Seeking advice for which affordable ukulele to buy for brief trips

tm3 · Nov 14, 2019

rainbow21 said:
I expect that this "1/3" is one person's estimate at one store. The return rate overall from all the ukes they ship must be far lower.

Interestingly, and related, I read in another thread someone saying that up to 20% of higher end ukes (I don't remember how "high end" was defined in that context) did not meet standards and needed to be rejected. 33%, even 20%, that's a lot of bad ukes!

tm3 · Nov 14, 2019

I've strayed a little with my side comments, but back to the original question ......

I probably spend too much time sifting through threads here, but anyway another instrument that caught my eye and may fit OP's purpose is the Enya Nova. More expensive than the EUC-X1M, but apparently durable, consistent, good tone, and backed by excellent customer service.

poodle.soup · Nov 17, 2019

Thank you all so much for the great advice! I really appreciate all the friendly help, and the diversions were interesting too! I do have a bag with those dimensions and unfortunately my current uke does not fit. After listening to many, many videos of your different suggestions, I've decided to order a Flight Travel Tus35, which I never would've thought of without this thread. Looking forward to not having to worry about this every time I visit!

EDW · Nov 17, 2019

Good choice! I think you will enjoy it.

tm3 · Nov 18, 2019

poodle.soup said:
Thank you all so much for the great advice! I really appreciate all the friendly help, and the diversions were interesting too! I do have a bag with those dimensions and unfortunately my current uke does not fit. After listening to many, many videos of your different suggestions, I've decided to order a Flight Travel Tus35, which I never would've thought of without this thread. Looking forward to not having to worry about this every time I visit!

I've heard a lot of good things about that one. I hope you enjoy it!

glennerd · Nov 18, 2019

poodle.soup said:
Thank you all so much for the great advice! I really appreciate all the friendly help, and the diversions were interesting too! I do have a bag with those dimensions and unfortunately my current uke does not fit. After listening to many, many videos of your different suggestions, I've decided to order a Flight Travel Tus35, which I never would've thought of without this thread. Looking forward to not having to worry about this every time I visit!

Nice choice. I'd be tempted by that one if I had that kind of use for it. Let us know how you like it.

Graham Greenbag · Nov 18, 2019

dgame said:
Agreed. Technically, my setup is about 21.5” long. Diagonally it would just fit inside of a 15”x16” rectangle with the hypotenuse being 21.93”. I put it under the seat diagonally with the headstock pointing forward. There is often room under the seat where you can put the headstock over the little bar and get more room. I am not suggesting you try it with a 23 incher as I am not sure that would even fit into a standard backpack. This is just for conversation

I’m not quite certain about something here (all seems a bit too close to me) and am kind of surprised that no one else has questioned things.

From #11 (some way above) I understand that Allegiant specifies maximum dimensions of 15″ x 16″ x 7″ for a personal item. The hypotenuse of a 15 by 16 right angle triangle is: 21.93, nearly 21 & 15/16.

I just put a tape measure on my own (standard Kala) Soprano and the overall length was a fraction under 21”. I then stood the Ukulele against the wall at 45 degrees (to mimic a bag) and corner to tip measured a fraction under 23”. I did that with the widest faces of the Uke running parallel to the widest faces of the bag, the lower bout would rest on two of the bag’s internal walls and hence the extra length between corner and headstock tip.

Turning the Uke through 90 degrees (possible if the bag gives you 7” of width) does drop that length down to about 21 3/4” which is all quite close to what’s allowed within the rules. I not sure about risking a Uke that way though as any bag placed on top of it is ‘supported’ by point contact with the soundboard and body (vulnerable to damage?)

Good luck to the OP, and I hope that he will be tell us how it all turns out. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for him.

glennerd · Nov 18, 2019

Graham Greenbag said:
I’m not quite certain about something here (all seems a bit too close to me) and am kind of surprised that no one else has questioned things.

From #11 (some way above) I understand that Allegiant specifies maximum dimensions of 15″ x 16″ x 7″ for a personal item. The hypotenuse of a 15 by 16 right angle triangle is: 21.93, nearly 21 & 15/16.

I just put a tape measure on my own (standard Kala) Soprano and the overall length was a fraction under 21”. I then stood the Ukulele against the wall at 45 degrees (to mimic a bag) and corner to tip measured a fraction under 23”. I did that with the widest faces of the Uke running parallel to the widest faces of the bag, the lower bout would rest on two of the bag’s internal walls and hence the extra length between corner and headstock tip.

Turning the Uke through 90 degrees (possible if the bag gives you 7” of width) does drop that length down to about 21 3/4” which is all quite close to what’s allowed within the rules. I not sure about risking a Uke that way though as any bag placed on top of it is ‘supported’ by point contact with the soundboard and body (vulnerable to damage?)

Good luck to the OP, and I hope that he will be tell us how it all turns out. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for him.

This is probably when you want to consider a ukulele with a detachable/foldable neck. Personally, if I had to fly Allegiant, I'd take it as an opportunity to finally learn to play the harmonica I bought 5 months ago. :rofl:

The OP has the advantage of leaving a uke at his dad's place, so can avoid that particular airline headache.

dgame · Nov 19, 2019

Graham Greenbag said:
I’m not quite certain about something here (all seems a bit too close to me) and am kind of surprised that no one else has questioned things.

From #11 (some way above) I understand that Allegiant specifies maximum dimensions of 15″ x 16″ x 7″ for a personal item. The hypotenuse of a 15 by 16 right angle triangle is: 21.93, nearly 21 & 15/16.

I just put a tape measure on my own (standard Kala) Soprano and the overall length was a fraction under 21”. I then stood the Ukulele against the wall at 45 degrees (to mimic a bag) and corner to tip measured a fraction under 23”. I did that with the widest faces of the Uke running parallel to the widest faces of the bag, the lower bout would rest on two of the bag’s internal walls and hence the extra length between corner and headstock tip.

Turning the Uke through 90 degrees (possible if the bag gives you 7” of width) does drop that length down to about 21 3/4” which is all quite close to what’s allowed within the rules. I not sure about risking a Uke that way though as any bag placed on top of it is ‘supported’ by point contact with the soundboard and body (vulnerable to damage?)

Good luck to the OP, and I hope that he will be tell us how it all turns out. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for him.

Good catch. The point I was trying to make is that it will fit under the seat. I also wrap the ukulele’s body in a neoprene “waist trimmer” to protect it. Before I used the waist trimmer the strings would rub and wear and eventually break at the bridge. Since it is under the seat no other bags should go on top though. YMMV

cayuga red · Nov 20, 2019

I really like the Kala travel tenor. It even comes with its own case.

Seeking advice for which affordable ukulele to buy for brief trips

tm3

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tm3

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poodle.soup

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EDW

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tm3

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glennerd

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Graham Greenbag

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glennerd

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dgame

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cayuga red

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