This baritone ukulele, made in Massachusetts by the Magic Fluke company, has a laminate walnut top and moulded ABS plastic back and sides. Using the iconic Fluke design, they’ve produced a DGBE tuned baritone with an 18.5” scale. That rounded back always added a nice warmth with a tenor uke - but in baritone format it really has a lovely mellow warmth.

The Fluke baritone has a 37mm nut width, and a walnut neck, and feels lovely to play. As it shares the body size of their tenor ukuleles, it feels compact to hold, but spacious on the fingerboard. It’s ideal for taking on the road as it’s not only tough, but at 25.5” in total length, it’s a little shorter than a standard tenor ukulele. It doesn’t seem to compromise on sound though, with a lovely richness, decent volume and enough ‘pep’ in the D’addario strings that there’s still nice definition in the sound (as opposed to being ‘all warmth’).

Sometimes when you own a ukulele store, you take a punt on something simply as you think, ‘ah, that’s interesting, someone will buy that just out of curiousity’. And to be honest that’s probably what I thought here. Magic Fluke are a good company, and this is a new line for them so worth taking a chance on. What I didn’t expect was quite how much I like these models. I thought I’d like them, but they really have impressed me. They’re like a compact baritone, with a regular baritone scale, lovely strong depth and nice playability.

With Magic Fluke, you’re supporting a small business staffed by people with a real passion for the instrument. You do, I suppose, pay a little more for the fact it is made in the USA and not mass produced in the Far East. But having said that, I’ve heard plenty of baritones at this price or more that don’t sound as good as this. Top stuff!

For a range of extras, you can scroll down to the bottom of the page. You’ll find things like low G fitting and gig bags. I can provide those for this model but won’t fit a strap button. The design of these is intended to stand flat on the floor - and a strap button interferes with that. If you want to fit a strap, I’d suggest some command strips (velcro strips with adhesive) as an effective way of using a strap without removing this design feature and affecting any future re-sale value.

If you click additional info below, there’s a video demo of this Magic Fluke baritone in action, including a comparison with another with a solid top.