NTGD - Enya Nova Pro Arrived Today

[Goat Mick]

Originally Posted by zeeway

All in all, I am impressed. I am keeping it. Hmmm, maybe I should put a pickup on it…

I definitely want to put a pickup in mine but I’m still undecided on which pickup to use. Be sure to let us know what you decide and thanks for posting a detailed review.

[casualmusic]

Originally Posted by RJVB

Makes sense - currently it would make more sense to me to leave without instrument(s) on that kind of vacation trip. I wouldn't have time or be too tired, or it wouldn't be appreciated.

For $150 this Envia certainly sounds like a lot more guitar than you'd probably get for a similar sum in most pawnshops.

Ha ha. I take the guitar to play at song circles or music camp at the destination or at visits along the way. Not every day and not for practising.

Cheers.

[casualmusic]

Originally Posted by zeeway

I have been looking for a travel guitar for a while, and while I preferred the carefree aspects of carbon fiber, I did not want to bite on a multi-thousands $ instrument that would get only occasional use. So, I ordered an Enya Nova Go, which our very kind mail lady brought today. No, I wasn’t aware enough to take advantage of the Amazon Prime deal, so I had to pay the full price, which is still modest.

The packaging was quite impressive, with even the strings protected from the fretboard (and vice-versa). I tuned it up, twice around and it seems to be holding nicely. I checked intonation at the twelfth fret and it is off about 6 cents on my tuner.

The tone is good…no, not as good as my Emerald X20, but I did not expect it to be. But the tone is reasonably good, somewhat ‘bright’, with surprising sustain. It does not sound ‘toy-like’, and I think it will work just fine as a travel guitar. I checked for any buzzing frets, and did not find any. The fretboard is narrow…I measure it at the first fret as 1.69 inches (17.48 mm), and while it is a bit cramped, I think it will be okay.

All in all, I am impressed. I am keeping it. Hmmm, maybe I should put a pickup on it…

Thanks very much for posting your comments. It's very encouraging as I wait the AcousticPlus version to be released in the fall.

Cheers

[SpruceTop]

Thanks, Mick, for tuning us into this Enya Nova Go! I just ordered one of these today from Amazon with a 20% Off sale. I applied for the Amazon Store Card and got another $20 off the price. It looks like a nice little guitar. It arrives on Friday.

[Chipotle]

I just pulled the trigger on one too, as I went to Amazon and saw that 20% promo just like Prime Day that lowered the price to $160 again.

I won't have it in time to go camping this week, but it'll be perfect for next time out--small size and can be left in the car without worry.

[zeeway]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

I just pulled the trigger on one too, as I went to Amazon and saw that 20% promo just like Prime Day that lowered the price to $160 again.

I won't have it in time to go camping this week, but it'll be perfect for next time out--small size and can be left in the car without worry.

Sorry, this is a bit off topic, but my mind wandered and saw your website ref, so I went there…very impressive…the layout of the website, and your music was very good. Kudos.

[SpruceTop]

My Enya Nova Go just arrived an hour ago and I'm impressed so far. I've got a Schatten LP-15 Outsider I can stick on this little ax to hear how it sounds amplified. If it sounds decent, I'll just transfer the LP-15 Outsider to the inside of this cute little guitar with the addition of an endpin strap/jack. More to come in a new thread ...

[Goat Mick]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

My Enya Nova Go just arrived an hour ago and I'm impressed so far. I've got a Schatten LP-15 Outsider I can stick on this little ax to hear how it sounds amplified. If it sounds decent, I'll just transfer the LP-15 Outsider to the inside of this cute little guitar with the addition of an endpin strap/jack. More to come in a new thread ...

Be sure to report back! That may be a good option for this guitar.

[SprintBob]

Being able to leave a guitar in a hot or very cold car is a primary reason I have a CF guitar. It’s a very powerful option for those of us who might need to the security of the car while we are away mountain biking or whitewater kayaking or cycling or etc.

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

I guess I'm missing the point: is there a lot of call for leaving a guitar in a car? Under what circumstances is that a necessity? Traveling salesman? Even though carbon fiber can handle temperature and humidity extremes better than wood... why?

I like small guitars. And carbon fiber guitars. And wood guitars. But, I don't put any of them through "torture testing." I have had guitars that have traveled thousands of miles with me... just never had to leave them endlessly in a hot or cold car.

Anyone care to enlighten me? While I can certainly be a smartass, that isn't my intent here... just trying to learn. Wanting a small, inexpensive CF guitar - I get that. TIA.

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by zeeway

Sorry, this is a bit off topic, but my mind wandered and saw your website ref, so I went there…very impressive…the layout of the website, and your music was very good. Kudos.

Thank you, glad you like it.

My own Nova Go arrived today. For $160 on sale, I'm duly impressed.

Starting from the outside packaging, the case and strap system are quite well thought out. There's even a spacious gear pocket inside (although the depths of it can be difficult to reach) and a velcro closure that secures the neck of the guitar. The case strap even doubles as the guitar strap with a couple of strap-pin connectors and carabiner-like clips; very clever.

The fit and finish are excellent, with no sharp edges, glue lines or any other imperfections. The tuners are probably Gotoh knock-offs but are smooth with a ratio that makes tuning the short scale (23") easy. It's set up decently out of the box, but the action is a bit high. There's plenty of saddle you could sand down though, so tweaking the relief with the included truss rod and lowering the saddle would make things quite nice to play. The neck is a D-shape with somewhat pronounced corners, but thick enough to give purchase and comfortable.

As zeeway said, the intonation isn't perfect, but within reason... except for my B string, where it's about 18 cents sharp at the 12th fret. That's likely because the saddle doesn't have any B-string compensation--or any compensation at all. Spending a few bucks on a compensated saddle would be good upgrade. The one other nit is that the strings are "shifted" a smidge to the treble side of the fretboard; the high E is about 1/16" closer to the fretboard edge than the low E. But that said, it's very playable from the get-go.

Tone is beefier than you'd expect from something that looks a bit toy-like (especially if you got pink or purple!). It doesn't have a lot of oomph on the low E, but the A and D strings have some punch, and the tone is pretty even: no glaring peaks or valleys up the strings and up the neck. It doesn't sound tinny or toy-like at all. It's just a bit thin on the low end, and not particularly loud. None of that is surprising, though, given the small soundboard area and 3" max body depth.

The joke about carbon fiber guitars is that you can take it camping, paddle the canoe with it, cook your dinner in it, then use it to play songs around the campfire. Which brings me to my final complaint--that's not true with this guitar. Since there's no circular sound hole, you can't use it as a soup pot! But otherwise, it will make an outstanding camping and travel guitar.

[hubcapsc]

Even though carbon fiber can handle temperature and humidity extremes
better than wood... why?

I want a carbon fiber guitar to keep in my motorcycle workshop.
I'm up there a lot, I like to sit right outside a lot. It would be cool
if there was a guitar up there. The range of temperature and humidity
around here has pranged up my old $100.00 guitars pretty well, now
that I have a couple of good guitars I sure don't want to leave them out
there... I imagine I could just hang a carbon fiber guitar on the wall up
there and it wouldn't care if it was 30 degrees and dry or 98 and humid.

-Mike