aNueNue UC-110 Green Bird Concert Ukulele - REVIEW

A ukulele brand I always enjoy looking at this week, with another variation on their highly popular theme. This is the new aNueNue UC-110 'Green Bird' Concert ukulele.

The Bird series from aNueNue perhaps needs no introduction, but they started some years ago with their incredibly popular 'Moon Bird' ukulele and have since been added to with an array of alternatives that use the same shape. This 'Green Bird' is one of the latest in their re-boots of this modern shaped, staggered shoulder ukuleles. Hey, if you've developed a popular theme, why would you not keep offering variants?

SUMMARY VIDEO REVIEW

So as I say, what we have here takes the much loved modern swoopy shape of the other 'Birds' and introduces some new cues that hang together with a 'green' theme. The first new one for me in this series (I think) is the use of all solid mahogany in the body. And not just any mahogany, but Cuban South American mahogany which, since the unavailability of Brazilian is right up there as good as it gets for dense quality mahogany as a tonewood. The grain here is pretty, slightly swirly and the angled bookmatching adds more interest to the look which I think is just gorgeous (you know I like mahogany!). This example is in the concert scale though there is also a soprano and a tenor. I've said recently that i've really grown to appreciate the concert ukulele lately and it's my first in this scale for the Bird series too. I think this is a stunner even before we get to the decor.

The bridge is the usual aNueNue shaped tie bar in dark ebony rosewood which is extremely tidy. That holds a bone nut with a compensated top. Spacing here clocks in at 41mm.

The decor is where we start to get a hint of the 'green' naming. Around the top, back and cutaway are wooden bindings in what looks to me like flamed maple. Their specs say spalted maple, but I see no spalting here. Either way it's extremely pretty and effective and each of those is trimmed with a very thin double purfling stripe in forest / emerald green. On the tail we have a larger tail block inlay in maple with a block of green stained maple to set it off. It looks gorgeous. Around the soundhole is an offset ring of maple that IS spalted, again trimmed in green purfling. That offset nods back to the 'Moon' element of the original moon bird ukulele. What I like here is that decoration grabs the theme but does not take over or look ostentatious. Even the more bold elements like the tail block are in a place you don't look at very often. Subtle, effective and everywhere I look VERY well done. Flawless in fact. The whole body is then finished in a satin, a first Bird uke i've seen that wasn't gloss, and is very nicely done and to feel on the hands.  Everything so far is just wonderful.

Inside gets interesting too. It's very tidy and the linings are notched and reversed. It has regular back bracing but the top is lattice braced on the lower bout. That's only the second example of that i've seen since that limited high end Pono Master Series I looked at. It worked VERY well on that instrument giving it great range and projection, so I have high hopes here..

The neck is made of mahogany and looks to be made from a single piece with the usual skinny carved heel that you will find with this brand. It is finished in satin and smooth as glass without being grippy. It tapers to a fairly flattened nut profile and a nut width listed as 36mm, though I measure it at 37mm with 28mm string spacing. That's roomy enough for me and the profile boosts the comfort.

It's topped with more ebony rosewood for the fingerboard which is in superb condition, dark and even in colour. It's edge bound too hiding the ends of the 20 frets joined at the 14th. Some people saw the sneak peek pictures I put up and assumed they were semi-hemi dressed. They are not, but what they are is dressed extremely well. I believe there is also a neck radius here but it is very slight. Position dots on the face go back to the green theme and are subtly green stained maple dots at the 5th, 7th, 10th and 12th, paired with small white side dots which include an extra one at the 15th.

Beyond the bone nut is the usual attractive aNueNue headstock faced in what seems to be ebony or rosewood. I love this shape and think it's become something of a modern classic. The aNueNue 'dancing man' logo is inlaid in the top face in pearl.

The tuners are a joy to see as they have gone with Gotoh UPT tuners in black. In my opinion tuners don't really get better than this.

Finishing the deal are a set of strings rich really set tongues wagging with my sneak peek pictures. They are aNueNue Green Planet Fluorocarbon strings. Essentially they are clear fluoros with a green dye added. That is not to say 'BRIGHT' green, but again, like the purfling it's a very subtle emerald colour which doesn't stand out but you know it's there. Wonderful. You also get one of the excellent aNueNue premium hard cases, naturally, in green! And the store price on this one in the UK will set you back £999. Yes, a serious priced instrument again from aNueNue, but considerably less than some of their other Bird models. And considering how many people flocked to spend the Moon Bird ticket price, this will seem even more attractive. 

So far, no complaints. None at all. OK, mahogany is never going to be as striking as something like Koa, but this is very nice stuff that oozes a vintage look. And when it comes to the build, finish and decor I can't find issue with it anywhere. It's not heavy at 605g and balances very well too.

Volume and sustain are both great here too thankfully. Whilst it's never likely to have the boom of a tenor it has more punch than your average concert and projects very well. Sustain is also longer than you'd normally expect meaning your play can be very expressive.

Tone wise with mahogany one can expect a warmer woodier tone in general strong on the mids. However, you will find that this rolls off with smaller bodies like regular concerts and smaller sopranos and they can still sound on the brighter side. But bear in mind here we have more going on than that. This has the larger than average swoopy body with more lower bout real estate and we also have the lattice bracing that worked so well on the Pono. And sure enough whilst this does sound like I am playing a concert there is a warm richness here too that I was not expecting quite so much. It definitely has a tone that is strong down the middle as you'd expect with mahogany, but has more breadth than that with some chiming highs and some bass going on too giving it a shimmery harmonic tone when strummed. It's kind of exactly what you'd want from a concert played this way - a peppy jangly tone for rhythmical work that harks towards the smaller scales, but with more breadth than a soprano (or many concerts!) which rounds it out and stops it being an overly bright, staccato one trick pony.

Fingerpicking is simply delightful and shows off that wider range wonderfully. It still has a woodier edge but with music box like chimes further up the neck which, because of those mids in the mix don't sound shrill or nasal, but rather rounded, warm, yet clear. It's remarkable. I love it.

In fact, the last concert ukulele that had this effect on me with tone was the KM Ukuleles concert. That was also made of mahogany and also had that bigger body being a dreadnought and I liked that one so much I bought it. That was just so signature 'concert without being too nasal and bright' that it worked for me in spades. So I'm coming to the view that, (for my own tastes at least), larger bodied mahogany concert ukuleles may represent the best I can personally ask for. 

This is just delightful to listen to. The build is superb, the finish flawless and the sound is just exactly what I would want. If I was in funds or had a win on lottery i'd be doing exactly what I did with that KM Ukulele and grabbing it. That's the best recommendation I can give.

Once again aNueNue getting it bang on for me. They've got some talent in that team for sure!  This is my favourite Bird series ukulele so far. No question.

VERY highly recommended and thanks so much to World of Ukes for the loan.

STOP PRESS - turns out the references to ebony were a mistake on spec sheets from aNueNue into their dealers. Actually rosewood - adjusted review to reflect that. Makes no difference to score.

https://worldofukes.co.uk/

https://www.anuenuemusic.com/en

UKULELE SPECS ROUNDUP

Model: aNueNue UC-110 Green Bird

Scale: Concert

Body: Solid Cuban mahogany

Bridge: Ebony rosewood - tie bar

Saddle: Bone

Spacing at saddle: 41mm

Finish: Satin

Neck: Mahogany

Fingerboard: Ebony rosewood

Frets 20, 14 to body

Nut: Bone

Nut width: 37mm, 28mm G to A

Tuners: Gotoh UPT, black

Strings: aNueNue Green Planet Fluorocarbon

Extras: Hard case

Weight: 605g

Country of origin: China

Price: £999

UKULELE PROS

Superb build and finish

Decor cues are effective, but not over-done
The best tuners!
Great volume and sustain

Rich, warm, complex tone however you play it

Strong mids, but not at the expense of range

Shimmery strummed sound

Chimey and clear when picked
Lovely case

A fair price for the Bird series

UKULELE CONS

Nothing at all

UKULELE SCORES

Looks - 9.5 out of 10

Fit and finish - 10 out of 10

Sound - 9.5 out of 10

Value for money - 9.5 out of 10

OVERALL UKULELE SCORE - 9.6 out of 10

UKULELE VIDEO REVIEW

© Barry Maz

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