2019

Was there no warrantee. Have you tried to contact the maker? Yeah I know shipping costs would make it impractical for a low cost ukulele., but shouldn’t you ask them?

Croaky Keith · Jun 28, 2019

Hey, there's nothing wrong with a 3 string uke, one less to worry about.

Maybe try alternate tunings on it, D G D like dulcimer, 5ths, or just C E G. :music:

ejyip · Jun 28, 2019

Col50 said:
Want a tough uke, watch this

Yes. I was looking at one of these or a Blackbird Clara, but I realized how impractical it was as a "leave in the car" practice uke. LOL.

Lacole said:
Was there no warrantee. Have you tried to contact the maker? Yeah I know shipping costs would make it impractical for a low cost ukulele., but shouldn’t you ask them?

I bought it off of Amazon, but either way, I figure spending more time and money on it would be fruitless, especially since I gave a shot at fixing it voiding any warranty.

Croaky Keith said:
Hey, there's nothing wrong with a 3 string uke, one less to worry about.

Maybe try alternate tunings on it, D G D like dulcimer, 5ths, or just C E G. :music:

Hahaha.

TheCraftedCow · Jun 28, 2019

Eddy Finn makes a very nice travel uke that comes with a three year warrany. I am an authorized dealer for the entire line of stringed instruments. My favorite really is the travel uke. I created and sewed a case that hold three of them in their separate cases. One is strung reentrant, one linear and one with a low G and a low A. What a sound for JAZZ chords! Because my prices are below the MAP(minimum advertised price) I do not publish my prices.If you would like to know what it is, thecraftedcow@comcast.net is where I am.

acmespaceship · Jun 28, 2019

The frets on the plastic fretboard of my 19-year-old Fluke are not very high. I don't know if newer models have higher frets.

The frets on Fleas/Flukes with wooden fretboards are higher and IMHO easier for playing barre chords.

I ordered a used Flight TUS50 from the Amazon Warehouse and it arrived with exactly the same damage the OP experienced. The bridge had shattered where the (high) G string attaches. I was lucky it arrived that way; Amazon took it back and refunded my money. I don't know what happened to the poor uke in transit, but nonetheless that bridge is made of cheap brittle plastic. A good-quality ABS would not shatter like that. Flight made a bad decision on where to cut corners on the quality of its materials. If you have a Flight that isn't broken yet, I suggest you treat it gently.

The bridge on my Fluke popped off after I'd had it about 10 years. I emailed Magic Fluke to ask what adhesive they'd recommend for re-attaching it, and they told me to send the Fluke back to them. They said it was a bad batch of bridges and they repaired it for me, free of charge, long after the official warranty had expired. The repaired bridge is still going strong and this uke is my daily player. This is why people will be paying the higher price for Fleas/Flukes long after the builders of cheap disposable ukes go out of business.

ejyip · Jun 28, 2019

TheCraftedCow said:
Eddy Finn makes a very nice travel uke that comes with a three year warrany. I am an authorized dealer for the entire line of stringed instruments. My favorite really is the travel uke. I created and sewed a case that hold three of them in their separate cases. One is strung reentrant, one linear and one with a low G and a low A. What a sound for JAZZ chords! Because my prices are below the MAP(minimum advertised price) I do not publish my prices.If you would like to know what it is, thecraftedcow@comcast.net is where I am.

Thanks so much for reaching out. I will definitely keep this in mind.

acmespaceship said:
The frets on the plastic fretboard of my 19-year-old Fluke are not very high. I don't know if newer models have higher frets.

The frets on Fleas/Flukes with wooden fretboards are higher and IMHO easier for playing barre chords.

I ordered a used Flight TUS50 from the Amazon Warehouse and it arrived with exactly the same damage the OP experienced. The bridge had shattered where the (high) G string attaches. I was lucky it arrived that way; Amazon took it back and refunded my money. I don't know what happened to the poor uke in transit, but nonetheless that bridge is made of cheap brittle plastic. A good-quality ABS would not shatter like that. Flight made a bad decision on where to cut corners on the quality of its materials. If you have a Flight that isn't broken yet, I suggest you treat it gently.

The bridge on my Fluke popped off after I'd had it about 10 years. I emailed Magic Fluke to ask what adhesive they'd recommend for re-attaching it, and they told me to send the Fluke back to them. They said it was a bad batch of bridges and they repaired it for me, free of charge, long after the official warranty had expired. The repaired bridge is still going strong and this uke is my daily player. This is why people will be paying the higher price for Fleas/Flukes long after the builders of cheap disposable ukes go out of business.

My TUS50 arrived OK, though it seemed a little dusty, probably due to sitting on a shelf. Upon inspection, all seemed to be in accord, but who knows if there were maybe some hairline cracks somewhere. Either way, it seems like the tension of the G string may be too much for the bridge as designed. It's too bad, because the uke was perfect for the use that I was intending it for despite the tiny frets.

Thanks for the clarification on the flea/fluke. A friend of mine has a fluke that he is going to be bringing over soon. My main concern with these is the of the body shape, hence my looking at the outdoor ukulele as well, but I hear good and bad things about them as they can be hit or miss action-wise. At $60 for the TUS50, I figured it was cheap enough to take the gamble, but am finding out that you definitely do get what you pay for.

Question about bridges and fret sizes on travel ukuleles (Flight, Outdoor, Fluke)...

ejyip

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Bill Sheehan

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ejyip

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Ukecaster

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ejyip

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Col50

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Lacole

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Croaky Keith

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ejyip

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TheCraftedCow

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acmespaceship

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ejyip

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