September 17, 2005

Tiki Flea Ukulele

Store Prodimages Tiki-Flea-Det About five years ago, Carla bought me a cheap ukulele for my birthday, and I hated it. I couldn't get it to tune properly, so it sounded awful. I was about to give up when I heard about a funny-looking plastic/wood hybrid uke called the Fluke. It just so happened that the co-inventor live near me in Studio City, CA.

I sent him an email message, and he kindly invited me to come to his house. his name is Jim Beloff and his wife is Liz Beloff. together, they run a ukulele music business called Flea Market Music. I bought a Fluke from Jim and Liz and instantly saw the light. The sound was bright, clear, and cheerful.

Now I love playing ukuleles. They are very portable and really easy to learn. A few years ago, Flea Market Music started selling an even smaller ukulele, called The Flea. Jim and Liz kindly asked me to design the logo for it, which was an honor.

I had lunch with Jim and Liz today and they awarded me with a special edition of the Flea, with a faceplate design by Tiki King. The tiki looks like he is chanting a sacred song about ancient island life. Like the Fluke, the Flea stays in tune and has a cheerfully plangent tone.

If you buy a Flea, I recommend that you buy some of Flea Market Music's excellent ukulele songbooks. Then you can throw your iPod away and start making your own music. Link /