NUD Enya Nova with a twist

DownUpDave

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I dont particularly love the sound of non-wooden ukuleles but they serve a purpose. I own two Enya X1 which are made from counter top laminate, think Arborite. They are durable and have a pleasing mellow sound.

I got this Enya Nova as a Christmas present.......because I was curious from all the rave reviews and good YouTube sound samples. I do a lot of outdoor activities so figured this would be a durable candidate.

With the stock strings, which are soft and thin, it is loud and bright sounding for a plastic uke, in a good way. It is not dull, thuddy and tubby sounding. Build quality is excellent which has been my experience with other Enya products.

Playability......good news bad news. I love the slight radius fret board, intonation is good. I have a hard time with black frets on a black fret board, solution was found, see pictures below. My BIGGEST gripe is the width of the nut and string spacing. Nut width is 1-5/16"+ and string spacing is a very tight 31/32". Compared to any of my other ukes with a 1-3/8" nut width the string spacing is usually around 1-1/8". A difference of over an 1/8" is big and I was flubbing chords and muting string and getting buzzing. After two weeks I have adapted my fingering technique and it is better......but still bothersome.

Ok two last points....make it three. Thanks to Jerry I was aware of a company called Neck Illusions that make fret board stick on coverings, with 63 different patterns for ukulele. Fantastic product and company to deal with, highly recommended they are 10/10. This solved the fret visibility problem. Number 2 is I dont like the strap button on the top side of the upper bout, it neck dives. So I removed it, as it was just screwed into place and screwed it into the usual spot, treble side of the neck heel. Works a charm. Now for the big controversy, I now have this strung with a Fremont Soloist wound low G paired with D’Addario carbon tenor strings 3,2 &1. IT SOUNDS GREAT. The astute will notice the Aquila Red Low G in the last picture. That lasted a couple days, way too dull and thudding, I am just use to the sound of a wound low G. We will see if I get any fret wear. I might be playing this 30 minutes a week or less so I not too worried about it.


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To illustrate what I mean about string spacing here are two pictures. One of the Enya Nova and the other is my Kimo tenor with 1-3/8" nut width. The biggest culprit with the Enya is how far inside the fret board edge the strings are placed. This makes everything much tighter then it could be. Unfortunately the nut is part of the instrument, it is not a seperate removable item. The saddle is separate and removable which is a very nice touch.

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Congratulations Dave! Your Enya looks great. What a creative solution for the fretboard.

I agree with you about the narrow fretboard being a problem. It’s funny how just a little dimensional change makes a big difference. I had to send back a really nice luthier built baritone Because of a narrow neck. I really didn’t want to try and adjust my finger memory. Oddly a wider fretboard doesn’t seem to bother me.

Just a thought if you’re feeling brave and in modifying mood. You might want to consider removing ( cutting out or file out) the nut and putting in a premade Or custom Tusq nut. I’ve made a few replacement nuts out of bone and have always been pleased with the result. It takes me about 10 times as long as a professional to make one, but worth it.
 
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Ok two last points....make it three. Thanks to Jerry I was aware of a company called Neck Illusions that make fret board stick on coverings, with 63 different patterns for ukulele. Fantastic product and company to deal with, highly recommended they are 10/10. This solved the fret visibility problem. Number 2 is I don't like the strap button on the top side of the upper bout, it neck dives. So I removed it, as it was just screwed into place and screwed it into the usual spot, treble side of the neck heel. Works a charm.

Very nice neck. I'm glad you were able to get that from Neck Illusions. I've sent several emails, but I haven't received any replies. As a result, I printed my own graphic on sticky vinyl for a Fluke. Now I have to figure out how to cut it and remove the backing.

I wanted to add a second strap button to my Clara, and Blackbird recommended using a #6 3/4" sheet metal screw. If I relocate the strap button on the Enya, I'll use one of those screws. I bought a pack of 100. :)
 
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Congratulations Dave! Your Enya looks great. What a creative solution for the fretboard.

I agree with you about the narrow fretboard being a problem. It’s funny how just a little dimensional change makes a big difference. I had to send back a really nice luthier built baritone Because of a narrow neck. I really didn’t want to try and adjust my finger memory. Oddly a wider fretboard doesn’t seem to bother me.

Just a thought if you’re feeling brave and in modifying mood. You might want to consider removing ( cutting out or file out) the nut and putting in a premade Or custom Tusq nut. I’ve made a few replacement nuts out of bone and have always been pleased with the result. It takes me about 10 times as long as a professional to make one, but worth it.

I wonder if it would be possible to fill in the current slots in the nut (with epoxy?) and cut new ones.
 
Congratulations Dave! Your Enya looks great. What a creative solution for the fretboard.

I agree with you about the narrow fretboard being a problem. It’s funny how just a little dimensional change makes a big difference. I had to send back a really nice luthier built baritone Because of a narrow neck. I really didn’t want to try and adjust my finger memory. Oddly a wider fretboard doesn’t seem to bother me.

Just a thought if you’re feeling brave and in modifying mood. You might want to consider removing ( cutting out or file out) the nut and putting in a premade Or custom Tusq nut. I’ve made a few replacement nuts out of bone and have always been pleased with the result. It takes me about 10 times as long as a professional to make one, but worth it.

I gave a lot of thought to doing something about the string spacing. One idea as you mentioned was to cut off the nut and made a separate one. The other (as Jerry pointed out) is to fill in the nut slots and recut new slots in new positions. I have filled nut slots with baking powder and crazy glue ( Stewmac has good videos on this) if the slots were too deep and recut to proper depth. If I had black crazy glue, only got clear (both available from Stewmac) I would have gave it a shot.
 
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I have filled nut slots with baking some and crazy glue ( Stewmac has good videos on this) if the slots were too deep and recut to proper depth. If I had black crazy glue, only got clear (which is available from Stewmac) I would have gave it a shot.

Yes, that baking soda/glue trick is often recommended, and I'm sure you could add some coloring to the mixture to turn it black - graphite lock lube, maybe. Be sure to take pictures when you do this, and it will soon become a common modification. :D
 
Yes, that baking soda/glue trick is often recommended, and I'm sure you could add some coloring to the mixture to turn it black - graphite lock lube, maybe. Be sure to take pictures when you do this, and it will soon become a common modification. :D

I had thought of adding a black colouring to it but was afraid it might change the chemical make up. It dries really fast and rock hard, perfect to cut slots in so didn’t want to screw that up. I will order some black crazy glue from Stewmac.

We leave for Mexico this Saturday for two weeks and the Enya will get put right into the suitcase. Should be good fun around the pool with no worries about heat and humidity
 
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Congratulations, my friend! Very curious to hear how that Enya holds up to your outdoor adventures, especially on the water...
 
I had thought of adding a black colouring to it but was afraid it might change the chemical make up. It dries really fast and rock hard, perfect to cut slots in so didn’t want to screw that up. I will order some black crazy glue from Stewmac.

We leave for Mexico this Saturday for two weeks and the Enya will get put right into the suitcase. Should be good fun around the pool with no worries about heat and humidity

There's a two-part adhesive product - PC-7 - that dries rock hard and is black. The one linked below is gray, but I've always bought black.
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000AB4A8M/ref=twister_B0815KTCKR?_encoding=UTF8&th=1
 
Thanks for the review Dave, I do like those Novas. I'm strangely drawn to plastic ukes even though I have no use for one. I was converting your measurements to mm and ... wow, that's narrow! I found the outdoor soprano string spacing a bit narrow for my liking and it was about 2mm wider than this one. Still, it's something you might get used to with time.

I could see the black on black being an issue. I was trying out classical guitars on the weekend and some of them not having side dots was bewildering, but not even being able to see the frets? Yes, the fret board stickers is a good mod. Much better than silver paint that wears off in a week! Good luck with modding the nut. The nice thing about a cheaper ukulele is I'm more willing to do modifications (and in my case, risk screwing things up) so can be a fun project.
 
Thanks for the review Dave, I do like those Novas. I'm strangely drawn to plastic ukes even though I have no use for one. I was converting your measurements to mm and ... wow, that's narrow! I found the outdoor soprano string spacing a bit narrow for my liking and it was about 2mm wider than this one. Still, it's something you might get used to with time.

I could see the black on black being an issue. I was trying out classical guitars on the weekend and some of them not having side dots was bewildering, but not even being able to see the frets? Yes, the fret board stickers is a good mod. Much better than silver paint that wears off in a week! Good luck with modding the nut. The nice thing about a cheaper ukulele is I'm more willing to do modifications (and in my case, risk screwing things up) so can be a fun project.

Thanks Glen, it is a fun instrument and being inexpensive frees me up to do modifications with out too much worry. Lack of side dots are an issue too because a number of my ukes have side dots only. I will probably add those as well, either stickers or drill a small shallow indent and fill with white paint.
 
You have been buying outdoor ukes for as long as I have known you. How would you rate this one in comparison to the others in your collection ?
You do have a pretty good looking neck. Remind me of the frosted window.


Yea I am strangely attracted to “plastic/non-wood ukes”.

As a comparison.
*The Korala is a basic plastic concert uke with the awful Tupperware sound.
*The Enya X1 concert has a mellow tone that is a bit on the quiet side.
*The Enya X1 pineapple soprano is a real keeper. It is louder then the concert with a very pleasing warm tone.
*The Enya Nova has really surprised me in a good way. It makes no sense.....a loud bright (in high G) tone from a shallow composite body with no real sound hole. I like this one a lot and strung low G, my personal stringing preference, it sounds really good.
*The Blackbird Farallon was in a league all its own. But a $2000 instrument against $100 ones had better be.
 
To illustrate what I mean about string spacing here are two pictures. One of the Enya Nova and the other is my Kimo tenor with 1-3/8" nut width. The biggest culprit with the Enya is how far inside the fret board edge the strings are placed. This makes everything much tighter then it could be. Unfortunately the nut is part of the instrument, it is not a seperate removable item. The saddle is separate and removable which is a very nice touch.

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In my review, I noted the narrow spacing. However, it's still really playable, and I think the radius is why. I recently bought a Magic Fluke here on UU, and it has the largest spacing (as a concert) of any ukulele I own...even more than my baritone. What's funny is that the Fluke becomes a challenge to play...I have to actually think about finger spacing, whereas on the Enya I do not.

I can understand how someone with super large hands might not like the Enya's spacing, but for me, with men's size L hands, it's amazingly playable for such tight spacing. It shouldn't work but it does.

Well...most guitars have closer spacing, don't they? And they sure sell a lot of those.

Neck Illusions. I'll have to keep that in mind!
 
Dave, the Neck Illusions suggestion is wonderful. I have the blue Nova, so finding a pattern/color that works may be a challenge.

I’ve taken my Enya to a couple of voice lessons as accompaniment and found the black fretboard and lack of side markers a distraction. Some fretboard bling should do the trick.
 
Wow, thanks Dave for posting those specs. In mm, those equate to a nut width of 33.34 mm and string spacing of 24.6 mm. That sounds just so tight, compared even to many import ukes that have 35mm nuts and 27-28mm string spacing. I've never heard of another uke with such small specs.

These measurements seem too small - i just checked on the one I have here and the Nova is very slightly shy of 35mm at the nut with string spacing of 25mm. Like Choirguy says above though, there is something I can't put my finger on that makes it comfortable. I usually hate narrow nuts, and have whacking great hands - but find the Nova really comfortable. Maybe it's the shallow tapering where the nut meets the headstock. See pic. Either way, it's comfortable

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