Electric Steel String Uke - Flight Centurion or Flight Pathfinder?

[Larry U]

Curiosity got the better of me and I'm thinking about picking up a steel-string, solid body ukulele. Flight makes two tenors, the Centurion and the Pathfinder, in a similar price range. The Centurion bears a passing resemblance to a Gibson Les Paul guitar, and the Pathfinder is inspired by the Fender Stratocaster. Other than looks, do you think there would be much difference in sound and playability? Are there other electric ukes in this price range that I should be considering?

 

[Arcy]

Flight has a few others as well. I suspect that all of the HH ones will sound fairly similar, with the PathFinder being an outlier with its SH pickups. There are several options if you want to spend a bit more (Risa, Fanner) and the Vorson if you want to spend less, but I don't think there's much else in this price range. There's a thread compiling many options at https://forum.ukuleleunderground.co...ilable-steel-string-electric-ukuleles.152587/

Personally, of the Flights I'd pick a Vanguard, with the Centurion as my second choice. That's purely subjective and mostly based on appearances.

@bazmaz reviewed the Vanguard & Pathfinders and they came out well, with a caution that the Vanguard purchased off the shelf had QC problems that a specialist vendor probably would have taken care of.

Flight Vanguard Tenor Electric Ukulele - REVIEW

Got A Ukulele looks at the Flight Vanguard Electric Tenor Ukulele

www.gotaukulele.com

Flight Pathfinder Electric Tenor Ukulele - REVIEW

Got A Ukulele looks at the new Pathfinder Electric Tenor from Flight Ukuleles

www.gotaukulele.com

 

[AZChris]

Curiosity got the better of me and I'm thinking about picking up a steel-string, solid body ukulele. Flight makes two tenors, the Centurion and the Pathfinder, in a similar price range. The Centurion bears a passing resemblance to a Gibson Les Paul guitar, and the Pathfinder is inspired by the Fender Stratocaster. Other than looks, do you think there would be much difference in sound and playability? Are there other electric ukes in this price range that I should be considering?

Hi Larry. I just went through that. If you listen to the examples on YT, to me there is not a ton of difference. I have a pathfinder on the way. What I considered also is whether a Risa is worth the extra money and I decided to start here and see if I even like the feel of a solid body electric uke.

Good luck in your decision. I think the answer is probably to get both.

 

[bazmaz]

I liked both the Pathfinder and the Vanguard, though i found the Vanguard a bit more open in tone - the Pathfinder sounded a bit boxed in. Not sure if that is down to the wiring in the specific examples I had or the fact that the Pathfinder also uses a single coil (saying that - it was the HB that felt constrained to me).

Specialist stores also say these do MUCH better with a heavier gauge of strings on them - much less prone to fingers bending strings sharp

 

[Larry U]

Thanks for responses. I just placed an order for a blue Flight Pathfinder from a Reverb seller. It's a showroom model, so I saved quite a few $$$ for my experiment. I'm looking forward to seeing how this works out. I made note of Baz's comment about heavier strings. If the factory strings seem a little too bendy, I might give a heavier set a try.

 

[AZChris]

Thanks for responses. I just placed an order for a blue Flight Pathfinder from a Reverb seller. It's a showroom model, so I saved quite a few $$$ for my experiment. I'm looking forward to seeing how this works out. I made note of Baz's comment about heavier strings. If the factory strings seem a little too bendy, I might give a heavier set a try.

Hi Larry, I got mine today. It's cool, well built and I like the neck. I'm not finding adapting my touch for playing chords in tune to be an issue yet.
I'm curious to see if you have any problem with the frets -- they bug me. They don't feel rough but if you bend strings it feels scratchy and kind of scrapey if that's a word. It doesn't really impact the sound but it doesn't feel smooth like my electric guitars do. Not sure if that's normal.

 

[Futurethink]

I'm curious to see if you have any problem with the frets -- they bug me. They don't feel rough but if you bend strings it feels scratchy and kind of scrapey if that's a word. It doesn't really impact the sound but it doesn't feel smooth like my electric guitars do. Not sure if that's normal.

Check YouTube for videos on dressing frets, or you might decide to pay someone to do that for you.

 

[Larry U]

Hi Larry, I got mine today. It's cool, well built and I like the neck. I'm not finding adapting my touch for playing chords in tune to be an issue yet.
I'm curious to see if you have any problem with the frets -- they bug me. They don't feel rough but if you bend strings it feels scratchy and kind of scrapey if that's a word. It doesn't really impact the sound but it doesn't feel smooth like my electric guitars do. Not sure if that's normal.

I haven't noticed any issues with rough frets, but I'm not coming from electric instruments and my string-bending activity is minimal.

What I have noticed is intonation issues. The bridge adjustments were all zeroed-out from the factory, with no compensation for the different strings, so everything was running pretty sharp at the 12th fret. I watched a few videos, figured out how to adjust the compensation, and spent some time trying to get close to consistent intonation. I have the E and A strings acceptable, but the G and C strings have the adjustment screws maxed out and they're still running about 20 cents sharp at the 12th fret. I don't know if going to heavier strings would help or if that's just the way it is with this instrument.

Another thing that's bugging me a bit is the tuners. A couple of them are pretty loose with a fair amount of play. They're not slipping but it's enough to be annoying.

All in all, I'm still enjoying playing around with the uke, trying different effects (I'm using my Yamaha THR5A acoustic amp, but it's still got plenty of interesting settings and sounds OK down here in the basement!), and having fun trying to sound like a rock star.

 

[stevenbriclot]

The Vanguard a bit more open in tone.
cookie clicker

 

[mjh42]

Nice choice! I went with the RISA Tele because I wanted the Tele body and I wanted a single coil and a double coil pick up. Have some electric fun!

Now which tube amp to get???

 

[kingnsns]

Hello Lary,
Im totaly new with elec.ukulele, I bought Flight Centurion tenor ,but, I havent any experiance with elec.instruments. I play Fender soprano but now I have little help for the start and after I would like to follow some of exleriances player.
I must add new string ,I dont know which I can use for Centurion and second , which tuning on this uke I must have. It was to strange for me in compare with soprano acustic. Sound, fat stfing G ,first..Il preciate any suggestion and help

 

[keenonuke]

Flight has it speced as:
Tuning: Linear GCEA
String Gauges:
・1st String: 0.010 inches
・2nd String: 0.013 inches
・3rd String: 0.017 inches
・4th String: 0.026 inches

 

[Larry U]

In case anyone is wondering, I ended up selling this particular instrument after several months of attempting to find true love. It turns out that I'm an acoustic-kind-of-guy after all! (Plus, I never completely resolved the intonation issues, even after having a guitar tech do a full setup.)

 

[kissing]

Just as a FYI, there is a very easy formula for electric ukulele strings.
Just get an electric guitar set and use the DGBE strings to tune up to GCEA (low G).
Get 9's for light, 10's for normal and 11's for heavier (and etc).

Electric guitars are plentiful with heaps of options.

Want to tune your electric ukulele in Baritone ukulele tuning?
Use the ADGB strings and tune up to DGBE.

 

[AZChris]

In case anyone is wondering, I ended up selling this particular instrument after several months of attempting to find true love. It turns out that I'm an acoustic-kind-of-guy after all! (Plus, I never completely resolved the intonation issues, even after having a guitar tech do a full setup.)

Thanks for that update. I'm heading toward getting rid of my pathfinder. I can see it being useful to a uke player that wants some guitar sounds, but if you play guitar and have good guitars (I do), it's redundant and guitars sound better. I can't keep my Pathfinder in tune but I've seen a couple demos on YouTube where people bend the snot out of the strings and they still stay in tune so I know it can happen. I didn't know until today that there is a baritone Pathfinder -- basically an electric guitar missing 2 bass strings. I have a feeling there is not much market for solid bodied ukes or Fender would be all over this.

 

[mjh42]

Thanks for the update Larry U. While I have had fun with the Risa Teleuke I am thinking about trading it in locally for a Fender Telecaster.

I have a Godin Mulituke that I play into a Fishman Loudbox mini and I really really like the sound and tone. It's hard to describe but it's rich and full. I use a few pedals with it as well. I won't sell the Godin unless I would absolutely have to.

With the Risa I have fun make noise. I play it into a Supro Delta King Tube amp. Use pedals as well regularly. But I find myself wanting more sound, tone, more depth. I haven't played guitar in decades and only noodle around now and then, while needing a cord chart in front of me. I have access to guitars, both acoustic and electric, and ongoing support and materials through my son, brother, and spouse.

So well see how it goes in the next couple of weeks as I contemplate a move in the Telecaster direction.

I remain a steadfast ukulele player but one can be an multi instrumentalist as well.....