WTB- inexpensive pocket uke/sopranissimo/sopranino

I just got mine today. Same situation, tuned up fine then intonation was no good. The nut slots are too high for one thing. The nut to 1st fret is measured at 17.9mm, way off of the expected 16mm. Looks like the fretboard is about 1.9mm too long. This could be why y'all are having set-up issues. Other than those things, it looks pretty good. The Squirrel version is now $42, was $16 a couple of days ago. How's that for whip-saw free market pricing?

I'll either update or start a new thread.

I've taken the 1.9mm off the fret board on the Enya Squirrel, not pretty:

enya uke neck detail.jpg
 
Forgot to mention: after all that it still can't be tuned well, the notes go sharp for some reason, plus intonation up the fret board still is lousy (sharp) above the 6th fret or so
I believe that the tuners are at fault for the tuning problems. Fret placement errors might account for the intonation issues.

Conclusion: worth about $18 at the most, it's pretty much a toy not a proper sopranino
Not recommended!
 
Doggone it, that's a bummer! I wonder if the bridge was mounted inaccurately? Well, in any event, the work you did looks really nice!
 
Doggone it, that's a bummer! I wonder if the bridge was mounted inaccurately? Well, in any event, the work you did looks really nice!

The bridge placement is right on, not crooked or in the wrong place for a 283mm scale uke. The 12th fret is smack dab in the middle. The 6th fret is within .02mm. I just think it's a bit of an, as you said, bummer.
 
I've taken the 1.9mm off the fret board on the Enya Squirrel, not pretty:

View attachment 125017

I'm wondering how you got the nut off? I wanted to do that with my E. Squirrel, but failed. Tried to file the nut slots. What a disaster! (I am a hack and should not have attempted such a thing, but it was a cheap enough "instrument" that I felt I could experiment.)
 
I'm wondering how you got the nut off? I wanted to do that with my E. Squirrel, but failed. Tried to file the nut slots. What a disaster! (I am a hack and should not have attempted such a thing, but it was a cheap enough "instrument" that I felt I could experiment.)

I used a hair dryer, high heat and low air speed (hotter air btw). Dryer in one hand, chisel pushing between the fret board and nut. Keep at it until the glue softens. It'll let go suddenly, so watch out!
 
Forgot to mention: after all that it still can't be tuned well, the notes go sharp for some reason, plus intonation up the fret board still is lousy (sharp) above the 6th fret or so
I believe that the tuners are at fault for the tuning problems. Fret placement errors might account for the intonation issues.

Conclusion: worth about $18 at the most, it's pretty much a toy not a proper sopranino
Not recommended!

UPDATE:
I've changed the strings to Martin M600 series (used) and it's much better re intonation. I'm thinking of keeping it since it cost me less than $19 including used strings. Play it all the time now, which is odd since it doesn't sound all that great, but, the sound that does come out of it is at a decent volume.
Talking of volume, Enya say that it is a "Spruce Top". Technically correct, except that it's very thick, over 2mm, NOT solid, and super stiff laminate.
I've changed my mind a bit to conclude that it's not that bad, really. If the price goes down below $20, including free shipping, I'd recommend you try it out. That assumes that you are willing to put in the work to make it play properly.
 
UPDATE:
I've changed the strings to Martin M600 series (used) and it's much better re intonation. I'm thinking of keeping it since it cost me less than $19 including used strings. Play it all the time now, which is odd since it doesn't sound all that great, but, the sound that does come out of it is at a decent volume.
Talking of volume, Enya say that it is a "Spruce Top". Technically correct, except that it's very thick, over 2mm, NOT solid, and super stiff laminate.
I've changed my mind a bit to conclude that it's not that bad, really. If the price goes down below $20, including free shipping, I'd recommend you try it out. That assumes that you are willing to put in the work to make it play properly.

UPDATE: I've modified the ukulele extensively. Plus, Enya put a shim under the saddle which made the playability horrific. Once I removed the shim it started to behave. I also removed the "squirrel" by opening up the sound hole. I found that the neck strap supplied was moving around helter skelter making playing annoying. I also replaced the tuners with pegs, Grover 3B. This was because one of the machine heads started grinding and was becoming unusable. Pics attached. Still playing this franken-uke, quite a lot of time invested in this turkey!
DSC_2144.jpgDSC_2145.jpgDSC_2149.jpg
 
I like the "QC PASSED" sticker right next to your work with the tuners.
 
BTW, I just checked the fret levelnessivity. It sucks in the extreme: the first fret is embedded into the fretboard crooked
No wonder the intonation was way off! I had to take a punch to it, finally seated it into the fretboard and it is finally level with all the other frets.
What. A. Turkey!
Enya, you should be ashamed of yourselves.
Not much is right with this so-called "instrument".
 
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