New Uke Day (NUD) NUD: Concert Flea

[Ukecaster]

Found a nice used concert Flea for a good price. This one came with some great features: the new bridge design, solid spruce top, wooden fretboard with metal frets, Peghed tuners, grip strips and side dots. It had strap buttons installed on both bottom and heel area, which I removed, preferring to tie onto the built in plastic loop up top, and an adhesive cable tie anchor at the lower corner, so it can now stand up again. Sounds and plays great, but my usual M600 strings sound a bit brighter than I remember on my previous std top Flea. Next up will be Worth Browns, which will hopefully warm up the sound a bit.

 

[EDW]

Looking forward to the sound clips when you get it sorted out

 

[badhabits]

nice one... new bridge and plenty of add-ons

 

[Jim Hanks]

That's the one I'd want. You don't see many used ones with the Pegheds

 

[Bill Sheehan]

What a great find, John!

 

[Jerryc41]

Very nice. I'm always on the lookout for a nice Flea/Fluke at a good price. One nice thing about the Flea is that ready-to-go strap attachment point on the back. I'm surprised the Fluke doesn't have that.

I like that fretboard. I also prefer non-soprano Magic Flukes. I eventually replace the direct tuners with geared tuners. Pegheds are a big step up from the direct tuners.

If you'd like to send me the serial number, I'll add it to my list. Is the saddle separate or molded into the bridge?

 

[badhabits]

Curious, why are you keeping a list?

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

Found a nice used concert Flea for a good price. This one came with some great features: the new bridge design, solid spruce top, wooden fretboard with metal frets, Peghed tuners, grip strips and side dots. It had strap buttons installed on both bottom and heel area, which I removed, preferring to tie onto the built in plastic loop up top, and an adhesive cable tie anchor at the lower corner, so it can now stand up again. Sounds and plays great, but my usual M600 strings sound a bit brighter than I remember on my previous std top Flea. Next up will be Worth Browns, which will hopefully warm up the sound a bit.
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I have great respect for the Magic Fluke folks, and this is the exact Flea I'm prepared to purchase if I can find a used one (wooden fingerboard, side fret markers, Pegheds and strap buttons). This question is, I suppose, up for grabs for you and for anyone else who has experience with a flea and with other concert ukes. Do you find the somewhat-squared neck profile uncomfortable as compared to a half-round neck profile?

 

[badhabits]

... Do you find the somewhat-squared neck profile uncomfortable as compared to a half-round neck profile?

I did...it's a chunky neck, and the little contour where most headstocks are concave (between the tuner and nut) bumped into the back of my fretting hand. As they say, YMMV.

 

[Mfturner]

My 2 cents on the Flea neck shape echoes Ukecaster, yes it’s noticeably different than most other necks, but it didn’t take me long to adapt and now I don’t notice it. I like the neck’s finish, which lets me reposition my hand easily while maintaining a good grip with my thumb.

 

[Ukecaster]

The concert Flea is an absolutely perfect, snug fit in my cheap tweed soprano case from eBay, which is a floppy, and too long fit for most sopranos.