It’s the final Got A Ukulele review of 2023 and I close with a model that his been requested a LOT in recent months. This is the Flight 4SB Sammy Turton signature Tenor Ukulele.
Flight are no strangers to signature models and this is their latest offering for one of their Flight Artists. The ‘4SB’ moniker here is for ‘4stringboy’, the performance name of ukulele player, performer and teacher Sammy Turton who many in the uke world will know. Sammy is a Brit who lives in Denmark and if you have seen his videos, is a terrific player. And whilst I usually raise an eyebrow a little with signature models, when I first saw this one I was immediately interested. Floored in fact.
SUMMARY VIDEO REVIEW
The 4SB model is very much in the same shape vein as Flights like the Fireball, Comet, Peter Moss signature in general shape and layout but with some key differences specced by Sammy himself. This has a similar modern curvy double bout shape and is made from all solid woods. This pairs solid spruce for the top with solid Indian Rosewood for the back and sides, a combination that always works well with stringed instruments with the darker sounding rosewood balancing of the natural brightness of spruce very well. Not that you would see that it is spruce as the top is glossed in a complete black finish that I think is gorgeous. The back and sides are more natural looking and the rosewood grain is delightful. I think they work together brilliantly here giving it a dark brooding look.
The bridge is similar to the Fireball and Comet style minus the edge decoration and is made from rosewood. It’s a pin bridge and all in very good shape, fitted with a compensated top bone saddle. Spacing here clocks in at 41mm.
Decoration is very attractive too. I said the black and dark rosewood were brooding, but they have been given something to lift them and Sammy went with maple bindings to the top and back which create a wonderful contrast with the dark faces of the instrument. There is a cutaway like on other Flights, but here it’s not the curved scallop shape but more of a flat bevel finished in spalted maple. I think it looks great and prefer it to the curved cutaways of other Flight models. It looks ingenious. Around the sound hole is more spalted maple in an asymmetric ring which again contrasts brilliantly against the dark top. Cor. The whole body is then finished in a gloss which is pretty flawless on this example.
Inside is pretty tidy bar some scruffiness on the underside of the bridge plate. The kerfing is notched and the top braces are drilled through, Kanile'a style to reduce weight.
The neck is made of African Mahogany jointed down the middle with a dark wood stripe. There are otherwise regular joints at the heel and headstock. I’m pleased to see this is not glossed but in satin making it speedy to move around on. The profile is rounded but comes with a very roomy 38mm nut with 30mm G to A.
The fingerboard is made of rosewood and in great condition with even dark colour extending down to the top of the sound hole where it is shaped. It’s fitted with 19 semi-hemi dressed frets joined at the 14th, so because of this dressing there are absolutely no sharp edges, or even edges to be seen. The position markers facing out are funky maple inlays that switch between sides of the board at the 5th, 7th, 10th, a larger one at the 12th, and 15th and 17th. That’s rather different and I really love that design choice. As I understand it the markers on the opposite sides are visual aids for Sammy for playing harmonics (something he's known for). There are no side dots as such but I think that is a conscious decision as the markers at the 5th, 7th and 12th overlap the edge of the board so you can see them. That’s rather clever.
Beyond the bone nut is the now well known open frame Flight headstock. That’s faced in more flamed maple which looks great and has the Flight logo in black at the top. One thing I’ve said i’ve never liked about ‘signature’ models are those that have the artist name emblazoned on the front. Sammy has gone with the more subdued here with a very simple ‘4SB’ signature on the back of the headstock. I like that.
The tuners are similar to what I have seen before from Flight in the form of Prowel open gears in black. No complaints from me as these are decent and work great.
It comes with a set of Worth Brown strings, the regular (and very nice) Flight padded bag, only this time in Black (cool - like a special edition!), and nothing more. Wait, what? No pickup whether you want one or not? I wonder if Sammy has been reading this site, as this is acoustic only (at this point). Yes Sammy has one with a pickup he asked for but for consumers they don’t come with one. I don’t consider that an omission, rather a positive. If I want a pickup it’s easy to fit one of MY choice to this. I’m pleased with that. And that comes in at an asking price of £489. I’m a bit unsure on the price to be honest, as that is quite a lot more than something like the Nighthawk (with a pickup) or the concert Peter Moss model, and is not far off the price of a Fireball (again with a pickup). I’m not saying it’s a bad deal in and of itself, but it seems to sit oddly against some of their own models. Saying all of that, i’ve not really chipped the score on this point much as I can see it is ‘worth’ the asking price.
So no real complaints so far and I think the looks are killer. In fact, I’ll got out on that limb and tell you that, whilst this point is entirely subjective, I think this is the nicest looking Flight ukulele I have seen so far if not one of the nicest looking ukes i’ve ever seen. The looks here just tick all the right boxes for me and I love the contrasts. Build and finish on this example are also great. It’s not heavy at 655g and balances well. Set up is pretty decent at the both the 12th and the nut. All still good so far!
The volume and sustain here are both very good. It's not the loudest or longest sustaining ukulele I have had in my hands, but i'm really nit-picking as on both of these counts it's decent. Just a little laid back and perhaps will open up more over time. Not a complaint.
Tone is a very subjective thing and people know I tend to prefer woodier, darker sounding instruments. Spruce is naturally bright and crisp and this is certainly a bright sounding instrument. And yes, a bit too much so for my own personal tastes but I try to be objective on this point and recognise that many people prefer the brighter sounding ukes. Strummed this has a real peppy jangle to it which almost sounds more concert like than tenor. It's extremely clear and direct and is, patently, a decent tone.. if you like that brighter edge. There is no muddiness though and it's really comfortable to play.
Then I fingerpicked it and it started to turn my head a little on bright tones on ukes. This is seriously pretty played that way with a wonderful clear and delicate chime like sleigh bells. I found myself positively loving the sound of playing it this way and maybe I need to get out of my 'moody dark woody' rut! It's very sweet indeed and can see how it would suit Sammy's playing style.
Then I fingerpicked it and it started to turn my head a little on bright tones on ukes. This is seriously pretty played that way with a wonderful clear and delicate chime like sleigh bells. I found myself positively loving the sound of playing it this way and maybe I need to get out of my 'moody dark woody' rut! It's very sweet indeed and can see how it would suit Sammy's playing style.
I am so glad I managed to squeeze this one in to 2023 reviews as it's nice to end on a high. I loved the look of this one since I first saw press pictures, but hats off to Sammy on the design input as I think he's absolutely nailed the looks and details. It's built and finished well and, putting my subjectivities to one side, is very obviously an good quality tone that will delight.
What a great uke! Very highly recommended!
What a great uke! Very highly recommended!
UKULELE SPECS ROUNDUP
Model: Flight 4SB Sammy Turton Signature
Scale: Tenor
Body: Solid spruce top, solid Indian Rosewood back and sides
Bridge: Rosewood pin bridge
Saddle: Bone, compensated
Spacing at saddle: 41mm
Finish - gloss black top, gloss finished body
Neck: African Mahogany
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Frets:19, 14 to body, semi-hemi dressed
Nut: Bone
Nut width: 38mm, 30mm G to A
Tuners: Prowel gears
Strings:Worth Brown
Extras: Gig bag
Weight: 655g
Country of origin: China
Price: £489
UKULELE PROS
Absolute killer looks
Great build and finish
Love that neck!
Yay, no pickup forced on us!
Good volume and sustain
Very crisp, clear tone.
UKULELE CONS
A little too bright for my personal tastes (strummed)
UKULELE SCORES
Looks - 10 out of 10
Fit and finish - 9.5 out of 10
Fit and finish - 9.5 out of 10
Sound - 9 out of 10
Value for money - 9 out of 10
OVERALL UKULELE SCORE - 9.4 out of 10
UKULELE VIDEO REVIEW
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Baz, I'm not sure if you mentioned that this is a "double top" ukulele.
ReplyDeleteI got out this 4SB and my Nighthawk, and to my unprofessional ears they sounded pretty much the same.
ReplyDelete