Flight Aurora EQ-A Baritone Ukulele - REVIEW

Back once again with a ukulele brand that regularly appears on this site - this is the Flight Aurora EQ-A Baritone Ukulele.

Initial disclosure: In recent months I have found myself with a hankering for a baritone ukulele. If I am totally honest, as a guitar player it's not a scale that I have found myself drawn to before, but in trying to review a few more on this site, I found one calling to me for something to noodle with. I didn't want to spend top dollar, and nor did I want cheap trash. So with a bit of research and then discussion with World of Ukes I settled on this one. So this is not a loaner, or a ukulele bought with blog funds that will be moved on. I bought this myself and for myself.  That doesn't mean that I won't review it the same way as any other instrument, but I felt I should make that clear.

SUMMARY VIDEO REVIEW

The Aurora has been around a little while now and kind of appeared (I believe) as something of a middle ground between the more regular Flight baritones at the cheaper end and things like the hugely popular Fireball series. It's a baritone only model and sits in their 'Princess Series' using the same attractive and modern rounded double bout shape as on ukes like the Fireball and Comet and in fact the modern shape was part of the attraction in me choosing this one. This has a solid spruce top paired with laminate rosewood back and sides. It's a classic combination of woods often seen in the guitar world and works well on both tone and, of course, looks. The spruce looks to be good quality and the rich dark stripe of the rosewood is a joy. As I always say, I am not afraid of laminate woods if they are done well, and certainly on a bigger instrument the lack of solid wood in the back and sides is less important I find - there are some fine guitars out there from the likes of Taylor and Martin that only have solid tops. 

The bridge is made of rosewood and is the same shape as many other Flight bridges, though surprisingly is a through bridge rather than a pin bridge. That's cool with me as they do the same thing and I like how simple this makes it look. That holds a compensated bone saddle and the spacing comes in at 44mm

Being a more middle ground instrument, the decoration is simpler with black edge binding to the top and back (with a tail stripe) and a black scalloped cutaway on the upper shoulder. Around the sound hole is an abalone ring, but it's not too gaudy. I think the decor is 'just enough' here and keeps it looking classy. They could have easily over-done things here. Some may say a bit too simple, but it's all good with me. If you like things like the bridge purfling, sound port and jewelled bridge pins you will need to look at the Fireball. Finishing the body is a nicely done gloss finish that can't find any flaws with.

Inside is very tidy with regular back bracing, X bracing to the lower bout of the top and notched kerfing. Unlike some other Flights the braces are not 'drilled through' to save weight. You will also spy a pickup system as this comes as standard with a sound hole mounted active under saddle system by the Double brand. I continuously say on this point (and will say again) - please give ME the choice of whether it comes with a pickup or not. I'm grateful this doesn't have ugly side controls, but i'd still have preferred an acoustic only option so I can choose what to do.

The neck is specified as African Mahogany made from three pieces (with well hidden joints) and i'm pleased to see that like the Fireball, it's finished in satin for a very nice feel on the hands. That tapers to a rounded nut profile, but I can live witht that as the nut width is a roomy 38mm, 30mm D to E.

The fingerboard is rosewood and in nice condition on this example with dark even colouring. It comes with the 19 frets joined at the 14th and are semi-hemi dressed like some other Flight ukes meaning they are ultra smooth. The sides of the board are bound in dark wood too, though that sort of fret dressing means you'd never have sharp frets anyway. Outward position dots revert to a more traditional central location other than offsets, but are rather attractive 'O' shapes in what looks like pale wood. They are sitting at the usual 5th, 7th, 10th, double 12th and 15th and are repeated with white dots on the side. All very nice.

Beyond the bone nut is a traditional headstock rather than a slot head - nothing against slot heads, but I think they are becoming a bit TOO common in the uke world and sometimes I just like a regular one like this. It's faced in gloss black which looks classy and holds the Flight logo in a pearly inlay. 

The tuners are open gears in gold with black buttons by Prowel. These are the same brand as on the Fireball but regular tuners as opposed to side mounted for a slot head. I've always found them to be great quality and they are here too.

Finishing the deal are a set of D'Addario EJ53B strings with a wound D and G, and the usual very nice quality red padded Flight bag. And for that you are looking at a price of £339 in the UK.  I didn't think that was too bad and is considerably cheaper than a Fireball and also undercuts electro models from Kala and Ohana. Good deal.

Not much wrong here if anything at all. The build and finish are sound and I like the looks a great deal even if it is perhaps a bit 'guitary'. The setup on what arrived with me is spot on but I need to share some insider knowledge here. I say quite often with Flight ukuleles that you really do need to buy from a reputable dealer that will check setup. I actually saw the string setup on this before Matt Warnes worked on it and, frankly, I would have rejected it. That's the benefit of using a good dealer, but it's not right that it needed quite so much work in the first place. For that reason I have knocked back the fit and finish score here to reflect that insider knowledge and also, perhaps, offset a bit of the unconscious bias that comes with reviewing something you own. Anyway - it's very good now! It's a big instrument so naturally heavier than other scales of ukes, but you can feel this is heavier than, say, the Fireball and clocks in at 1,005g. It's not uncomfortable to hold though, but it does have some heft.

With volume and sustain, baritones rarely present a problem due to the size and tuning and that's the case here. This has great projection and lingering sustain which is very nice indeed. It needs very little effort to get it to sing and feels lively.

I didn't know what to expect with the tone, but it certainly is 'guitar like' (which is what I was looking for). Perhaps that is no surprise with a spruce top which is very common in the acoustic guitar world as the spruce is certainly giving it a punch / attack on the tone and giving it a very clear sound too. That's not to say bright as overall this is on the darker side, but it does balance it off. Whether strummed or picked this has a very definite baritone thud on the low end but with some chimey clarity on top. And in fact the tone has a lot going on throughout as it's a very rich, pretty broad tone. I think it's more of a pickers instrument or for chord melody rather than playing peppy ukulele chord strums, but I think that's really what baritones or for anyway. The tone here has not let me down and I like that it's kind of 'dark yet light' if that makes any sense.  I don't think it has quite the same richness that the Fireball has, but it's actually closer than the price difference would suggest, and if anything perhaps has a bit more bite.

All in all though, no, I was not going to buy an instrument for myself without research and it already 'calling to me' on looks. You can call that bias, but you can also take it as a recommendation as I was never going to buy something I thought was awful! The build and finish here are great and I love the looks. The tone was just what I was looking for and the asking price is sensible. Just give me an option without a pickup please! 

A lovely instrument. Recommended!

UKULELE SPECS ROUNDUP

Model: Flight Aurora EQ-A

Scale: Baritone

Body: Solid spruce top, laminate rosewood back and sides

Bridge: Rosewood through bridge

Saddle: Bone, compensated

Spacing at saddle: 44mm

Finish: Gloss

Neck: African mahogany

Fingerboard: Rosewood

Frets: 19, joined at 14th
Nut: Bone

Nut width: 38mm, 30mm D to E

Tuners: Prowel open gears

Strings: D'Addario EJ53B
Extras: Gig bag, Double brand active UST pickup, strap button

Weight: 1005g

Country of origin: China

Price: £339

UKULELE PROS

Classy look

Great core build and finish

Comfortable neck and board
Nice tuners

Good volume and great sustain

Clear tone with good breadth

Decent price

UKULELE CONS

Let me have an acoustic only version!

Be careful to buy from a store that will check setup

UKULELE SCORES

Looks - 9.5 out of 10

Fit and finish - 8.5 out of 10

Sound - 9 out of 10

Value for money - 9.5 out of 10

OVERALL UKULELE SCORE - 9.1 out of 10

UKULELE VIDEO REVIEW

© Barry Maz

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