NUD: OMG the Lion is so very very ORANGE!

shanmoon

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So I was looking and looking for a UT3K : the aNueNue Koa Bird Tenor. I love my spruce/rosewood Moon Birds. I really wanted to try out an all Koa ukulele with the same style and feel as the Moonbirds.

However, the 3K models of the Koa Birds are hard to find. Then I came across a video of the aNueNue LOUT : the Lion Orange Ukulele Tenor sized. It is evidently an artist signature model for the chinese band "Lion."

It looks much like the Moon Bird with the same body style, but instead of the moon theme, it has a Lion on the fretboard. Instead of a moon spruce top over indian rosewood body, it is a cedar top over Koa. It also has a slothead like my Light Bird.

And finally, the top is finished a screamingly bright ORANGE with something in it to make it have little pinpoints of shiny sparkle under light. Looking closely at the finish it seems like theere might be some little chips of something in the paint to cause that sparkle. I couldn't capture it well on video though. It's really hard to convey the intensity of the Orange of this uke. Photos don't seem to capture it. Even the case is orange, but otherwise looks like the blue leather case that comes with the Birds.

I actually really like the in-your-face Orange-nish of it! And it sounds much I was hoping, with the cedar taming the koa a bit. Feel wise, it seems exactly like holding and playing my Moon Biird, except the neck feels a bit lighter due to the slotted headstock. Width of the nut and radius on the neck seem the same as the Moonbirds.

I'm still going to keep an eye out for an all Koa Bird, but I think this one is a keeper! Note: the fretboard IS definitely a bit wider at the nut than the moonbird ( A visual comparison with them face to face made this quite evident). Visually comparing neck depth and profiles, the LOUT looks a litte deeper and a bit more "C chaped" than the "D shape" of the moonbird beck profile.
LOUT.jpg
 
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Congratulations! I think that's a great looking uke and I really love the orange finish.

I've been looking for one but they're pretty hard to find. I'm on the waiting list with aNueNue but it may be late in the summer before more show up. Plus they mentioned having a new "blue" model which might be cool too.
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Have fun and enjoy the new uke!
 
Ooo...a blue one could be pretty cool looking..... no, wait! I was just getting my UAS under control.....argh!

But in all seriousness, I do really love this orange uke, it sounds amazing. I was comparing it to my Moonbird Tenor and Cedar Moonbird Concert tonight. Compared to the tenor, nut width is just the same, but the neck seems just a bit thicker front to back. I'll have to get the digital calipers out tomorrow to compare. Strangely enough, one of my dogs seemed to be fascinated by the sparkle in the orange finish.....she kept bringing her nose to within a few inches of the strings staring at the uke and turning her head and I am pretty sure she was barking at the sparkling and not my mediocore playing, lol.

Somehow despite the different woods, it still has the moonbird shimmery sound to it. It's definitely got a bit more volume, and is a little less "gentle" in tone but absolutely amazing. I'm thinking about stringing it low g, but I actually really like how rich it sounds in a re-entrant tuning. Maybe if I got the blue one Spieler mentioned I could string it low-g....no, wait! Get back UAS! Enough ukes, lol!!!!
 
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The Lion has sounded great in all the videos I’ve seen. If you had to pick between it and your UT200 Moon Bird, which one would you choose?
 
Ooo...a blue one could be pretty cool looking..... no, wait! I was just getting my UAS under control.....argh!

But in all seriousness, I do really love this orange uke, it sounds amazing. I was comparing it to my Moonbird Tenor and Cedar Moonbird Concert tonight. Compared to the tenor, nut width is just the same, but the neck seems just a bit thicker front to back. I'll have to get the digital calipers out tomorrow to compare. Strangely enough, one of my dogs seemed to be fascinated by the sparkle in the orange finish.....she kept bringing here nose to withing a few inches of the strings staring at the uke and turning her head and I am pretty sure she was barking at the sparkling and not my mediocore playing, lol.

Somehow despite the different woods, it still has the moonbird shimmery sound to it. It's definitely got a bit more volume, and is a little less "gentle" in tone but absolutely amazing. I'm thinking about stringing it low g, but I actually really like how rich it sounds in a re-entrant tuning. Maybe if I got the blue one Spieler mentioned I could string it low-g....no, wait! Get back UAS! Enough ukes, lol!!!!

I know my dogs are barking at my playing, and waiting for me to put the ukulele away. :)

It sounds like you're really enjoying the ukulele. Orange isn't my color, but blue...well, hmm, I don't have UAS. I don't have UAS.

I do think that you need the blue one, too, so you can tell us all about it, and enjoy it for yourself. :)

Meanwhile, have fun with your new ukulele!
 
The Lion has sounded great in all the videos I’ve seen. If you had to pick between it and your UT200 Moon Bird, which one would you choose?

Boy, that's a tough one......they both sound amazing. The Lion might edge it out slightly..... but I really like the Moon theme on the Moon bird. The Lion neck is definitely slightly thicker, so the Moon Bird has the edge there as I like thin necks. I also like the assymetrical binding on the Moon Bird better.... plus my last name is Moon, so shouldn't I be playing a Moonbird, lol?

I just picked them up and played them both again while writing this... I do think the Lion sounds a tiny bit better, but I like the Moon Bird aesthetic (and neck) a bit more. My Bird also has an AirAir pickup, and the Lion doesn't. I would probably keep the Moon Bird, but I would rather have both!
 
I do think that you need the blue one, too, so you can tell us all about it, and enjoy it for yourself. :)
!

I love the UU community, we are all such enablers for our addiction :) But yeah, if a Blue Moon Bird variation comes out, I will probably try to buy one unless it is a tonewood I don't like (I'm not a fan of myrtle for instance).
 
....Plus they mentioned having a new "blue" model which might be cool too.

Still nibbling on this one... what has aNueNue mentioned on the Blue front, and where?

Thanks!

(Sorry for the continued digression, @shanmoon, but isn't this the way it can go? "Congrats on the fantastic new ukelele! ... Wait, what are they making NEXT?!" ;))

~ S.
 
Still nibbling on this one... what has aNueNue mentioned on the Blue front, and where?~ S.


I heard about the blue model when I contacted aNueNue U.S.A. through their web site to find out more about available Orange Lion tenors and they said it would be later in the summer when more might be available. And they mentioned that at about the same time they would be introducing a "Blue" model. I can't remember what they called it. It was something like Blue Ocean or Blue Water, I can't recall. But it sounds interesting.
 
I heard about the blue model when I contacted aNueNue U.S.A. through their web site to find out more about available Orange Lion tenors and they said it would be later in the summer when more might be available. And they mentioned that at about the same time they would be introducing a "Blue" model. I can't remember what they called it. It was something like Blue Ocean or Blue Water, I can't recall. But it sounds interesting.

If you can’t wait, Southern Ukulele Store has 2 orange Lions available now and ships to the US for free.
 
If you can’t wait, Southern Ukulele Store has 2 orange Lions available now and ships to the US for free.

what?! how much is import taxes to the US? I have purchased from Asia but have no idea from the UK or Europe.
 
Wow, that's purty....congrats!
 
what?! how much is import taxes to the US? I have purchased from Asia but have no idea from the UK or Europe.

No idea, but I bought one from them earlier this week. I’ll let you know about taxes when it arrives.
 
Never mind the cool concept of the Lion, I just think it's really nice to have a relatively affordable high-end uke with a wood combination of cedar and koa. Usually you can get a simlar combination via some custom shops only. If they offered this in concert scale I'd be all over it. The orange top is a bit garish, yes, but I definitely like it myself. And the orange case just adds to the beauty. Congrats on the new uke.
 
what?! how much is import taxes to the US? I have purchased from Asia but have no idea from the UK or Europe.

I just brought in a ukulele from SUS, UK -> PA, United States.

The “Fees Must Be Paid Before Delivery” flag showed up only at the end, after the package cleared US customs and was on the last legs of its journey.

I paid online right away so UPS could simply drop off the package.

The sudden addition of $95.24 to my own “calculated costs” was an unhappy surprise. Per UPS: $37.00 UPS Brokerage Charges, $58.24 Government Charges.

That said, the shipment paced through customs quickly, both in the UK and here in the US; I’m glad I wasn’t responsible for filling out all the necessary paperwork (Brokerage Fee), and everything went much more smoothly than I’ve seen with the USPS, where Customs backlogs can be extreme depending on the level of service.

Along the way, tracking can appear nerve-wracking, with “held at facility for clearance/more information” showing up here and there, but turning out to mean just that the package was in the process of being cleared; mine move on again within a few hours each time.

[Also FYI: UPS had recently ‘simplified’ its tracking display to present as little information as possible, which can be frustrating; en route package location has been almost entirely replaced by “It’s on the way!”….]

Back to Lions, and Blue, per @dohle:
Oh, that’s right, Tenor. Whew.

~ S
 
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