Ana'Ole Ukulele - AT All Solid Mango Tenor Ukulele in pod case (Made in Hawaii) #21800320

This all solid, mango tenor ukulele from Ana'Ole is fabulous. We've brought it to you all the way from Hawaii so we can show off exactly why this brand is so popular outside Europe.

Ana'Ole means 'immeasurable' in Hawaiian. Considering the value for money, we can't help but agree. The AT model can be either mango or koa and this one is a fully Hawaiian made ukulele. It uses very figured and striking Hawaiian mango, and has a gloss finish with a kiawe (Hawaiian wood) fingerboard and bridge.

It has a mahogany neck and good quality open geared grover tuners. The neck profile is reminiscent of other Hawaiian builds being quite chunky with a 36 mm nut width. It's incredible really that a new neck with so few hours life can feel so damn familiar and played in. The whole package is incredibly desirable and is considerably more affordable than the more established Hawaiian manufacturers.

The sound is very similar to many older Kamaka ukuleles we have seen. It has plenty of the throbbing, smooth lows that you commonly expect from mango but with slightly more prominent mids like Martin and Gibson ukes made of mahogany. The finish is also very reminiscent of years gone by too with an almost waxy high gloss finish that reminds us of KoAloha pre-2012 or 1970s Kamakas we have been privileged to hold in recent memory.

If you have dreamed of owning a Hawaiian made ukulele but are not ready to invest in some of the bigger brands, Ana'Ole is definitely for you. If you compare these to Pono ukuleles at a similar price, we think you'll walk away with the Ana'Ole. It offers something a bit more unique with rustic charm and the waxy finish makes the instrument appear older than it is. 

The price of these instruments is much lower than the K brands not because they sound inferior (quite the opposite in fact, they sound stunning!) but because not a huge amount of time is spent on the finishing. So, cosmetic issues with the finish are to be expected - some runs in the gloss, drying marks and pockmarks where the nitrocellulose finish has sunk into the open pores of the wood are common. No grain filler is used on these ukes, which goes towards the sound being as good as it is, but be aware that this comes at a cost to the finish.

Specification:
AT model
Solid Hawaiian mango top, back and sides
Hawaiian kiawe fingerboard and bridge
36 mm nut width
Bone nut and saddle
Sapele mahogany neck, gloss finish
Open geared grover tuners
Fluorocarbon high G GCEA strings
Nitro cellulose high gloss finish
Comes in pod case