Enya Go Guitar

[jsenear]

I am new to this forum so please bear with me. I have owned an Enya Go travel guitar purchased from Amazon going on three months now. For it's size and price it is a wonderful little travel guitar. I am 82 years old, have six guitars and have been playing for over 60 years. Intonation on the 12th is a bit off but I compensated my own saddle for it. Now it is great. I live in Minnesota where the indoor humidity averages around 10% during the winter months. This little guitar hangs on a hook on the wall and never has to be humidified. All Enya Go's are "zero fret guitars" but I don't find that a problem at all. For those that say it sounds like a plastic guitar I say play one yourself and you will not continue to say that. No, it is not a wooden guitar. If you expect wooden sound then play a wooden guitar. This guitar sounds remarkably good for an inexpensive little travel guitar with great, surprisingly great, sustain. The tuners are a real surprise. They are well-built and the little guitar can sit for days and still play in tune. Mine is black but they come in many different colors. My 40-year-old son played mine and ordered one from Amazon the same day. They come with bone saddles and after I contacted Enya they sent me six more free of charge. Three for my son as well. It took Enya one day to answer my email. I had someone ask me how do I know they are bone. I said come to my shop and watch me compensate one of their blanks. Working with a Dremel all you have to do is smell the process to know that. I know this is only my humble opinion but I have been playing both keyboard and guitar longer than many of you have been alive. The Enya Go is a great little guitar. If you buy one you will like it. I use a contact pickup (KNA UP-2 Piezo Pickup with Detachable Cable - Natural) with mine and it sounds great. That was purchased from Sweetwater.

[Captain Jim]

Welcome to the forum, jsenear. Plenty of folks here with a lot of experience, both wood and carbon fiber. I am a whippersnapper compared to you, having been playing only 58 years now.

There are a lot of interesting carbon fiber options these days. You'll also find a couple other threads on this CF forum regarding the Enya Nova Go guitar. Physics being what it is, a smaller, thinner body guitar is going to sound smaller than a jumbo. If someone has been playing an Emerald X30 or a RainSong JM, no doubt that Nova Go is going to sound a bit "plastic-y" by comparison. But that should in no way diminish the pleasure someone else gets from their guitar (regardless of size). Like you, I have a few guitars to pick from, and I look for something different if I am recording or just sitting in my easy chair playing in the living room.

I can see where something like that Nova Go would be slick when size (the smaller the better) matters. And, hard to beat the price.

Enjoy!

[KevinH]

Thanks for the review. Earlier threads here have good things to say about the Enya Go as well. Hard to beat for the price.

[jsenear]

The little Enya is not for everyone. I know that. Let me tell you why I bought mine. In Minnesota, it is almost a full-time job to keep guitars humidified in the winter. I have six, a couple of very expensive handmade ones, along with keyboards and melodicas. I also have a cigar box guitar which is quite fun. With my indoor humidity hovering around 10% in the winter months my wooden guitars need to stay in their cases humidified 24/7. I watched the reviews on the Enya, considered the price, and thought if I don't like it I can hang it on the wall. It is cute. I live in a high-rise retirement community. (did I mention I am 82 years old?) I was the playing manager of a band called "Country Heart" for a number of years but now I only play for myself and sometimes during the summer for patients at my local VA Hospital. Even though I listened to most of the reviews on YouTube about the little travel guitar before I got it and tuned it up I did not have great expectations about it. Only after I took it out of the box and tuned it up and started playing it was I impressed. When I hear "Plastic Guitar" it brings back memories of a little plastic uke I had as a kid. I think it was called a Hopalong Cassidy Guitar even though it was not a guitar. The Enya Go Guitar is in another Universe from that little toy. I will tell you as I write this the humidity level in my place is 11% RH. This is the first winter in decades I can just take a guitar off a hook and play it sitting on the couch and I love the ability to do that. If I could describe this little guitar in one word the word would be "FUN". I have not taken one of my guitars out of its case since I received this little Enya. With the case guitar humidifiers I have (large ones homemade) I only have to check my guitars every 10 days or so. For me, this little black guitar is the perfect solution.

[Captain Jim]

Many of us here on the CF forum got into carbon fiber guitars for their ability to handle humidity changes, and found we appreciate them even more for the tone they bring. It would be fun to see/hear your Nova Go in action if you want to share a recording with us.

[jdinco]

Welcome to the site jsenear !

[jsenear]

Some day, when I have my Enya with me and I am at my Son's house we will do a recording of both guitars played together (he has a purple Enya Go Guitar he bought for his girlfriend). I will post the link here. Have no idea if I can post a video directly to this forum. That should be fun and Dylan (my son) would enjoy it also. Next summer I will try and have one of my VA sessions taped and post that here as well. Because I now use the Enya with a pickup that should not be a problem at all. The Enya will live up to its name (travel guitar) because I will be taking it to Veterans Hospital Minneapolis. I receive my medical care at the Hospital and also at the University of Minnesota hospitals. I play fingerstyle for the most part and the guitar will have to be amplified in front of the patients in order to be heard well. I don't play the way I used to because I have arthritis in both hands at the ripe old age of 82 but nobody has complained so I keep on playing. LOL. It keeps my fingers limbered up so that is a plus. The reason I try to play every day.