Heads up, the Flight Soundwave models seem to be now available in concert as well. Just saw the Sophia Soundwave concert in stock at Southern Ukulele Store and immediately bought one. They seem to be available at The Uke Room as well. I had hoped they would offer the Soundwave for the Voyager concert as well but it seems to be for only the same models as with the tenors, Sophia and Diana. Oh well... to be honest, the Sophia would've been my second favourite anyway.
Flight Diana Soundwave Tenor Ukulele - REVIEW
- Thread starter bazmaz
- Start date
I received my Sophia Soundwave concert today. I'll just quickly talk about it here since I don't really want to start a new thread and the build is almost exactly the same as the Diana tenor.
Before I even mention the Soundwave system, I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised by the build quality of this thing. Even though it's far from an expensive uke, I couldn't find that many flaws with it. There was one tiny weird spot on the spruce top so it's not the straightest and cleanest grain but overall it seems ok. There were also some light stains and a tooling mark inside the slotted headstock. Those are probably the worst offenders but they aren't apparent and don't affect playability or sound. It's nothing that I wouldn't expect from a cheaper Chinese-made instrument. Interior seemed very clean from what I could see. The actual finish (gloss) seemed flawless. So some finishing issues but overall decent. Aside from the issues, I really like the look of the instrument. The laminate walnut back and sides aren't as dark/stained as on the Diana model but instead they're more brown which I prefer. Also, this one doesn't have padouk binding but instead a more orange coloured binding, maybe mango, almost looks like koa binding but I highly doubt it. I much prefer that as well, makes the binding more subtle. Aside from the issues with the headstock, I really like the look of that as well. My first slotted headstock uke, incidentally. The only thing I didn't really like were the tuners. They look nice and work fine but felt just a tad grindy and not quite as smooth as some of the better tuners I'm used to. Ultimately, a very minor point. The uke also feels hefty in a good way but that's mostly because of the surprisingly large sound processing unit bolted on th
What really surprised me was the sound. If I didn't know better I would've thought this was an all solid uke. The spruce top doesn't sound overwhelmingly bright at all, and the tone overall is very balanced and has a lot of emphasis on the mid and lower registers as well. I'm guessing the Worth Brown strings it comes with helps mellowing out the sound a bit as well. I would happily play the vanilla version of this model, but of course the highlight here is the Soundwave system. It's such a novelty it almost turns the uke into my personal toy. I'm just constantly giggling when messing with the effects and playing random stuff. Eventually, I'll have to figure out how to incorporate the effects into some actual music piece but for now it is more of a novelty, but a darn fun one. The effects sound surprisingly electronic and artificial to me but then again I don't know what I was expecting. And even then, for me it certainly sounds better than running the sound through an amplifier which, in my opinion, makes the sound of any uke very artificial indeed. Overall, I really like this one. A quirky and unique instrument with a decent price in my opinion.
Before I even mention the Soundwave system, I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised by the build quality of this thing. Even though it's far from an expensive uke, I couldn't find that many flaws with it. There was one tiny weird spot on the spruce top so it's not the straightest and cleanest grain but overall it seems ok. There were also some light stains and a tooling mark inside the slotted headstock. Those are probably the worst offenders but they aren't apparent and don't affect playability or sound. It's nothing that I wouldn't expect from a cheaper Chinese-made instrument. Interior seemed very clean from what I could see. The actual finish (gloss) seemed flawless. So some finishing issues but overall decent. Aside from the issues, I really like the look of the instrument. The laminate walnut back and sides aren't as dark/stained as on the Diana model but instead they're more brown which I prefer. Also, this one doesn't have padouk binding but instead a more orange coloured binding, maybe mango, almost looks like koa binding but I highly doubt it. I much prefer that as well, makes the binding more subtle. Aside from the issues with the headstock, I really like the look of that as well. My first slotted headstock uke, incidentally. The only thing I didn't really like were the tuners. They look nice and work fine but felt just a tad grindy and not quite as smooth as some of the better tuners I'm used to. Ultimately, a very minor point. The uke also feels hefty in a good way but that's mostly because of the surprisingly large sound processing unit bolted on th
What really surprised me was the sound. If I didn't know better I would've thought this was an all solid uke. The spruce top doesn't sound overwhelmingly bright at all, and the tone overall is very balanced and has a lot of emphasis on the mid and lower registers as well. I'm guessing the Worth Brown strings it comes with helps mellowing out the sound a bit as well. I would happily play the vanilla version of this model, but of course the highlight here is the Soundwave system. It's such a novelty it almost turns the uke into my personal toy. I'm just constantly giggling when messing with the effects and playing random stuff. Eventually, I'll have to figure out how to incorporate the effects into some actual music piece but for now it is more of a novelty, but a darn fun one. The effects sound surprisingly electronic and artificial to me but then again I don't know what I was expecting. And even then, for me it certainly sounds better than running the sound through an amplifier which, in my opinion, makes the sound of any uke very artificial indeed. Overall, I really like this one. A quirky and unique instrument with a decent price in my opinion.
Between the Sophia and Diana, what was it that moved you to the Sophia? And now that you've had it for a month, have any of your impressions changed? I'm planning on getting one or the other, I'm really on the fence with it.
My decision was based mostly on the tone wood and aesthetics. I like spruce as a tone wood simply because of my playing style, and I much preferred the browner walnut on the Sophia - as opposed to the darker, almost gray colour of the Diana - and I like the orange binding better than the red padouk binding on the Diana. Although, it's possible that the colour of the walnut can vary between individual models regardless of the model. Impressions haven't really changed. I still think it sounds really nice for a relatively cheap uke but I think I'm beginning to sense the sound of the laminate back and sides which isn't quite as full as with many all solid ukes. Playability is still excellent.
On a side note, the Soundwave system can now also be found on the Victoria concert and tenor models as well. It's a solid spruce top laminate acacia back and sides model with a scoop cutaway and satin finish. Slightly more expensive than the Sophia and Diana but seems really nice. I honestly don't know whether I had gotten the Victoria or Sophia had the Victoria Soundwave been available at the time of my purchase.
True, and I'm really glad that they do. It's such a fun and quirky system. Although, I think the price of the separate system is a bit more than the difference between a Flight Soundwave model and a regular model so getting one with the system already installed is quite cost-effective.
Oh definitely cost effective. Do know some dealers considering holding some though so they can offer them to buyers of all sorts of ukes. Interesting times!
Based upon your hands-on experience, if somebody walked up to you and offered you a free Flight Diana / Sophia Soundwave OR a Flight Voyager ... which would you choose? Better yet, which would you advise?
I couldn't advise for the simple reason that I have not played either the Sophia or the Voyager!
The Diana suited me very well because, Soundwave aside, I thought it was a very good core ukulele. I've seen enough Flights for this not to surprise me and for that reason I 'suspect' the Sophia and Voyager will not disappoint - but... not had them in my hands.
I am not convinced the Soundwave system - as heavy on effects as it is, will likely sound all that different no matter which uke you put it in of course. I just don't know what the Sophia and Voyager acoustic tones are like.
The Diana suited me very well because, Soundwave aside, I thought it was a very good core ukulele. I've seen enough Flights for this not to surprise me and for that reason I 'suspect' the Sophia and Voyager will not disappoint - but... not had them in my hands.
I am not convinced the Soundwave system - as heavy on effects as it is, will likely sound all that different no matter which uke you put it in of course. I just don't know what the Sophia and Voyager acoustic tones are like.
