Flight Ukuleles Have Landed at Studio 1 — Slovenia's Modern Ukulele Story Comes to New Zealand

From Ljubljana to Auckland — the European brand that helped power the ukulele's modern revival is now in the shop, joining Kala and Martin on our ukulele wall, from first ukes to all-solid stage instruments.

The ukulele has always been a travelling instrument. It arrived in Honolulu in August 1879 aboard a ship called the Ravenscrag, carried by Madeiran immigrants who had crossed half the world to work Hawaii's sugar plantations — among them cabinet makers who would soon adapt their island's small four-string machete into something new. Hawaiians named it the ukulele, King Kalākaua championed it at royal gatherings, and within a generation it had leapt from the islands to the American mainland, setting off the first great ukulele craze of the early twentieth century.

It has been travelling ever since. The instrument's story runs in waves: the jazz-age boom of the 1910s and 20s, the plastic-uke and Tiki-bar wave of the 1950s, and then — after decades in the novelty bin — the remarkable third wave that began around the turn of this century, when a new generation of players and a young internet full of ukulele videos reminded everyone what the instrument could actually do.

Which brings us, by a route nobody would have predicted, to Slovenia.

A Ukulele Company from Ljubljana

When the third wave swept through North America and Asia in the 2000s, Europe largely missed out. Good ukuleles were hard to find in European shops, and what was available was mostly the sort of instrument that puts beginners off rather than drawing them in.

Flight was founded in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2010 to fix exactly that. The founding team came from a family music business, and their approach was refreshingly practical: before designing anything, they asked local music teachers what instruments their students actually needed. That habit — listen first, build second — has stayed with the company as it grew.

And grow it did. Flight began exhibiting at Frankfurt's Musikmesse in 2011 and spread steadily across Europe — Austria, Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy — then out to Singapore, South America and eventually the United States. The company says it was the first ukulele brand to work with YouTubers, back in 2013, and its online ukulele community is now among the largest anywhere. At the 2020 NAMM Show in California — Flight's first time exhibiting with its own booth — the brand took out a Best in Show honour for its Soundwave ukulele, with a built-in pickup and onboard effects. Today Flight instruments are sold in more than thirty countries, and the Flight Crew artist roster numbers over a hundred players worldwide.

Not bad for a company from a country of two million people, making instruments for an instrument most Europeans had barely heard played properly twenty years ago.

Why We Brought Flight In

Flight has no distributor in New Zealand, so until now these instruments have mostly meant ordering sight-unseen from overseas. We've been talking with Flight directly since March, and we're pleased to say Studio 1 now stocks the range in Auckland — instruments you can pick up, strum, plug in and compare, side by side.

What convinced us is the same thing that has driven Flight's growth: the range covers the whole journey of a ukulele player. A well-set-up first instrument for a child or a curious guitarist. A solid-top step-up when the hobby becomes a habit. And — this is where Flight has quietly built a serious reputation — all-solid, stage-ready electro-acoustics that compete well above their station. It fills out our ukulele wall in exactly the places players kept asking about.

One Ukulele Wall, Three Great Brands

Flight doesn't arrive alone — it joins a ukulele wall we've built deliberately, and the three brands on it complement each other rather than compete.

Kala remains our first recommendation for a very first ukulele. The Californian company has spent twenty years making the instrument approachable, and models like the mahogany KA-15S are the ukuleles thousands of players — and plenty of Kiwi school music rooms — started on. Nothing in the Flight shipment changes that: for a well-made, honest starter uke at the friendliest prices, Kala still owns that ground.

Martin holds the other end of the wall. The Nazareth company has been building ukuleles since 1916 — by its own account the oldest surviving maker of them — and its 1920s sopranos remain some of the most coveted ukuleles ever made. As an authorised Martin dealer we keep their instruments in store for players who want an heirloom, and from time to time a vintage Martin uke passes through our hands too.

Flight now fills the territory between: the solid-top and all-solid mid-range, thinlines and baritones, stage-ready electro-acoustics and the electric Rock series — the step-up instruments players kept asking us about. First uke from Kala, forever uke from Martin, and now everything in between from Flight. That's the wall.

What's Arriving This Week

The shipment covers five of Flight's series, from travel ukes to their premium Royal instruments. A tour, from the ground up:

Travel Series. The TUS-35 is one of Flight's best-known instruments worldwide: a soprano with a moulded ABS body and a wooden top, built to shrug off beaches, backpacks and school bags while sounding far better than an instrument this carefree has any right to. The TUS-32 Sakura, with its cherry-blossom print, is among the most popular designs Flight has ever made. These are the ukes you take everywhere.

Natural Series. The NUS500 soprano and NUC500 concert pair a solid mahogany top with a traditional look and a gig bag in the box — a proper wooden instrument at a first-ukulele price, and the sort of thing we're very happy to hand to a beginner. The DUC 323 mahogany concert from the Designer range sits alongside them.

Princess Series. This is Flight's mid-range, and it's where the value gets interesting. The Iris concert carries a solid spruce top in black or blue, and took out Best Value Ukulele of 2024 in the Ukies awards; the Iris Tinta goes further — all-solid mahogany, in translucent colour finishes that let the grain show through. The Antonia CE and Antonia TE add onboard electronics to a solid-top concert and tenor respectively, and the Leia CE is something different again: a thinline electro-acoustic with a solid cedar top, slim enough to feel instantly comfortable for guitarists and gigging players.

Royal Series. Flight's premium line, and the heart of this shipment. The Nighthawk concert and tenor pair a solid spruce top with solid African mahogany under a dark, moody moonburst finish, with Flight's dual active pickup system mounted inside the soundhole — no side cavity cut into the instrument. The Nomad tenor is all-solid mahogany with a warm, woody voice. The Aviator tenor and baritone carry solid mango tops, and the Aurora baritone — solid spruce over rosewood, DGBE-tuned like the top four strings of a guitar — is the one we'd point guitarists toward first. Then there's the Fireball tenor: all-solid mango, dual active pickup, side soundhole so you can hear yourself play, and named Best Mid-Price Ukulele of 2023 in the Ukies awards. It's the hero of the range for good reason.

Rock Series. Finally, for the electric-minded: the Pathfinder tenor, a solid-body electric ukulele in a familiar double-cutaway shape and a translucent blue finish. Plug it in, add a little drive, and enjoy the double-takes.

Which Ukulele Size Should You Buy?

If you're buying your first ukulele in New Zealand — or your first good one — size is the decision that matters most, and it's much easier to make with instruments in your hands. The short version:

Soprano is the smallest and the classic — the bright, chirpy voice most people picture when they think of a ukulele. Ideal for kids, travel and campfires. In this shipment: the TUS-35 and TUS-32 Sakura travel ukes and the solid-top NUS500.

Concert is the size we recommend to most first-time buyers: slightly bigger body, fuller voice, more room between frets for adult hands. The NUC500, Iris, Iris Tinta and Antonia CE all live here.

Tenor is the working player's size — more projection and sustain, more space for fingerstyle, and the size most performers reach for on stage. That's where the Antonia TE, Nomad, Nighthawk and Fireball come in.

Baritone is the biggest of the family and tuned DGBE, like the top four strings of a guitar — which makes it the easiest crossover for guitarists, with a warm, almost classical-guitar voice. The Aviator and Aurora baritones cover it.

Still weighing it up? Our earlier guide, Concert vs Tenor Ukuleles, goes deeper on the two most popular sizes — and the fastest way to decide is simply to play both in the shop.

An Instrument That Keeps Arriving

A hundred and forty-odd years ago the ukulele arrived in Hawaii on a sailing ship, an immigrant's instrument that found a new home and flourished. This week it arrives at Victoria Park Market by container from a factory half a world away, wearing a Slovenian name that suits its history rather well: Flight.

The full range lands in the shop this week — set up, tuned and ready to play alongside our Kala and Martin ukuleles. Drop in and try them side by side, from a travel soprano to the all-solid Fireball, or get in touch with Garrick at garrick@studio1.co.nz if you'd like us to set one aside for you.

Welcome to Flight at Studio 1.