Recommendartions on soprano longneck: ANueNue, Kala, and Flea's

-SRS-45-

-SRS-45-

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Hi, just wondering if people can give their feed back on the above long neck Soprano's (not sure if the flea is a soprano body with the longneck?).

Wood: Preferably Mahogany wood as that seems to be the wood that always sounds right to me.

Tone: The tone I do like is the fuller classical tone such as the Ohana SK35g, the soundI do not like is thin tones such as the KoAloha's, I've owned KoAloha's and have sold them on due to the thin sound.

Just soprano's with concert necks please, thats the size that I'm really into.

Loads of thanks for your input, any good quality vids would also be cool :)
 
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If you like really bright instruments, Mya-Moe makes a nice super soprano. I hear several folks here like the KoAloha long neck sopranos.

I've also had a Kanilea super soprano that was great, but preferred the Kanilea in concert size.

There are several makers that have standard 14 inch scale sopranos.
 
I have the Anuenue Papa I longneck and I love it. The fit and finish is amazing, and the tone is sweet. Playability is excellent.

I've tried the Kala longneck - the local music store has one - and the sound is thin and dull in comparison. I've never played the flea, but I have a fluke and I'm not a fan of hte plastic ukes. There is a lot that is pretty cool about them, but I prefer wood.

Also, the new Islander Acacia is technically not a longneck soprano, but it has a 14 fret neck and wider frets. It has a much deeper and fuller tone than any of the longnecks I've tried. Keep in mind though that the smaller soprano body is not conducive to the fuller classical tone (I assume you mean classical guitar) you say that you like. I love the Anuenue longneck but the tone is sweet not full. It's not biting and not as bright as a Koaloha soprano, but it isn't full.
 
If I may toss in a few more- The soon to be released Mainland cedar/rosewood concert neck soprano pineapple. I'll have em in next week. Honolele solid mango or acacia concert scale soprano, Kelii concert scale soprano (in next week too)
The Kala longnecks are quite a bargain! The Fleas are supa cool! aNueNue plays good too. Ah you can't go wrong.
Super sopranos have been popular as of late.
 
Thanks dudes, some excellent ideas and info there. The ANueNue is definately drawing me in.

I didn't relise Mainland were jumping on the long neck soprano wagon, quite excited to see them doing it though. I also hear Kala are going to be doing a solid wood one soon like they used to, going on katysax info though and previous experiences with my own Kala uke I'll probably not go for that one. Am also intrigued by Bruko, I'll have to find out some more about them.
 
I have a concert neck Flea. The Flea has a slightly larger than standard figure 8 soprano body. I like it a lot. I also have a Kala long neck soprano in spruce/spalted flame maple, and a Kanile'a Super Concert. If you can afford a Kanile'a, it would give you the nicest tone. Do try it first before buying. Every uke is different, even if it is the same model. Ohana has a tenor neck soprano you might want to consider. The new Mainlands should be interesting to see.

–Lori
 
I love Ohana, but really don't like the Ohana tenor neck soprano, it is a pretty ugly beast and I think tenor necks on a soprano just don't match up.

The Flea is pretty intriguing I'm hoping to find somewhere to play one as I have no tonal idea of what they are like they also seem really expensive. I do like Kanile'a and although different I don't think the tone is necessarlary better than Ohana's/Mainlands i've had. I did absolutely love my K1, but my Mainland was a better alrounder so I picked that up more, it would be nice to try a Kanile'a sop longneck though.
 
I have a Flea with a Tenor neck and Koa top using Aquilla strings. Love the warm but loud sound. Tenor neck also has a nice feel. This is my everyday go to uke.
 
I'd love to get another aNueNue, and I'm looking at long-neck sopranos. Tell us how it goes.
 
I'll second the Bruko! Love the Bruko sound and it is a great feeling instrument. i try to play other ukuleles and i can't help but reach for my no. 6 everytime!
 
-SRS-45- said:
Hi, just wondering if people can give their feed back on the above long neck Soprano's (not sure if the flea is a soprano body with the longneck?).

Wood: Preferably Mahogany wood as that seems to be the wood that always sounds right to me.

Tone: The tone I do like is the fuller classical tone such as the Ohana SK35g, the soundI do not like is thin tones such as the KoAloha's, I've owned KoAloha's and have sold them on due to the thin sound.

Just soprano's with concert necks please, thats the size that I'm really into.

Loads of thanks for your input, any good quality vids would also be cool :)
Click to expand...
You're asking subjective (read; loaded) questions here, but here's my personal experience.

Flea is a soprano body with a slightly longer than sop scale (15" as opposed to 13.something", or you can get a 15" concert neck). The body is always the same size, about soprano, but the shape is a cross between a pineapple and a lute to me.

Flea has a bell-like tone to my ear, search Youtube and you'll find lots of videos! I can highly recommend them for their indestructibility, and there's never anything less than perfect setup even on the standard models with plastic fretboard. Fleas also come with a mahogany soundboard option. It's a laminate and I can't speak for how the sound differs from the (new current) standard of lam birch top; however, I've heard opinions that the mahogany Flea is brighter.

On the Anuenue, I haven't played their long neck soprano. But I did have a concert that had the classical sort of tone you're describing. It also had a good setup, but I think is still a laminate. I enjoyed that uke, just decided to pass it on for my tenor Flea.

I hope this helps.

Crystal
 
Hello, Kiwaya also makes long neck sopranos in mahogany and koa. It think they are laminated these days. Older models had a solid top. I have not been anywhere to try one but folks have often reported how much they love them.

Flea concert is a 15.5 inch scale, fyi. The body is same size as the soprano model (which has a 14 inch scale).

Kelii makes 3 models: all solid mahogany (bronze model), all solid mahogany back and sides with koa top (silver), and all solid koa (gold). You can find models with either friction tuners or geared.

Happy hunting. And please report back on your acquisition. Those of us with vicarious UAS NEED to know.
 
Thanks peps, it'll be a christmas uke so a while to wait yet but I will definately put up some vids and stuff, I am hoping the ANueNue sounds good as thats what I really like the look of visually.
 
Mainland cedar/rosewood concert neck soprano pineapple...

Whoa!!! Sign me up!
 
Anuenue Papa I longneck soprano is a beautiful sounding and great playing Uke.The kala longneck is a nice looking Uke, and with Southcoast strings it sounded very very good, not quite like the Anuenue, but not far off at all. Both are bargains in my opinion.
 
At the lower end, price wise, if you can find a deal, this solid acacia Lehua isn't bad. I found a used one cheap. Has a plastic nut and saddle...I plan on changing nut/saddle/tuners, as I said, it was cheap. Sounds pretty decent though.

http://www.lehuaukulele.com/soprano_longneck.html
 
It's everything, and I mean everything, OP said they didn't want, but I have to mention: the KoAloha soprano body with tenor neck is the cat's meow!

Okay, now back to the discussion at hand.
 
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Flea recommendation

I bought a flea with the concert sized neck as a second from the factory. I believe I saved 20% off, which made it much more reasonable than I'd expected, and the second I got was hard to tell from a perfect model. The folks at the factory were great - they walked me through all the models they had as seconds over the phone.

I didn't follow up on it, but it also sounded like they could actually make up custom "second" from parts on hand - sounded like most of those were made with tops that had some kind of blemish or scratch prior to finishing.

I love my flea - its the ukulele I play the most, and it is much better looking than you'd expect from the description (plastic fretboard and back) and it feels very solid. It also seems much more compact than my other ukuleles - perhaps because it seems to be "flatter" in overall profile.

The only problem I have with it is that the frets are hard to see on the plastic fretboard.
 
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