Plastic Ukes...

[Ms Bean]

Jody from Girl Meets Uke has a playlist on plastic or travel ukes:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzHM3UWV0jQL78nRSu0J2FiErIiT5LJNV


She has a video comparing the Outdoor, Waterman, Flea and Flight TUS:

 

[Tim E]

I purchased a Flight TUS35 soprano from Thomann last year, having not seen or played them before. I was curious considering the low price and Fluke/Flea-like construction, and Flight seems to get some glowing reviews. It's a very nicely constructed, wonderful sounding instrument that was utterly unplayable. Due to the action and very poor intonation. Yes, the saddle is replaceable, however the flaws could not be fixed by adjusting the saddle. The primary causes were that the neck angle places the strings too low to the soundboard, the bridge is too high to allow for a saddle to be lowered enough, and furthermore the bridge itself was too close to the fingerboard. These flaws mean that the saddle cannot be lowered enough, nor compensated enough to ever get into a ballpark respectable action or intonation. The bridge cannot be relocated easily, because even if its glue joint could be undone without much trouble (I have no idea what glue is used, being plastic bonded to plywood), it's actually also screwed on... from the inside, with three small hidden Phillips screws. Presumably before the soundboard is glued to the body. The easiest way to access the screws would be to drill three holes in the back to allow a screwdriver to get to them. And even after moving the bridge back perhaps 3/16" to allow for a saddle that can be adjusted for intonation, you'd also have to shave it down for action.

Which is kind of what I did. I removed the saddle completely. Shaved down the area before the saddle where the strings would normally be suspended over for clearance. The strings now rest directly on the bridge, where they emerge from the anchoring slots. It now plays reasonably. But jeeze, what a hack! Such a shame, because it's solidly constructed and sounds quite nice.

Now I know this was a cheap uke, but seriously, a Waterman would do better off the shelf.

There seem to be a surprising number of all plastic ukes out there, with brands that I can't find much info on. Kmise, BugsGear, etc.

 

[Martinlover]

I had a chance to win a Waterman, so I gave them a strum. God awful. I refused to even put my free ticket in the raffle box.

I have a Blackbird Clara that sounds very nice, however the MiSi pickup now buzzes, which is disappointing.

The Klos carbon fiber uke sounds beautiful but I didn’t care for the flat fretboard in this case. I sold it to a friend and every time she plays it, I go, wow that sounds so pretty.

 

[jer]

I purchased a Flight TUS35 soprano from Thomann last year, having not seen or played them before. I was curious considering the low price and Fluke/Flea-like construction, and Flight seems to get some glowing reviews. It's a very nicely constructed, wonderful sounding instrument that was utterly unplayable. Due to the action and very poor intonation. Yes, the saddle is replaceable, however the flaws could not be fixed by adjusting the saddle. The primary causes were that the neck angle places the strings too low to the soundboard, the bridge is too high to allow for a saddle to be lowered enough, and furthermore the bridge itself was too close to the fingerboard. These flaws mean that the saddle cannot be lowered enough, nor compensated enough to ever get into a ballpark respectable action or intonation. The bridge cannot be relocated easily, because even if its glue joint could be undone without much trouble (I have no idea what glue is used, being plastic bonded to plywood), it's actually also screwed on... from the inside, with three small hidden Phillips screws. Presumably before the soundboard is glued to the body. The easiest way to access the screws would be to drill three holes in the back to allow a screwdriver to get to them. And even after moving the bridge back perhaps 3/16" to allow for a saddle that can be adjusted for intonation, you'd also have to shave it down for action.

Which is kind of what I did. I removed the saddle completely. Shaved down the area before the saddle where the strings would normally be suspended over for clearance. The strings now rest directly on the bridge, where they emerge from the anchoring slots. It now plays reasonably. But jeeze, what a hack! Such a shame, because it's solidly constructed and sounds quite nice.

Now I know this was a cheap uke, but seriously, a Waterman would do better off the shelf.

There seem to be a surprising number of all plastic ukes out there, with brands that I can't find much info on. Kmise, BugsGear, etc.

Sounds like you got a real dud. I wonder why you didn't tell the seller and work out an exchange instead.
I had one of these for a while about a year ago. It didn't have these problems. The action was right around 3mm maybe slightly less, if I remember correctly. I know that's not as low as some would like to go, including myself, but it was in the acceptable range. Mine was one of the older models with a saddle that can't be removed. Playability felt good and mine didn't have the intonation issues yours had either. I know there or others here who have gotten good ones too...but I have heard of complaints of action problems as well. It seems with all those artificial materials they should be able to get a more consistent product.

 

[man0a]

Enya now has a soprano version of their plastic Nova ukulele. Price is currently $60 on Amazon in the USA. I bought one last week and really like it. The neck is wider than the concert Enya Nova and I think it is easier to play. I think the sound quality is great for a cheaper plastic ukulele (or a cheaper ukulele of any material). It has a cutout just like the concert Enya Nova so you can play it all the way up the neck and the intonation is good all the way up the neck. It does not have pre-installed strap buttons like the concert Enya Nova, but it is so lightweight (less than 1 pound) that I think it is easy to play without a strap.

 

[Tim E]

Sounds like you got a real dud. I wonder why you didn't tell the seller and work out an exchange instead.
I had one of these for a while about a year ago. It didn't have these problems. The action was right around 3mm maybe slightly less, if I remember correctly. I know that's not as low as some would like to go, including myself, but it was in the acceptable range. Mine was one of the older models with a saddle that can't be removed. Playability felt good and mine didn't have the intonation issues yours had either. I know there or others here who have gotten good ones too...but I have heard of complaints of action problems as well. It seems with all those artificial materials they should be able to get a more consistent product.

Had I gotten it locally, I might have taken it back. However, being from Thomann, and me in the US, it wasn't worth it, as it was very inexpensive. It was easy for me to diagnose the problem and get it playable without much trouble, But for most people, this would have been an instant wall hanger. It is very curious how the bridge placement got so screwed up at the factory. Looking inside, it appears there may have been some kind of location holes in the soundboard, in addition to the three Phillips screws, to aid in assembly. If that's the case, I'm assuming some fixture got knocked out of whack somehow. It's bad enough to make it pretty unplayable, but not bad enough that one could notice with the naked eye. The neck angle problem is something else altogether. I do wish that manufacturers of plastic back instruments with separate necks would use screw fasteners. It would so much enhance the longevity of the instrument by simply making it repairable, rather than disposable.

FWIW, I mentioned more a couple obscure plastic uke brands, and immediately looked on Amazon to find a Kmise all plastic uke for the princely sum of $22 and some change. I ordered and it came almost instantly within 24 hrs. What can you expect for that price? Well, something that certainly looks very toy-like. I got the yellow model, with black plastic fingerboard and (weird plastic) tuning machines. The neck, back and sides are one piece molded, with the fingerboard and soundboard being glued on. The bridge is screwed on and presumably glued also, before assembly. Shining up the the light to see through the plastic, it's amusing to see it has a Spanish style fan bracing molded in. The strings a re still settling in, but the sound is reasonable, a bit "poppy"/percussive. Action is pretty good and intonation surprisingly good. It does have a removable saddle, technically. It's a rather soft piece of plastic, but it's actually shaped more like a fret, with a crown about .125" wide and about .075" tall, with a tang less than .062 thick. The tang also has some extended tabs on the ends that mate with deeper slots in the bridge. On mine, it's slightly ill fitting, but is functional for now. The spindles on the tuning pegs seemed to have some slop from the gear not being screwed onto the spindle as much as it could. So I tightened the screws so that the spindles had no vertical slop. Now, keep in mind I've had this uke for about an hour and a half. But so far, I'm pretty impressed. It's playable out of the box, for sure. The action at the bridge and nut is actually good. The sound is passable. The worst thing about it is the fingerboard dots. They're adhesive stickers placed in corresponding divots molded in the fingerboard. I might remove them and put a drop of paint in their place. $22 for this instrument isn't bad at all.

 

[jer]

^Glad you got it at least playable.


I also remembered these Grover ukes on Mus. Friend.:
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/fol...Av=Grover-Trophy FN52 Plastic Soprano Ukelele
I've never played those sold as Grover. To me, it looks like the exact same uke that was sold as Woodi. The Woodi was priced a lot higher. I tried out one of those once and it was okay. I know Baz has a review of one.

 

[Blue wolf]

Hello. I was wondering if you guys have experience or recommendations with plastic ukes. I'm kind of an outdoors person, and I wanna take something a bit durable and relatively inexpensive for when I'm overnight hiking and camping. I'm also hesitant to bring it to the beach because of the sand and water. Thanks in advance!

I bought a used waterman concert and, later, a used outdoor soprano uke online. The outdoor is great as-is I got frustrated with the waterman‘s strings and high action so replaced the strings with fluorocarbon ones. I also sanded the waterman saddle flat and super glued a bone saddle I got online for $5. Not the cleanest looking job! Surprisingly, it now sounds warm and is fun to play. So if you are ok to fiddle with it, the waterman is a decent cheap option.

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

Not seen those before and I wish that the site was in English ... or that I also spoke French.

I know that the OP asked about plastic instruments but wish that the environmental aspect had been considered too.

A painted wooden Uke can be surprisingly durable and sound at least as good as a plastic one. Something made of wood is recycle-able (into ash if nothing else), potentially tougher than a lot of plastics and more repairable than a lot of plastics. As far as I know plastic Ukes aren’t recyclable and whilst some are tough their repairability is questionable. Outdoor brand Ukes aren’t cheap ($125 and upwards) and you typically don’t see them for sale second hand, in comparison basic wood Ukes are often well priced and second hand ones can be really cheap. Sound wise it all depends on what you buy (there’s some stuff to avoid out there and I tend to stick with normally respected brands like Makala and Ohana); I’ve found that cheap wooden Ukes can give a perfectly practical sound - which I suppose is one of the objectives.

I agree with Graham Greenbag as to environmental impact. I don't hesitate to take my painted DIY uke to the beach, river, trail, campfire, road trips, etc. Though the kit itself was a gift, even if I'd paid its US $29.00 retail price, my total all-in expense including 2 sets of strings (first Martin M600s and now Fremont Blacks), bone saddle & nut, heel strap button, Snark tuner and shoestring strap was $70.00. My UU avatar is the front. Here's a pic of the back just for fun. Neck is a tri-county, variable-banded uke snake. Though admittedly not a high (nor even a middling) benchmark, Yowling Ginger Tom's volume, intonation, fret height, action and sustain are all measurably superior to the Donner DUS-1 concert that I recently borrowed for 14 days from our local lending library.

 

[Wiggy]

Here's my "two cents" on the Flight TUx55 models.

The first TUS-55 I bought was a dud. It was way too easy for strings to roll off the edges. That was fatal. It ultimately went to Goodwill.

The second was a TUC-55. It is perfect for what it is intended. It's easy to play, has clear tonal balance, and is plenty bold for outdoors.

I took a chance on another TUS-55... roll-off is not a problem on this one. The only issue with this TUS is intonation beyond the 7th fret may be "out the window" depending on the strings you use. With a soprano scale, I don't attempt much beyond the 7th anyway. The TUC's intonation is spot-on thru the 12th.

Otherwise, the TUS plays and sounds like the TUC. I will keep both.

<edit> If you like concert with a low G, an Aquila Red will fit and blends in nicely.
On both, the silver fret paint will wear off, but I have not found any fret wear yet, even with the low G.

 

[One Man And His Uke]

I have a flea concert which is pretty durable, but I also have my Klos tenor, which, if you believe their blurb, is pretty much indestructible. I’ve never put it to that kind of test, but its my main uke now for most things and it seems to hold its tuning for ever. Ok, it’s not plastic as such, and it’s a little pricey. I did look at the Outdoor ukes, I liked the look of them. Never had a Waterman, but if I played one and liked it, why not. I like ukes that sound different. I look to see if a Maccaferri is for sale from time to time, maybe one day.

 

[Voran]

I play a Waterman outdoors. No one is going to notice tone quality or intonation on a windy hilltop, plus I rather actually like the rough timbre.

 

[Canada Jim]

I'm surprised that no one's mentioned the Maccaferri Islanders. These were the first plastic ukes I ever saw. I had one for about a week that I bought at a local antique store for a friend who lived out of town. This photo is of me waiting for him to come and pick it up. I kinda liked it.

Here's the uke in the shop. Notice the Arthur Godfrey endorsement on the box.

 

[deadpool]

I play a Waterman outdoors. No one is going to notice tone quality or intonation on a windy hilltop, plus I rather actually like the rough timbre.

I too have a Waterman (concert). As already stated, I changed the strings to Fremont Black Line (low G), sanded the crap out of the saddle, and filed the nut slots. Intonation-spot on. Playability great. Actually sounds pretty decent too. So there you haters.

 

[Renaissance-Man]

In my preteens, I had a plastic Maccaferri ukulele. I didn't realize or know it was a ukulele at the time. I taught myself how to play "guitar" on that plastic uke. I would play the Secret Agent Man intro for what seemed to be endless hours of fun. Then came the Painted Black intro. My oldest sister finally bought me my first guitar, a Danelectro convertible. Many guitars and years later, I bought a plastic Casio synthesizer guitar. It was fairly advanced, having full MIDI connectivity.
I've owned several Magic Flukes, of various shapes and sizes. They all played okay, but now I feel they were overpriced. I recently somehow became the owner of a ukulele toy with a Cars graphic on the front. I restrung it and gave it away with a couple of soprano recorders. It was playable, and the geared tuners were superior to my old Maccaferri's friction ones for a child. Plastic ukuleles do have a purpose.

 

[Canada Jim]

Maccafferri also made guitars. A kid in my Scout Troop, circa 1958, had one of these. I thought it sounded great at the time.



Maccaferri also made clothespins:


Django Reinhardt played a Selmer guitar designed by Maccaferri (not plastic):

 

[Renaissance-Man]

Maccafferri also made guitars. A kid in my Scout Troop, circa 1958, had one of these. I thought it sounded great at the time.


View attachment 144536

I didn't know that Maccafferri made guitars and clothespins!
In my youth, I didn't even know there was an instrument called a ukulele. All I knew was what was in my little world. I assumed my 4 string Maccafferri instrument was called a guitar. I figured out how to tune it, and play it, from some old cowboy guitar booklet. In reality, I was playing low G, although I had no frame of reference for the actual pitch. The bridge and tailpiece on the guitar you posted is what I associate with Gypsy guitars. I can see Django Reinhardt playing with a Maccafferri made guitar.

 

[kcollins]

I'm surprised that no one's mentioned the Maccaferri Islanders. These were the first plastic ukes I ever saw. I had one for about a week that I bought at a local antique store for a friend who lived out of town. This photo is of me waiting for him to come and pick it up. I kinda liked it.
View attachment 144509
Here's the uke in the shop. Notice the Arthur Godfrey endorsement on the box.
View attachment 144510

Another vote for the Maccaferri Islander. You can find them pretty cheap (not as cheap as a Waterman unless it's broken), but cheap enough. They made almost 10 million of them! The playability and sound is better than one would expect. Plus, you will have a interesting piece of uke history and a conversation starter!

Note: if you are lucky, you might get a "Chord Master® " with your Islander! Attach it to your uke and you can sound just like Arthur Godfrey!