NUD: aNueNue AMM2 and the Quest for the Low G Concert Ukulele

Dohle

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So, this is another NUD I originally wasn't going to make but I felt I had some interesting points to make.

For a while now, I've been looking for a decent concert I could string with a low g. I tried this on my Kanile'a K1 concert and it actually sounded quite good with a low g but ultimately I prefer the warmth of a Kanile'a with just the regular re-entrant tuning. I was looking at a few different options for a low g concert, mainly a Romero Creations ST Concert model. I wanted the uke to have a larger body than a typical concert so it would benefit from the low g and the Romero definitely fit the bill since they even come strung with low g. But then the aNueNue AMM2 caught my eye with its wider-than-normal lower bout. I adore aNueNue ukes anyway but I did some further research and found some recommendations for stringing it with low g (which it doesn't come with as stock), and I thought to myself that mahogany would probably work really well with linear tuning since it's typically a warm sounding tonewood. And pleasingly, it was about 2/3 of the price of a Romero ST Concert, so I decided to pull the trigger.

Once it arrived, I was blown away by the quality of this thing. I have an aNueNue Moon Bird but I wasn't expecting the quality of the AMM2 to be so similar with half the price of the Moon Bird. I can't find a single flaw with this uke. Everything about is just superb. The classy look, the mirror gloss finish, the lovely slotted headstock, the slight radius on the fretboard, even the neck which isn't quite as nicely profiled as the Moon Bird is still very comfortable. And most importantly the sound is wonderful. It came strung with re-entrant aNueNue Clear Water strings which gave the uke a fairly bright and punchy tone with still a lot of depth and warmth in the sound. Since I know that aNueNue ukes are typically fairly bright I wasn't surprised by this but I was pleased that the sound also had the depth I was looking for. The one slight niggle I have is that the C string is a bit too dominant and boomy but once I switched the fourth string to a Fremont Soloist low g the tone balances out really nicely. I'm going to be testing out different strings on it for the next few weeks, probably some nylon strings and Worth Browns or equivalent, so no sound sample unfortunately at this point.

Lastly, I wanted to showcase how large the body actually is for a concert uke. From the photo below, you can see a Kanile'a Concert compared to the AMM2. Particularly the lower bout is just so much wider (I believe the AMM2 has been redesigned as of 2019 to have that wider lower bout).

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Also comes with a very nice light case

So yeah, couldn't be happier with this purchase. Cost me about 550
 
Thanks for posting. The contrast between the two ukes is quite striking. I always figured the Kanile'a ukes (tenors) as fairly but "curvy" but here it looks really slim. I am curious if surface area or actual body volume are more important to creating a full sound with linear tuning. My Gretsch tenor has a very deep body with average surface shape so I assumed it has more volume hence it was my choice to add the low G to that and I have no regrets. Now how to calculate the area of the top? First guess is to consider upper and lower bouts as overlapping circles where area can be calculated then subtract soundhole and overlap.
 
Congratulations! There is nothing wrong with playing a lo G on a concert scale ukulele, I think it sounds wonderful when finger picked!
 
Congrats on your second aNueNue. I’m a fan of a larger bottom bout both in looks and the deeper voice.
 
Very nice! aNueNue seems to have some great offerings for the ukulele market. Looks like you got a ukulele that you'll be able to enjoy for years, and for a reasonable price.
Enjoy!
 
I have two moonbirds , one concert, one tenor.

And obviously i strung the tenor with the freemont soloist low g. It was great but... big in sound... i had to concentrate a lot to keep the balance and was very satisfied.

But then i changed with the new restring. And i must say the concert with the low g is so well balanced and the tenor (re-entrant) as well that i will keep it that way.

Bottomline, an anuenue (in my case moonbird) concert with a low g is an instrument (something i use as an instrument to translate my musical imagination into sound/music), i just forget about it and concentrate on the music and not the instrument... I like it that way... even if the logic would tell me otherwise...
 
I have two moonbirds , one concert, one tenor.

And obviously i strung the tenor with the freemont soloist low g. It was great but... big in sound... i had to concentrate a lot to keep the balance and was very satisfied.

But then i changed with the new restring. And i must say the concert with the low g is so well balanced and the tenor (re-entrant) as well that i will keep it that way.

Bottomline, an anuenue (in my case moonbird) concert with a low g is an instrument (something i use as an instrument to translate my musical imagination into sound/music), i just forget about it and concentrate on the music and not the instrument... I like it that way... even if the logic would tell me otherwise...

Interesting. I'm not actually surprised an aNueNue tenor would sound too big or boomy with a low g, particularly a Moon Bird. Those things are cannons anyway. I'm very much liking my AMM2 with the Fremont Soloist low G so far.

I quickly tried nylon strings on the AMM2. They actually sounded really nice but felt a bit muted with the low g so I switched to Worth Browns. These feel really well balanced. Enough volume and clarity with the low g but not too overpowering as clear fluorocarbon might sound.
 
That is a great price. I bought mine for $583 new and absolutely love the sound and it is so comfortable also.
 
That is a great price. I bought mine for $583 new and absolutely love the sound and it is so comfortable also.

I think for the price, around $500, the quality is on the level of even some more expensive ukes. At under $300 it's a steal. It's a traditional make but still feels modern. I've been buying and selling ukes like crazy over the past year and a half but this one's a keeper.
 
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