Magic Fluke with wooden keyboard?

I’d like to know players comments on wooden fretboard on Fluke. I have a tenor Fluke with poly keyboard. Is is worth either a.) sending in to get one put on or b.) better to sell what I got and re order with solid keyboard. Anybody take the laminate base model soundboard route but at time of order specify wooden fretboard?

This was a father day present five years ago. I love the gesture and like the Fluke but had to change and install peghed myself within first month. Just hated the stock friction. Now it’s easier to keep in tune. I’m still not the biggest fan of pegheds but they fit and look good and install was simple and went smoothly. The laminate soundboard has dried out and sound pretty good.

I find the poly keyboard to be ok but hard to see. I paid up the frets to see them and now just think if I had wooden fretboard, it might okay and feel better thus I’d play it more.

Does the addition of wooden fretboard make it that much better playing? I’ve been eyeing a all solid spruce or Koa, pegheds and wooden fretboard
But they get awfully expensive for a ukulele that I envisioned would be an outdoor uke, take anywhere.

I always take care of my instruments so playing outdoor occasionally but not on beach. Take on airplane yes. Just something small to bring along.

Thanks in advance for comments. Hope everyone is doing well in these time we find ourselves in. Also, hope UU servives.

Cheers

I love the wooden fretboard. It really enhances the playability of the uke. The negative is a Fluke with a wooden fretboard is no more weather resistant than any other wooden or laminate uke. You can't really take it outdoors, camping, fishing, etc.

If you want one for that purpose, either the Enya Nova or the Outdoor uke may be safer bets. The Flight Travel uke is also a good choice, I hear. The materials of the Flight are similar to the Fluke's. And it may be cheaper to buy a Flight than to swap the plastic fretboard on your Fluke with a wooden one. But I don't know about the cost.

+1 to what Rick said. My Flea has a rosewood board with normal metal frets. Not only is it easier to see, but the metal frets are a tiny bit taller, which feels much better to me. For a Fluke with a sentimental attachment, I think it's well worth the upgrade cost to get a wood fretboard installed. It just feels more like a "real" uke.

I have a Fluke with spruce top, wooden fretboard, peg head tuners. I'm very happy with my purchase. I would not have ordered a MF with a plastic fretboard. I played my friends Black Lava Flea and the fretboard was hard to see. This was before buying my Fluke. I've traveled across country, taken the Fluke to the cabin by the water, been to events, played outside. I've got one ding in the wood, thanks to spouse and son not putting it away after they were playing it, but other than that the Fluke has been well taken care of. I'm not going to paddle my canoe like I saw a person do with their outdoor uke. I'm going to treat it well, but for me the Fluke is the one uke I have that I can take just about anywhere. If you're not willing to take the instrument where you can play it then why have it. My son's and wife's violins cost many many more dollars than any of my ukes, and while they are taken care of, they are taken where the music needs to be played, all seasons of the year in all kinds of environments. As this was a meaningful gift I would upgrade what you have.

I agree with the previous statements. Go with the Fluke, any top you want, but get the Wooden Fretboard & Peghead Tuners. You won't be sorry.

My Fluke has a plastic fretboard and my Firefly has a wooden one. In terms of playability I don't notice much difference. Not enough that I would spend the money to retro-fit. If the Fluke was my one-and-only then maybe it'd be worth it. Since I have several ukes, it's nice to have both wooden and plastic fretboards since they serve different purposes.

Wood looks nicer and the frets are easier to see. The frets seem a smidge higher which helps me play barre chords. A wood fretboard can handle wound strings, which are not recommended for plastic. When I go to uke club, where I often show people how to finger chords, I bring the (wood) Firefly so people can see the frets.

The plastic fretboard is smooth and comfortable to play. It's easy to clean and if your hands are a little damp there's no harm. The Fluke is what I play in those stolen moments between washing the dishes, feeding the cats, making dinner, and washing more dishes. Fret visibility is not an issue for me at home because I try not to look at the frets when I'm playing -- I was taught that's bad posture!

The "ultimate" Fluke has a solid Koa or Spruce top, pegheads and a wooden fretboard. Also a pickup and a player soundhole (or maybe that's just my UAS talking). Whether you personally need the ultimate right now is up to you.

Yes, a worthy upgrade!

Both my Tenor Fluke and Firefly have Peghed tuners and wooden fret boards. I've got other ukes with plastic fret boards, and they are fine. But after playing the Firefly and Fluke with wood, I doubt I'd want one with plastic for fingering the frets.

If you're already thinking about changing your Fluke for another one with a solid top, M3Ukulele, I'd highly recommend to do so. It's certainly worth the additional money, as the solid top (mine has one made of koa) absolutely takes the sound to a different level. And, if I'm not mistaken, the solid top Fleas and Flukes already come with the wooden fretboard. Which I also recommend. I have a direct comparison between my daughter's standard red Flea soprano with the laminate top and plastic fretboard, and my Koa Flea Soprano. It is a huge difference, in playing as well as in sound. I also have a Tenor Flea with a standard laminate top, which plays better than the red standard soprano, due to the longer and wooden fretboard. Regarding the sound, of course, the difference isn't that big, as you might expect.

In my opinion, the upgrade to Pegheads from the friction tuners is the biggest plus. I haven't noticed significant playing difference between the plastic to wooden Fluke fretboards. BTW, they are several stick-on marker visibility options for the plastic boards.

All of my Magic Fluke instruments have wooden fingerboards, and I think the upgrade is well worth the extra money. Likewise the Pegheds and a solid top.

I might suggest you keep your current Fluke as a “backup”, especially since it was a Father’s Day gift. Then call Magic Fluke directly and design the Fluke of your dreams with all the bells and whistles. (BTW, the Cricket violin is a damn fine instrument as well.)


Scooter

Thanks to everyone for the comments. I have a email into MFC to see what upgrade cost would be, if different, from cost when you do a new order! I have also found a repair/lutherier fellow in Hamilton that I will send pics and see what he would charge to just take off the poly fretboard with heat and putty knife and put a new wooden fretboard on. When MFC does it NEW, can anyone tell me what fretboard wood they use? It’s been a day to so and no reply from MFC so I will wait and see.

PegHeds were Simple install. I got a good advice on line. Purchased a reamer for $25 and took very little wood off. Tuners just screwed into place with a little white glue.

Depending upon cost from both sources, I will determine what to do. That will also tell me if I should sell current Fluke and then just order a new, solid fretboard. Question is if I did order direct, new, Koa or Solid spruce?... comments please. I’ve listened to You Tube video from MFC where they play poly, then Koa and then spruce......funny they all sound good . I think I lean to spruce but interested in what Koa owner have to say S I don’t have a Koa top tenor! The Poly/laminate sound better than mine but mine has gotten a lot better sounding over the years..

Thanks for all the comments. Still interested in hearing opinions. As to keeping old one and ordering dream Fluke, good idea but I have four other higher end tenors and I really only need one good sounding Fluke!


The traveling and outdoor thing is way overdone in my mind. I’ve travel all over the world with my Two Pono tenors in HSC and did three trips by plane Across Canada with my Tiny Tenor, solid top/laminate back and sides. I’ve never had an issue. I also did a trip with current Fluke coast to coast in a lightly padded gig bag and never had an issue. I did almost buy the Flight TUSL-35, and still might, but I’d like to play it first.

Cheers

Thanks to everyone for the comments. I have a email into MFC to see what upgrade cost would be, if different, from cost when you do a new order! I have also found a repair/lutherier fellow in Hamilton that I will send pics and see what he would charge to just take off the poly fretboard with heat and putty knife and put a new wooden fretboard on. When MFC does it NEW, can anyone tell me what fretboard wood they use? It’s been a day to so and no reply from MFC so I will wait and see.

PegHeds were Simple install. I got a good advice on line. Purchased a reamer for $25 and took very little wood off. Tuners just screwed into place with a little white glue.

Depending upon cost from both sources, I will determine what to do. That will also tell me if I should sell current Fluke and then just order a new, solid fretboard. Question is if I did order direct, new, Koa or Solid spruce?... comments please. I’ve listened to You Tube video from MFC where they play poly, then Koa and then spruce......funny they all sound good . I think I lean to spruce but interested in what Koa owner have to say S I don’t have a Koa top tenor! The Poly/laminate sound better than mine but mine has gotten a lot better sounding over the years..

Thanks for all the comments. Still interested in hearing opinions. As to keeping old one and ordering dream Fluke, good idea but I have four other higher end tenors and I really only need one good sounding Fluke!


The traveling and outdoor thing is way overdone in my mind. I’ve travel all over the world with my Two Pono tenors in HSC and did three trips by plane Across Canada with my Tiny Tenor, solid top/laminate back and sides. I’ve never had an issue. I also did a trip with current Fluke coast to coast in a lightly padded gig bag and never had an issue. I did almost buy the Flight TUSL-35, and still might, but I’d like to play it first.

Cheers

When I ordered mine from MF I knew in advance I was going with a solid wood top. Koa or Spruce??? I went with Spruce. The word was Spruce was "bright" I though that might be nice, what did I know or even now do I know. My spouse said get a solid wood top. So I did. As many do, I listened to as many sound samples as I could. The Fluke was my first Uke. I figured if I liked playing the ukulele and I was happy with the Fluke someday I would buy a Hawaiian made Koa ukulele. A few years later I did. Since you already have several ukulele's, experience with your Fluke, which one appeals to YOU more?? Sound? Aesthetics? Difference or similarity to your other instruments? Only you can answer those kinds of questions.

Good Luck with your decision. I see a new solid top Fluke in your future......remember you can loan out your old one as well.....

I've never had or even played a fluke, but owned and played around four different fleas. The one with the wooden fretboard was most pleasing. The metal frets might have contributed a bit (although I rarely watch the fretboard while playing), the feel certainly added points, the sound was probably the same (being is already very good).

Magic Fluke currently (2020) uses maple and cherry as fretboard hardwoods, the former being 'blonde' and the latter 'brown', and both of the indigenous and far from being endangered.

ukulelekarcsi said:

....Magic Fluke currently (2020) uses maple and cherry as fretboard hardwoods, the former being 'blonde' and the latter 'brown', and both of the indigenous and far from being endangered.

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Anybideas what materials were used in the past? I'd expect rosewood, and maybe some others woods later.

I’m sure if I got to play either a solid spruce or solid Koa Fluke, I’d know immediately. When you add up all the standard options , the solid top, wooden fretboard, add side dots and pegheds, it put this instrument into a very mid range price. However, if I played one, I might spend the money.

The repair/lutherier got bAck to me said, passed on fretboard job......... He suggested it would be much cheaper to sell and buy what I want.

Still no word from MFC but suspect they’d say the same.

Perhaps after things settle down to the new normal, I’ll do something and sell and re buy. So many good choices in that price range.

I will say, I do appreciate what MFC bring to the Uke world.

Ukecaster said:

Anybideas what materials were used in the past? I'd expect rosewood, and maybe some others woods later.

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Walnut is the most common wood I've seen for the hardwood fretboard on Magic Fluke instruments. There are many Fleas and Flukes and Fireflies with walnut fretboards on sale new. I personally don't know if they've stopped using walnut.

M3Ukulele said:

....Still no word from MFC but suspect they’d say the same....

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I'm pretty sure that the price to swap a Fluke or Flea fretboard from plastic to wood is the same as ordering that option on a new uke: $79.00, plus you pay the shipping to them, and return shipping. That's what they told me a while back when I asked them the same question.

Dohle said:

Walnut is the most common wood I've seen for the hardwood fretboard on Magic Fluke instruments.

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Correct! They used to be all walnut, but I think they changed, according to their website.