Enya Nova Tenor news

I hope to find time to lower the saddle, polish the frets, and install some Living Waters low G strings in the next few days. But in the meantime I thought I would suggest any new owner check the mounting screws for the tuners. One of mine was extremely loose, and would probably have kept it from staying in tune.
 
BTW, Enya specifically recommends that wound strings should NOT be used on the uke. [Correction! I was wrong about this. It's only the plastic-fretted Novas that this is true for.]--Thanks Mike SRC for catching that.

My Fremont Low-G is Just temporary until I get a plain Low-G that fits the bridge slot, or I widen the slot to take a Living Waters or other string.

So far, the only Low-G diameter string I've found that fits is the Aquila Red. I assume the one that broke on me was also a Red.
 
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BTW, Enya specifically recommends that wound strings should NOT be used on the uke.

Actually, that's just the other models that don't have metal frets. As I mentioned a few posts ago, they supplied mine with a wound low G.
 
Not sure if this will be the case for everyone, but on my Enya Nova there was a 0.027" shim under the saddle. So if you'd like slightly lower action you might try loosening all the strings, pulling the knots out of the slots, and lifting your saddle to see whether you too have a shim. In my case I then sanded an additional 0.031" off the bottom of the saddle, and now have an action at the 12th fret of ~0.085" (~2.2 mm) which I'll admit is pretty low, but there isn't any buzzing. In going to low G I didn't have to adjust the nut at all, but I did have to use a 1.2 mm drill bit to widen the slot at the bridge for the G string. And the frets polished up quite nicely. I'm eager to see how it sounds in a day or two after the new strings settle in.
 
Well the Living Waters low G strings have settled in nicely, and the tone is pretty good. Doesn't sound as full as my Klos, or my Farallon, but darn good for a ~$110 uke. My biggest disappointment so far has been the amount of relief in the neck. Right now it is 0.011", which is quite a lot for a uke, and a LOT more than I would like.

I have set the action on the Enya Nova to be identical to my Klos (0.020" at the first fret, 0.085" at the 12th), but the Klos - with its dead flat neck - is MUCH easier to play. So I measured the height of E string above the third fret as an indicator of playability. For the Klos the E is 0.030" above the third fret, while for the Enya Nova the E string is 0.040" above the third fret. Not a lot perhaps, but noticeable as you move up the neck. I can live with it if it doesn't get worse, which being polycarbonate it shouldn't (I hope). But if I had seen it in a shop before ordering I would have rejected it due to the high neck relief. The fretboard does have a radius, but at 20" it is so slight that I don't even notice. The tuners are pretty poor, with a very stiff action - but at least they are open design so they will quickly dry out when you take the uke swimming. This is my very first totally waterproof uke, so I may be tempted to do something silly with it!
 

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Enjoying the new Nova U Pro. Spending almost all my playing time between it and the Farallon. With the Living Waters strings, the Nova is very mellow compared to the Farallon strung with Oasis Warm strings--both have a Fermont Soloist wound low G. At some point I will probably put Oasis brights on the Nova to give a little more ring to the first string. After experimenting with different strings I finally decided to use Oasis Brights on my Clara (which Blackbird recommends) for the same reason. I am interested in how the Nova and Farallon will compare when both are strung with Oasis strings.
 
I just found out our Nova won't be sent out till around the 20th. You guys are lucky.
 
I just found out our Nova won't be sent out till around the 20th. You guys are lucky.

How did you find out? I ordered one right before 7/10 but I haven't received tracking info yet.

Edit: I emailed Enya and they will be shipping mine around July 23. Acoustic model.
 
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Actually, that's just the other models that don't have metal frets. As I mentioned a few posts ago, they supplied mine with a wound low G.

Mike SRC, you are correct. I was reading about the concert Nova by mistake on the Enya website. Thanks for correcting my misstatement.
 
How did you find out? I ordered one right before 7/10 but I haven't received tracking info yet.

Edit: I emailed Enya and they will be shipping mine around July 23. Acoustic model.

That's about what they told me.
 
I hope you guys get yours soon. It really is a nice and fun uke to play. I'm really glad they added metal frets this time. It would be lovely if they would do the same to future concert and mini novas. I would snatch both of those up in a heartbeat too if they did!
 
A label has been printed!

Edit: Tracking states it should be here by 7PM EST 7/24/21
 
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My wife got hers today, early birthday gift to use at work. I think she rather fancies it....
Enya.jpg
 
Thanks, as you can see, she got quite a kick out its arrival. She has a rather unique job, runs an adult daycare center for a large charity organization. They actually pay her to play her uke for the clients! This uke is perfect for her, she can leave it at work, and it can be wiped down to sanitize it!
I had a similar situation once, i was a hospice nurse, and got paid for playing for patients and caregivers to reduce their stress and pain. It's a nice gig, if you can get it.
 
I'm a little surprised by how dark the black looks in that photo. Is it not closer to gunmetal in the right light?

Yes, they are a dark gray. The fretboard is black. The Gunmetal gray looks different under different lights. Sometimes lighter, sometimes darker.

I think it looks better than the darker black used on the concert version.
 
I hope you guys get yours soon. It really is a nice and fun uke to play. I'm really glad they added metal frets this time. It would be lovely if they would do the same to future concert and mini novas. I would snatch both of those up in a heartbeat too if they did!

I would totally be all about a concert with the metal frets!
 
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