Enya Nova Go

[Tim E]

I have to be honest. It sounds really pretty good for what it is. Absolutely better than any of the tiny body travel guitars I've heard, such as the Washburn Rover. And, well, a little bit bassier than the Baby Taylor we have. Maybe a little fuller. Believe it or not. Definitely fuller than the Harley Benton DS-10, which is a visually identical copy of the Baby Taylor, except for the glued in neck. The Baby Taylor offers a little bit more volume overall, but the sound if the Nova Go impresses me.

Somehow, the Nova Go doesn't feel quite as small as it measures. Overall length is maybe 2" longer than a Baby Taylor. But the body is smaller in depth and width. Though not by a whole lot. It's a bit neck heavy, and I find it more comfortable to play with a strap.

The fit and finish is beautiful. Flawless, really. It appears to be painted flat, almost textured, black. So flawless, it looks from the outside to have been molded in one single piece, body, neck, bridge. A peek inside reveals that the neck and body, at least are separate pieces. I can't tell if the bridge is actually a separate piece. Yes, the construction material appears to be fiber filled (CF, I presume) injection molded black plastic.

Out of the box, the playability was good, a bit on the high side. Fortunately, there is much height to be removed from the saddle. Which actually sits quite tall, and has a pronounced string breakover angle.

The neck has an unusual profile unlike any other guitar I can recall playing. Wide oval, ending in pronounced vertical wall to the fingerboard. It's not uncomfortable at all. Just different.

The fretwork is similarly flawless. It almost looks like the frets are mounted on an assembly that's been molded around. Maybe they are? I actually can't tell if they're normal T-shaped frets. If not, that presents some interesting possibilities about the longevity of the instrument. Along with the repairability and durability of CF filled injection molded polycarbonate.

It has a zero fret, which is taller than the rest of the frets, a puzzling detail I've seen before that seems to negate some of the theoretical advantage of a zero fret.

The neck is glued in, though it seems like it would have been a good candidate for a bolt on neck. It's a pity they didn't go that route, as it would have made it more flexible to do adjustments to action, and even packability. The neck also has an adjustable truss rod.

The most impressive thing is the overall aesthetics. The quality of the moldmaking is exceptional, and the design seems to be generally well thought out. There are no flat surfaces. The top even has an attractive arched curve molded in. The insides are cleanly molded and assembled.

I've had it for a couple months now and haven't been babying the guitar. I take it to work and keep it in the back seat, to see if it will be damaged by this summer's heat. So far, it hasn't been too hot, but I can say so far, it seems to have pretty good tuning stability. It's never kept in the case. The case, btw, is an odd, almost rigid kind of gig bag. It's also pretty nice, though I think I'd prefer a more traditional padded nylon style gigbag.

I bought this with a Nova Go soprano ukulele, which is similarly well constructed and attractive, though I feel suffers a bit sonically, compared to a decent, comparable uke, for reasons that are too deep to get into here.

[steelvibe]

Cool! Glad someone has real world experience and is enjoying the guitar. Sometimes questions pop up on the forum regarding the Enya products so your contribution is certainly warranted and appreciated.

[mountainmaster]

There is one review on YouTube that shows bad fretwork. Not just a buzz but plain dead notes.

I am glad the fretwork on yours is flawless, but even if a dud is rare I would hesitate to buy these guitars online.

[Tim E]

Originally Posted by mountainmaster

There is one review on YouTube that shows bad fretwork. Not just a buzz but plain dead notes.

I am glad the fretwork on yours is flawless, but even if a dud is rare I would hesitate to buy these guitars online.

The reason I bought it where I did, (Amazon) is that returns are trivial. If it were substandard in any way, I have no compunction sending it back.

I can attest that the fretwork is far above what I'd expect in any guitar at or even significantly above this price. Each fret end is even rounded off like a quarter spherical shape. Like I said, it makes me think the frets are not traditional fretwire at all, but finished before molding. It's pretty impressive.

The company spent considerable effort making a whole attractive package/presentation. Which I find very interesting, as it's a budget instrument, where such details are usually shrugged off. Normally, I might say I'd prefer they expend the effort making a better instrument, rather than the case or packaging or manual. But it appears they had the instrument pretty much down pat, and had surplus effort to expend on the rest.

[Goat Mick]

Originally Posted by mountainmaster

There is one review on YouTube that shows bad fretwork. Not just a buzz but plain dead notes.

I am glad the fretwork on yours is flawless, but even if a dud is rare I would hesitate to buy these guitars online.

I did see that review and it didn't turn me off at all. Really all the guy had to to is tap that fret back down into the slot, but he chose to file and dress it. Either way it's not a difficult situation to correct.

[jsenear]

I just posted a review of my Enya Go guitar in a different thread. I am new to this forum. That said I agree with your assessment 100%. I am 82 years old and have been playing guitar and keyboard for over 60 years. My 40-year-old son played mine and ordered one for himself the same day. The intonation on mine was a wee bit sharp on the 12th so I compensated my saddle myself. Enya is really responsive and their customer service is first-rate. I emailed them asking if I could buy additional saddles. They answered the next day and sent me six saddles free of charge. Thanks for your review. By the way, the set up on mine was not high. The string height measurements were all within the standard range for a well-set-up guitar. I know from playing the guitar as well. I play fingerstyle.

[jsenear]

I watched that review also and it didn't turn me off either. I bought one. What he did was an easy fix and he was perfectly happy with the guitar after he filed the fret down.

[SpruceTop]

Somehow, I think the Enya Nova Go may become this holiday season's stocking stuffer.

[jazzguy]

Old thread I know, curious if anyone has replaced the Zero fret? It seems to be softer material. Any issues to consider?

[Chipotle]

I bought a Nova Go as a travel guitar, no regrets. The saddle was really tall as noted and the intonation was off, but a new compensated saddle, adjusted properly, fixed things right up. There's a spot on the fretboard where things are a little buzzy... if I raised the action up again a bit, that would probably go away. IOW, a Nova Go needs a setup like any other guitar.

The tone is fine, if not amazing. Not a ton of low end, but that's to be expected for an instrument with that small & shallow a body. To my ear, it actually sound a bit like an archtop, kind of midrangey with not that much sustain.

[mountainmaster]

Originally Posted by jazzguy

Old thread I know, curious if anyone has replaced the Zero fret? It seems to be softer material. Any issues to consider?

Judging from this picture it seems to be similar to the next fret.



However, zero frets wear down relatively fast due to being under pressure from the strings all the time, unless they are made of stainless steel. Enya does not mention what kind of fret material they use so I guess it is plain nickel silver.

I have replaced the regular nuts of my Emerald X20 and X30 with the stainless steel zero fret system from Goldtone.
Wait, I am lying... my X20 actually has a brass zero fret now. That is totally fine in this case, because the X20 has nylon strings which are too soft to wear down the fret any time soon.

I don't think the Goldtone system fits an Enya guitar though. The Goldtone zero fret is in fact part of the nut, while the Enya guitar shows a gap between nut and zero fret.

Could the Enya zero fret be a regular fret with barbs on its tang? In that case replacing it will be difficult and perhaps better left to a luthier.

[OnTheFidele]

I have two. One at home (as my apocalypse guitar) and one with family I visit often. I love both. Everyone who has heard it so far as commented on just how good it sounds for what it is.

The one I have at home has the far nicer old case, which I think is better protection and simply looks way sleeker than the newer gig bag they offer now.

I would say that I strongly perfer it to the Go Guitar I let go a few years ago. The Go Guitar had slightly better tone, but the Nova Go beats it in all other aspects to my ears.

I'll add that what I hear from the sound port is far less representative of the sound of the guitar than what I had originally though it would be.

Since it's plastic, my family doesn't have to worry about babying it when I keep it with them.

[slooky]

I purchased a tenor ukulele from them. Unfortunately the action was super high and the saddle was already as low as it could go. I sent them an email and they offered to send me a saddle. Twice I responded and said a new saddle won't help. I asked if I could send it back and get another with better action and saddle height and they never got back to me. So I packaged it back up and sent it back. Other than the action being to high it did sound great.

[Per Burström]

I have had a Nova Go SP1 for a week now, and played it a lot... mostly purely acoustic (without the effects). I really like it, it's so comfortable playing in the couch. I also recently bought a used Cort AD Mini OP which is about the same size, though a little deeper. Not sure which acoustic sound I prefer, they clearly sound different... can't say which one sound better.

I'd be interested knowing which Graphtech Tusq saddle I should use if I want to change, as well as input on string type and gauge for the best compromise between strumming and finger picking (I feel I don't get the finger picking sound I want higher up on the neck).

Thanks!
Per

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by Per Burström

I'd be interesting knowing which Graphtech Tusq saddle I should use if I want to change,

I had to try a couple Graphtech saddles to get one that worked--I don't know if the SP1 is different from the original. When I have time, I'll see if I can look up which one ended up working.