Ever since I got my first aNueNue uke - a Moon Bird soprano - about a year ago I've been a massive fan of the brand. Quite recently, I sold my AMM2 mahogany concert because, for a mahogany uke, it didn't really feel and sound like I'd like it to but I still desperately wanted to add another aNueNue to my collection. I really wanted one of the Bird series ukes made out of koa but the nicer ones were much more expensive than even the Moon Birds. Fast forward to last week when I spotted that World of Ukes had reduced the price for a UC3K concert by quite a significant amount. Matt - the owner of the shop - thought that for such a high grade of koa and for the price the looks weren't quite as nice as he would've liked so he put it on sale for a hefty 400 GBP discount, reducing the price to almost as "low" as a Moon Bird concert. If it had been a soprano koa Bird I would've bought it instantly as soprano is my favourite scale. Instead I had to ponder it for maybe an hour before I bought it. 
My other concern with the purchase was Brexit which has resulted in increased costs and effort for importing when ordering from UK-based shops from within the EU. But here's the catch: Matt claimed that he would take care of any import duties and taxes that would incur from the shipment. But more on that later, first let's have a look at the uke itself.
There was no doubt this one is a beauty, was there? To be fair, I agree with Matt about the looks. While I think the uke looks stunning in the photos it isn't quite as nice with the naked eye outside of very specific lighting conditions. For AAAA grade koa, I would probably expect a bit more as well but, for the price I paid for it, I ain't complaining. It's still quite the looker.
I probably don't need to talk about playability much when it comes to aNueNue. Simply put, it's excellent, and Matt did a really nice job with the setup as well. It took me maybe a couple of minutes to get used to it, after which I was playing it like I had owned it for years. What really surprised me was the sound. I'm used to aNueNue ukes sounding quite bright, and every sound sample I've heard of the UC3K has had a fairly bright and chimey tone, but this thing has an enormous amount of depth to its sound as well. The C string particularly is really boomy, although mostly the uke shines in the mid-ranges. It's a quintessential koa sound which, again, is a little surprising for me as every aNueNue uke I've tried thus far have been bright above all. Not that I'm complaining, I actually prefer the more balanced tone this one has. One reason for the tone might be the stock black fluorocarbon strings. I'll have to experiment with some clear fluorocarbon at least.
Lastly, I really need to mention the service World of Ukes / Matt provides. I've been a bit anxious about Brexit since the UK has such wonderful specialist uke shops, but what Matt has done here is just phenomenal. He's kept the prices for EU customers the same, i.e., they still include UK VAT, but since he doesn't have to pay UK VAT himself when he's exporting the ukes he can put that portion of the price to covering the import costs for the customer. And additionally, the customer doesn't have to deal with customs at all. It is such a fantastic service I can't help but applaud it and recommend World of Ukes to everyone, especially if you live in the EU. I'm simply stunned, both by the uke and the service by Matt.
My other concern with the purchase was Brexit which has resulted in increased costs and effort for importing when ordering from UK-based shops from within the EU. But here's the catch: Matt claimed that he would take care of any import duties and taxes that would incur from the shipment. But more on that later, first let's have a look at the uke itself.
There was no doubt this one is a beauty, was there? To be fair, I agree with Matt about the looks. While I think the uke looks stunning in the photos it isn't quite as nice with the naked eye outside of very specific lighting conditions. For AAAA grade koa, I would probably expect a bit more as well but, for the price I paid for it, I ain't complaining. It's still quite the looker.
I probably don't need to talk about playability much when it comes to aNueNue. Simply put, it's excellent, and Matt did a really nice job with the setup as well. It took me maybe a couple of minutes to get used to it, after which I was playing it like I had owned it for years. What really surprised me was the sound. I'm used to aNueNue ukes sounding quite bright, and every sound sample I've heard of the UC3K has had a fairly bright and chimey tone, but this thing has an enormous amount of depth to its sound as well. The C string particularly is really boomy, although mostly the uke shines in the mid-ranges. It's a quintessential koa sound which, again, is a little surprising for me as every aNueNue uke I've tried thus far have been bright above all. Not that I'm complaining, I actually prefer the more balanced tone this one has. One reason for the tone might be the stock black fluorocarbon strings. I'll have to experiment with some clear fluorocarbon at least.
Lastly, I really need to mention the service World of Ukes / Matt provides. I've been a bit anxious about Brexit since the UK has such wonderful specialist uke shops, but what Matt has done here is just phenomenal. He's kept the prices for EU customers the same, i.e., they still include UK VAT, but since he doesn't have to pay UK VAT himself when he's exporting the ukes he can put that portion of the price to covering the import costs for the customer. And additionally, the customer doesn't have to deal with customs at all. It is such a fantastic service I can't help but applaud it and recommend World of Ukes to everyone, especially if you live in the EU. I'm simply stunned, both by the uke and the service by Matt.
