Singer RT5R-LS All Solid Spruce and Rosewood Tenor Ukulele by aNueNue
This is the Singer RT5R-LS, the lemon sunburst model of this fabulous tenor ukulele, made by aNueNue. The idea behind the Singer brand was to offer something different to aNueNue’s stable, a step away from their modern Bird series instruments and an offering which is a little more vintage in its look and sound.
The Singer RT5R-LS is made from very high grade solid Swiss spruce on the top (known as moon spruce as it’s harvested when the moon is full, which is when the wood is as it’s most stable - apparently!). This is paired with solid high grade Indian Rosewood. These are separated with flamed maple bindingm and there’s abalone aplenty around the body and rosette. Then of course, there’s that perfectly executed yellow sunburst under the gloss finish too.
This tenor ukulele from Singer has a 37.15mm nut and plays beautifully. I’ve always found aNueNue a little cautious when it comes to the height of the action, but these will go nice and low (which I will do, without you having to ask). It is fitted with aNueNue Black Water strings and fantastic Gotoh UPT tuners, which look like friction pegs but contain gears - giving a best of both worlds scenario. An excellent dark green hard case is included too.
aNueNue, when designing this uke, wanted to go for a more vintage tone, changing their bracing pattern to give a slightly more rounded, balanced sound - with even volume across the strings (as opposed to the top and bottom end power of their Moon Birds, for example). However, there’s still plenty of aNueNue DNA in there too, with the sweetness of the sound, good volume and excellent sustain. So while it’s an attempt a ‘vintage’ look, it’s still a modern instrument capable of playing anything you care to play on it!
These are superb instruments, and as a result not expensive. But, despite that I can say they’re good value. Yes, you have to hand over a lot of cash but what you’ll get in return really is sublime.
At the bottom of this page you can find common extras like fitted low G strings and strap button fitting.
You can watch a video demo of the Singer RT5R-LS tenor ukulele by clicking additional info below. Actually, it’s the cherry sunburst version of the same, but the colour doesn’t impact the sound! That’s part of a video looking at the Singer range as a whole.