This is the aNueNue Lyra, a concert ukulele designed for travel and the outdoors, made from a mixture of resin and fibreglass. This makes it very strong, waterproof (well, tuners aside), and durable. The idea of making a uke with some form of plastic isn’t new at all, but aNueNue have poured a lot of time into getting the formula right for their Lyra model - tweaking the fibreglass content to get the possible sound from this man made material. So, while the overall concept isn't new, this is a new take on it, rather than just rebadging an existing model (as has happened in the market for this type of ukulele, elsewhere).

There are lots of good points, which I will come onto shortly - but as the saying doesn’t go, ‘always start on a negative’. Actually, this is more my own gripe, which is the range of four colours, which are all quite subtle in their differences. I could understand, say, black, white, purple and red… but the aNueNue Lyra comes in New White, Cool Grey, Warm Grey and Dusty Rose. (Or alternatively, white, slightly darker grey, slightly lighter grey and ‘just-about-pink’). Anyway, that’s what they’re called and there’s nothing wrong with having a choice if you’re looking to buy one, but I have found myself relying on the inner label to tell me which is which!

These rugged concert ukuleles are great for taking on your travels, and include a water resistant duffel-bag style padded gig bag (with a nice big zip pocket), and a strap that clips onto either the bag (to use as a shoulder strap), or to the side sound port and hole at the base of the uke - to use as a ukulele strap. They also have geared tuners and aNueNue Clear Water fluorocarbon strings, which are nice ones that I often use myself.

For all it’s practicality, it has to sound good too and I think all of the research and development that’s gone into making this uke shows with a nice, shimmering and chiming sound, that keeps some of the warmth that you find in other ukes made with plastics, but dialling that warm down to a level where it’s pleasant, rather than muffled or boxy sounding. It’s not quite the same sound as wood, but it’s got good volume, impressive sustain and sounds very pretty.

Another thing I was impressed with the Lyra ukulele is the set up, which was really good straight away. In some ways, if you shop with me it doesn’t really matter - as I do this work if it needs to be done. But, although it has a saddle that comes out and can be sanded down here, I was pleased to discover the action at the 12th fret was a comfortable 2.5mm, and the action at the nut was really good as well. The composite material used to make the saddle is rock hard, and can be sanded down, but I am pleased not to have to do it with these (I am right handed and am already starting to look like Popeye on the right side, and Olive Oil on the left, as a result of near-constant saddle sanding!) (UPDATE - having now dealt with a number of these, some do come with a 3mm action, which I lower, and one or two have small bits of flashing on occasional frets, which I have to remove - so not quite as foolproof as I thought).

One area there is a difference with is in weight. And while hardly heavy at 750g, that’s around half as much again as an average ukulele made from wood. So, tough as old boots, but a little heavier with it too. It’s nicely balanced and plays well - with a 36.5mm nut width, but is a little more robust than an average uke.

The frets are made from the same material as the body, rather than metal frets, which I know sometimes causes concern for people - but that material seems so hard I don’t envisage any wear.

There are some optional extras, which are standard to every ukulele page on my site, down underneath the pictures at the bottom of the page. This includes a low G fitting. I would suggest if you want to go down this route, going for the Worth Clear option (unwound), rather than the Fremont (wound). While, as I say, I don’t think the frets will wear, with these light colours I think a low G might mark the frets a little. There’s also options there for a gig bag (not needed here), a strap (not needed here either), or a hard case (well, I suppose you could go for that, but probably defeats the object of portability! Well, I think that’s my hard sell finished for the optional extras haha!

A note on the price, which if you check on the aNueNue site directly, might initially look a bit high. But mine compares favourably when you factor in shipping and tax, which would make it quite a bit more expensive to get it direct.

One thing to note, I can’t send these overseas unfortunately - it is not economical for me to do so with the cost of shipping.

Finally, just to wrap up (um… two things that mean the same, oops), this is a new slant on an idea that’s been around for a while, and for me, the ‘best in class’ that I have found to date. Sounds good, plays really nicely, looks cool! And just a reminder, ‘New White’ is pretty obvious, ‘Warm Grey’ is slightly lighter grey, ‘Cool Grey’ is slightly darker, and ‘Dusty Rose’ fairly obvious again!

If you click additional info below, you’ll find a video demo of the aNueNue Lyra concert ukulele, which also discusses its features and does a comparison with another ukulele made from plastic - the Nova U from Enya.