We can't get enough of this aNueNue US1K soprano ukulele. The Bird series from aNueNue has earned a stellar reputation since its launch. There is something about the design which brings the absolute best out of the woods used - both the spruce/rosewood and the koa Bird series are really excellent across the range.
Some koa sopranos can be quite reserved and a little quiet, but not this one. Whilst not as boisterous as the KoAloha KSM-00, it has really good volume when required, with loads of headroom when played loudly without any loss of clarity. It has all the characteristics of a soprano that you want, like the barky attack when strummed hard, the lovely quick decay, and lots of harmonics in the sound, but delivers all this in a very civilised fashion, like a Kiwaya would.
And for a soprano, the intonation is excellent, so using those top frets will be achievable should you want to. For a koa soprano under £1000, I can't think of many that I would recommend over this one - it really is very good!
Pictures show an average example. Each one will be different.
Specification:
Solid AA koa top, back and sides
Indian rosewood binding
Ebony fretboard and bridge
Bone nut and saddle
36mm nut width with 28mm G to A string spacing
342mm scale length
Mahogany neck
Gloss finish
ANueNue black water fluorocarbon high G strings
ANueNue open geared machine heads
ANueNue blue leather effect woodshell hard case
