Cellist's decision: Kala SMHC or Pono MC?

wherahiko · Nov 13, 2017

uke1950 said:
Having a solid spruce slimline cutaway concert (Baton Rouge), & an acacia (Kala) concert, I'd go with the acacia concert.

Thanks—I think that's my decision made!

wherahiko · Nov 13, 2017

rubykey said:
I have a Kala travel soprano that I use for precisely the purposes you describe. [...] That said, it's not the uke I pick up in the house to work on music or practice my skills. It's more like a novelty Uke. [...] Regarding tone I do not appreciate acacia. Mahogany is much more pleasing to my ear. It's a personal thing.

Thanks, this is very helpful indeed. All going well I'll get the ASAC and then possibly think about the Travel uke at a later stage. Glad to hear it works as a 'stealth' uke. As for acacia/mahogany, it appears only the acacia is available locally at the moment. I'll see if they might have the mahogany coming in soon. I'm not in a massive hurry, and would be happy to wait a month or two to get the right uke.

Lapyang · Nov 14, 2017

wherahiko said:
Ah, great to hear! I had thought about that ... a bari uke tuned CGDA, kinda like a nylon-string tenor guitar. (More UAS ...) Do you use a bari for the cello tuning? Is it easy to find strings in the right gauges?

I already have a bad case of UAS. I am afraid to dabble into Baritone Ukes. I have a few concerts so I strung one up with Aquila. Aquila makes a special CGDA set for concerts. I have seriously considered getting a Tenor Guitar, but the cello tuned Concert current fits the bill. Will see how long I can hold off the urge...

wherahiko · Nov 14, 2017

Lapyang said:
have seriously considered getting a Tenor Guitar, but the cello tuned Concert current fits the bill. Will see how long I can hold off the urge...

Not to tempt you, but Kala's tenor guitar is currently selling for $199 on their website. I was seriously tempted, though they're not shipping them internationally at the moment (luckily for me!) ...

Are the Aquila CGDA strings re-entrant? Or what's the low C like on a concert body?

Lapyang · Nov 14, 2017

wherahiko said:
Not to tempt you, but Kala's tenor guitar is currently selling for $199 on their website. I was seriously tempted, though they're not shipping them internationally at the moment (luckily for me!) ...

Are the Aquila CGDA strings re-entrant? Or what's the low C like on a concert body?

$199!?!! Oh no! Must! Hold! Off!!!
The Aquila set (Aquila 31) is linear CGDA, an octave higher than the cello. C and G string are wound.

j.roth · Jan 3, 2018

I am biased, but get the Pono.

Cellist's decision: Kala SMHC or Pono MC?

wherahiko

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