Flea Flea Flea... Did you get one yet? Now, I see the value in the Mainlands and have been drooling over a few of them... But as a prev poster said, I don't want to make an event out of pulling out the uke. Thus the Flea (lava tenor in my case) is my only uke. I do keep her in the gig bag, but keep the bag open so I can just play whenever. I would not do that even with a Mainland. I'd feel obligated to treat it "better" than that, i.e. baby it. And as someone also said, the Flea sound doesn't really vary. I've owned 4 Fleas in all, and always loved the sound. Fret issues are another thing, that is, setup issues. I can't speak for Mainland on this, so don't think I am. But I've owned other ukes that had sharp fret ends, I could feel them sticking out when I ran my hand up the neck, and I don't like that at all. The back of my Flea neck is so smooth because I slide up/down often without worry. I can only do that because the Flea is made so well, fretboard is bound for lack of a better word (it may not actually be bound), and the fret ends are smooth. If I upgrade to the rosewood fretboard, I know they will be smooth too. Have also owned a solid body FLuke w/ rosewood fb, and the metal frets were as nice as the plastic ones as far as setup goes. Basically what I'm saying, as has been said before on UU, is that if you can't play the uke in person and are in the least bit afraid you might have to return it, get the Flea. <3 Let us know when you have it! We love to rejoyce in that, no matter what kind of uke you choose!