Baritones - Kala versus Pono

mingus

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I am in the market for a new baritone!

Looking for an all solid baritone under $400-500, looks like the Pono and all Acacia Kala ukes are an obvious pick. Planning to buy from HMS.

Not interested in vintage at all, so they are out!

So, for those of you with experience, which do you prefer?

Kala or Pono baritone ukes? Why?

Thanks for the help!
 
No question, put me in the Kala camp. I have a small collection of baritones, including two Ponos and a Kala all-solid acacia baritone (KA-ASAC-B with Aquila Reds). I love the Kala with all my heart. I used to refer to it as "the sainted Kala acacia baritone". Now it's just "St. Kala". I have the soprano, concert, and tenor versions too (a vertical flight?); they are okay (well, I don't much like the soprano), but they're not special the way the baritone is. (I wouldn't expect them to sound like a baritone, of course, but they're not even close to the top of my list in their respective size groups.). St. Kala is comfortable to play and deeply resonant. I love it. Can you tell I'm smitten? :D

YMMV. Keep in mind that I also buck the usual wisdom here by confessing that I don't like Fleas or Flukes, and am not a big Pono fan except for the all-rosewood tenor, which is stupendous, and my Master Series tenor.

Let us know which you pick!
 
Thanks kvehe! That’s the kind of perspective I was looking for!

Leaning towards the Kala all Acacia model!
 
Thanks kvehe! That’s the kind of perspective I was looking for!

Leaning towards the Kala all Acacia model!

Kala all Acacia was my first uke
That uke sounds so sweet almost like a charm!
I later bought a new Pono also Acacia and double the price. It did not give me that satisfaction!
Sadly I sold the Kala !
 
Baritone is the first size ukulele I ever obtained, and as I've mentioned elsewhere, it was not my intention to get sucked into playing ukes, but simply to have a GDAE octave mandolin tuned instrument that would suffice until I could actually find an octave mandolin to my liking (which still hasn't happened). I was not expecting to become smitten by the baritone ukulele or playing with my fingers rather than a plectrum, but I was, and still am. My baritone is all solid mahogany (personally, I prefer the mahogany timbre over that of acacia), has gorgeous grain and a big, mellow sound, is super comfortable, and suits my choice of tuning perfectly - all the way down to the low G. It was love at first pluck, and I'll never part with it, nor do I yearn to try any other baritones. Oh, and it's a Pono.

bratsche
 
Out of the two, I'd always take the Pono. Extremely well built, very clean finish, they have the benefit of a truss rod, and they come from a well documented and relatively small factory that puts a lot of effort into caring for their workers and the environment.
 
I'm another vote for Kala. The ponos that I hav owned or tried were relatively unwieldy in ththe neck, particularly at the baritone level. (Other than the pono nui which I greatly regret selling). The Kala acacia is lightly built and very fun!
 
Wow, you all have been great! Thanks for all of the information!
 
Out of the two, I'd always take the Pono. Extremely well built, very clean finish, they have the benefit of a truss rod, and they come from a well documented and relatively small factory that puts a lot of effort into caring for their workers and the environment.

I have two Kala Baritones. One solid Mahogany, the other with a Cedar top. Both have truss rods. Both sound great to me.
 
I'm not surprised that people love their Kalas. Just surprised people prefer them to Ponos.
Not what I would have suspected.
 
I'm not surprised that people love their Kalas. Just surprised people prefer them to Ponos.
Not what I would have suspected.

Same here - I've always heard rave reviews about the Pono baritones so the overall Kala preference has surprised me. I had a Kala baritone for a while (spruce top, lacewood body). It was a very nice instrument but didn't really do it for me, I don't regret moving it on.
 
I have a Spruce/Rosewood Pono Bari (strung re-entrant) and it is totally the bomb. I can't imagine a uke could sound any better. The leader of our uke group always asks me to stand next to her so she can just enjoy listening to it. At home I don't strum, just fingerpick solo stuff and it is perfect for that application. A pleasure to play, and I am very glad to have a truss rod to enhance it's longevity. YMMV, of course.

Sopher
 
Any update here? What did you decide?

And for anyone else out there that has owned these, what is your opinion, Mango, Mahogany, or Acacia?? And of course please share why!
 
I am biased but I really love my solid mahogany bari. I did change the strings shortly after I got it but it sounds great. My tenor has three solid woods and one of them is mango. It also sounds great. In my opinion, and opinions are like bellybuttons, Kala makes a quality uke and any of the tone woods you mentioned would probably sound wonderful.
 
Put me in the Pono camp. I’m perfectly satisfied with my Pono Mango Baritone.
 
Ended up going with the Kala solid Acacia from HMS! It ships today, so hopefully be able to see it by next week!
 
Congrats on the new baritone. Also, HMS will do an excellent setup on it for you. I got both of mine from them and both came perfectly set up and ready to go. Let us know what you think of it.
 
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