NUD: Asmus solid maple concert with solid spruce top

Just unwrapped my new Asmus a little while ago. It was a crap shoot as much isn't known about them. They appeared a year or two ago, seemed to be KPK clones, and disappeared. The seller didn't really know much about it. The price was embarrassingly low, and I've been wanting a maple spruce topped concert for a long while, so I figured why not. Here's what I found:
- It is fairly light. About the same size and quality gloss finish as my Pono mahogany concert deluxe. Very small dimple on clearcoat only flaw that I can see. It has a serial number on the neck block exactly like the one on my Pono.
- I was hoping the sides and back were solid maple, and they are. An all solid maple concert for the price of a Makala.
- Setup: The fret ends are a little rough, but no more so than my Pono was when I bought it. The action is quite low and intonation seems spot on all the way up the neck.
Sound- It has a sweet, ringing, woody tone that resonates at least as long as my Pono, and while it's loud, it's in no way brash.
Tuners - only negative as far as I'm concerned are the die cast tuners. They will be replaced with Grover 9b's.
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I was hoping it was going to be this nice and it is. Perhaps after I play it a while, my thinking will change, but right now, it appears to be the spruce/maple equivalent of my solid mahogany Pono.

Congratulations Phil, I love the blonde on blonde with the contrasting binding, very classy.

Congrats on your new baby! It looks really sweet.

I've seen the Asmus name mentioned a few times, but like you said there is scant info about them.

I'm looking forward to your sound sample.:music:

Thanks for sharing.

Camsuke said:

Congratulations Phil, I love the blonde on blonde with the contrasting binding, very classy.

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I'm the same; a total sucker for the blonde instruments. It looks lovely Phil. Glad you're pleased with it.

Congrats Phil. NUD is always fun. Then, at least for me, the string journey begins.

John

PhilUSAFRet said:

Just unwrapped my new Asmus a little while ago. It was a crap shoot as much isn't known about them. They appeared a year or two ago, seemed to be KPK clones, and disappeared. The seller didn't really know much about it. The price was embarrassingly low, and I've been wanting a maple spruce topped concert for a long while, so I figured why not. Here's what I found:
- It is fairly light. About the same size and quality gloss finish as my Pono mahogany concert deluxe. No flaws that I can see. It has a serial number on the neck block exactly like the one on my Pono.
- I was hoping the sides and back were solid maple, and they are. An all solid maple concert for the price of a Makala.
- Setup: The fret ends are a little rough, but no more so than my Pono was when I bought it. The action is quite low and intonation seems spot on all the way up the neck.
Sound- It has a sweet, ringing, woody tone that resonates at least as long as my Pono, and while it's loud, it's in no way brash.
Tuners - only negative as far as I'm concerned are the die cast tuners. They will be replaced with Grover 9b's.
View attachment 82916View attachment 82917View attachment 82918View attachment 82919
I was hoping it was going to be this nice and it is. Perhaps after I play it a while, my thinking will change, but right now, it appears to be the spruce/maple equivalent of my solid mahogany Pono.

Click to expand...

Very nice looking uke.

I won an Asmus soprano when they started up a couple of years ago. Great uke although the tuners made it a bit neck heavy. My kid gave it to one of her favorite teachers as a get well gift. I ran into him a few months ago and he still has and plays it pretty regularly.

Noticed one thing...the fretboard is maple and the ebony? is inlaid into it. Haven't seen that before. Also, fret wire is ever so slightly thinner than that on my pono. Still amazed with the tone. Upon closer inspection and discussion with my Son, perhaps it has maple binding.

Very nice Ukulele. Love the spruce/maple combo. Saw these also..... wondered where they went. Maybe more will surface. Looking forward to sound samples after you've had it awhile. What strings do you have on it?

It came with Aquilas which sound amazing...bright, but not overly so for a spruce topped maple uke. Thinking of putting on some Fremont Blackline reentrants when I put on the Grover tuners with black buttons.

how did you finally get a hold of one of these asmus's?

Congrats Phil. That's purty.

I cannot tell a lie.....I got it on Ebay, and did I say "it's loud"