This product is no longer available from World of Ukes. (It may be available elsewhere).

This is the Flight Mini Bass, a short scale (510mm) variant of a full size, solid body bass guitar. It’s made by Flight Ukuleles, so that’s where the ukulele comes in in the title - it’s really a short scale bass guitar which in effect, has a size that fits in well with a ukulele band’s aesthetic. Or, simply a compact bass guitar for travelling.

It is a striking thing to look at, with its stained quilted maple top. The patterns in the wood can be clearly seen through a transparent gloss finish which goes from a deep blue to a sandy yellow. And the Warwick-bass style body looks great too.

The Flight Mini Bass is equipped with Alnico P-style pickups. Alnico? This is the kind of alloy used to create the magnets in the pickup. If you’re into your metallurgy, it’s a combination of ALuminium, NIckel and CObalt. If performance interests you more than wordplay, basically they’re strong, long lasting magnets. And if you’re new to basses like this, the passive (i.e. no batteries) pickups work when the magnetic field they create is disturbed by the vibration of the strings. Well, that’s a boring paragraph if ever I read one, but at least you now have the info!

While there’s plenty of body and depth in the sound of the Flight Mini Bass, it’s short scale gives it a crisper, brighter sound than a regular-sized bass guitar. Saying bright seems off when it’s a bass - don’t get me wrong, it’s tuned EADG and it sounds like a bass - but it just leans a little bit brighter. I actually enjoyed this, as I am not a bassist and tend to play solos rather than basslines, but it’s perfect for basslines too, of course.

It comes with a very good gig bag that’s a great fit - always a bonus when it’s an instrument that’s not a standard size or shape. The chrome hardwear seems good quality, tone and volume is controlled by knobs mounted on the body and the Flight Mini bass is fitted with geared tuners and roundwound strings (bass guitar strings, trimmed a little, can be used as replacements - 45-105 guage, like Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinky).

Please note - these basses require some adjustment before I send them out, so there may be an extra day before I can dispatch them.