aNueNue Lani II Concert Ukulele Review
September 30, 2009
Before you read this review, you should know that aNueNue sent me this ukulele to review for free. I’m anyone’s for a bag of Wine Gums, so feel free to take this review with whatever degree of salt you see fit. They asked me which of their ukuleles I’d like to review. My initial reaction, of course, was, “The most expensive one.” But I realised that you can tell a lot more about a ukulele maker’s prioritise by their less expensive ukuleles. So I opted for one of their ‘beginner grade’ ukuleles (yes, I really am that stupid).
So after giving the aNueNue Lani II a good going over (and many hours spent singing ‘a-nu-way-nu-way oh baby’ to the tune of Louie, Louie) here are my impressions.
Stats
Size: Concert
Construction: Laminated Koa
Fretboard: Rosewood
Neck: Mahogany
Frets: 20 (14 to the body)
Tuners: Open, geared Grover 9N STA-TITE
Finish: Matte
List Price: $278
The Sound Tests
Strumming Test
Strumming Test (MP3) – Sister Kate
Picking Test
Picking Test (MP3) – Larry O’Gaff
Intonation Test
Intonation Test (MP3) (12th fret harmonics followed by fretted notes)
The Good Stuff
Construction: It’s a very nicely put together piece of kit. They obviously take a great deal of care with the construction because it’s faultless. The usual areas where things get a bit messy (when the fretboard meets the body, inside, around the soundhole) are perfect.
Playability: It’s a very easy uke to play. Well set up. The feel of it is very slick and the action is very low (lower than I prefer but right for most people’s preference).
It plays well all the way up the neck, there are no dead frets, the sustain is impressive and the intonation is spot on.
The Look: The wood looks beautiful and the design is appealing. I love the shape of the headstock and the little petroglyphs are cute.
The Not So Good Stuff
It’s Laminated: Compared to solid wood ukueles in the same price range, the sound of it is a little disappointing; slightly muddy. It doesn’t have the punch I like from my ukuleles. I do get a better sound from my Kala and Ohana than I do from the aNueNue. But neither of them are made with anything like the care and attention to detail that the aNueNue is (the Ohana looks positively slap-dash in comparison).
It’s an inevitable trade-off and you’ll have your own priorities.
Conclusion
The aNueNue Lani II is massively ahead of the usual laminated, beginner ukuleles. Easily the best I’ve ever tried. There’s absolutely no compromise on the quality of the construction and it plays beautifully. They’re obviously not willing to cut corners in quality for the sake of a lower price. It’s just a matter of whether you want to make that same judgement.
Nice review, Al. Do you know anything about this company–where they are based, how long they’ve been around, where the instruments are sold, etc.? I’ve never heard of aNueNue before.
Dan: I did an interview with them last week which should clear things up.
well done avoiding the temptation to aim for the top quality uke there al, i have to say the websites very slick and the construction on them appears to be much higher than any ukes i own, but at £175 you’d be a bit miffed if it wasn’t. might have to keep a look out on my local music stores for them
…once again, thanks for the selfless review of the entry level option…what confuses me is…in the accesories bit on the site they do the black strings…there is a soprano/concert low G option…wonder if they will cut the mustard…or just the cheese…did you get sent any…
cbf: Yet to be seen how well distributed they’ll be over here.
Nick: I should have mention, the strings on them are Aquilas. The black strings are Orcas. They did ask me, separately, if I wanted to review the strings but I decided there’s very little I can say in a string review.
when it comes to black strings, i’m always surprised by the quality of ghs black nylons (which come as standard on lanikai’s) i’ve never seen a pack sold anywhere but it does a nice job on new lanikai ukes
…cheers guys…it’s just the soprano/ low G thing really…I’ve read on some of the snootier forums, that I wouldn’t dare post on for fear of ridicule and much snottyness, that low G tunings on the smaller uke don’t really sound good…I’ve got Lanikai tenor with Aquilas on and it sounds ,to my untrained ear, fantastic in re-entrant tuning…so I was thinking of having a bash with my soprano in low G…maybe I’ll just have a punt and see…
Very self-less going for the beginner ukulele.
But what do you mean by the action, and how is it low?
…Charles…the action is how close to the frets the strings are situated…this is governed firstly by the grooves in the nut (the bone/plastic string guide at the head stock), then also to some extent, the bridge…if the action is low, as I like it, the strings are quite easy to depress onto the frets…if your action is too low you’ll get “fret buzz” when strumming or picking…if you buy a uke from a good supplier it should be nicely set up…
Nick: Thanks for clearing it up.
Charles: The action on the aNueNue is about as low as it could be without getting fret buzz.
Cheers for that Nick + Woodshed, just been given tickets to see the ukulele orchestra of Great Britain for my birthday. Amazing
Which venue…I will be going to see them in York…then we’ve got the Re-entrants and Lancashire hotpots in november…WOOHOO!!
Charles and Nick: Have a good time.