Pono TE or Godin Multiuke?

I am after a solid/semi-solid body. These two are about the same price. Which would you choose?

I'm not inclined to get either right now, but I've gone through this mental exercise. I'd probably get the Pono because the pickup system is simpler, but then would I get the active or the passive pickup - don't know.

I love my Pono

I have never played a Godin. All I can say is that I love my Pono TE-C with a passive pickup. It is very comfortable to play and loud enough when not amplified. The neck fits my hands very well.

I like the way it looks, its simplicity and I liked it's price.

I havent had the Pono solid body, but I do have the Godin


As far as electronics go, the Godin is simply amazing. Probably one of the best (if not best) electric you can get.

The Pono may be equally good, but I ended up selecting the Godin because the Godin actually has a decent acoustic tone. It is a mellow but rich tone.

With the Pono, you get no substantial acoustic volume.

The Pono is not really semi-acoustic..

I have not played the Pono. But played the Godin and did not like the feel. I would get another Pono because I have had great experience with the Pro Classic Tenors.

I chose the Pono with the active pick up but I would be happy with a Godin. You can probably choose either with the confidence that your choice will be just fine. With an electric solid body uke your amp will probably make the major difference?

Thanks, everyone. I shall go with the Pono coz I'm not much of sound tinkerer. The simpler, the better

I played them back to back and much prefer, and bought, the Godin. The sound and feel was just better.

I'm a guitarist, and not yet a uke player, but I tried a Godin for a couple of minutes recently and it felt great to play. The neck was lovely and the radiused fretboard with rolled edges was really smooth. The overall build quality seemed excellent. Its body was deeper than I expected (I have a solid bodied nylon guitar which is much slimmer), and as someone else mentioned, it sounded pretty good when played acoustically.

Andy Chen said:

Thanks, everyone. I shall go with the Pono coz I'm not much of sound tinkerer. The simpler, the better

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Smart man.

I don't think you can go wrong with either. I had never heard of Godin until a few years back. I went to see singer/songwriter Martin Sexton and he plays a Godin Guitar. Interesting and unusual looking instrument. Kind of like Martin Sexton, interesting and very gifted performer.

I have the Pono uke and the Godin mandolin. You can't really make a bad choice with these options.

I've never played a Pono TE but I am sure it plays and sounds very nice with an equalizer. I have a Godin Multiuke and it plays and sounds very nice and is equipped with active electronics as opposed to the passive system on the Pono. Given the choice between active and passive pickup systems, I prefer active electronics as you have more convenient control over the output signal right at the instrument.

This is a personal choice. Both instruments are quality.

Andy Chen said:

Thanks, everyone. I shall go with the Pono coz I'm not much of sound tinkerer. The simpler, the better

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If it's not too late, I will chime in this point for you to consider.

The Godin's tone/volume knobs is extremely simple to use. The one on the far left is volume and just controls how loud the output signal is.
The other three are simply Treble, Mid and Bass. If you don't want to touch your sound, just leave the tone knobs all in the middle.

The passive version of the Pono has no volume and tone knobs. It may seem "simpler", but maybe it isn't.
A passive electric may in fact require a lot more "sound tinkering" with external devices, like pre-amps and playing around with the knobs on the amp to get it sounding like you want. On the contrary, an active electric instrument will sound just fine with all its tone knobs at the middle and the tone knobs on the amplifier all in the middle too. Passive output is "raw", and may not necessarily sound pleasant with the tone knobs in the middle. You will be more likely to need to "tinker" with your sound in order for it to not sound too harsh or too bassy, etc.

If you want to plug it into a PA system, an active like the Godin is an easy "plug and play".
A passive with a PA system will require at the very least a DI box or external pre-amp to bring the signal levels up to mic level, etc.


I have owned many electric ukes, both passive and active. They have their pros and cons, but if you are looking for "simplicity", actives tend to be simpler and easier to get a usable tone out of Active systems were made to make amplifying instruments simpler and easier! It's not the other way around! It takes a bit more expertise to utilise a passive pickup in my experience!



Furthermore, it is interesting to see someone who says they are not much of a "sound tinkerer" buying a completely solid-body electric.
The very essence of electric instruments IS the "sound tinkering". If you are not a "sound tinkerer" now, owning an electric instrument will inevitably turn you into one. Afterall, your ears will have a preference to what it hears out of the amp. That being said, the Godin doubles as an acoustic ukulele.

I play my Godin unplugged a lot. Its acoustic tone is pleasant and there is no "tinkering" involved

If the Godin uke is anything like their guitars, it would be a definite step up from the Pono.
If it's made in Canada, it would seal-the-deal for me.

Kissing: that was a very informative post, thanks very much for your input.

One main thing swung my decision to the Pono. I had played something similar (an Imua with passive pick-up and volume control, which the Pono has, btw) and the sound was superb and natural right upon plugging in directly into an amp.

As for the apparent contradiction regarding a non-sound-tinkerer wanting a solid body, well, there are times I need to plug in when I play at events in order to be heard at all. It has nothing at all to do with me wanting to do some shredding on the ukulele (not that I can, either).

I should add that I have the Mi-Si active pick-up with tone/volume controls on my guitar, and I almost never touch the tone knob.

Paul December said:

If the Godin uke is anything like their guitars, it would be a definite step up from the Pono.
If it's made in Canada, it would seal-the-deal for me.

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I think they make it pretty clear



Owning this uke has made me want their guitar as well. Truly astounding quality!

I've never played a Pono electric uke, but have gone down this path of your question, drooling, dreaming, which one, but also added to the mix is the Fluke SB (~$600 with all upgrades) which uses the B-Band pickup system. I have several instruments from Magic Fluke Company, and the fit and finish is far above my other ukes.

As such, one thing to consider is that if the Pono's passive pickup system has a rod-piezo element, vs. their active system which has a Mi-Si (active) pickup, vs. the Godin MultiUke which has individual piezo saddle pickups for each string made by RMC, and the preamp is also made by RMC.

There are three VERY different 'elements' used here for the pickups among these aforementioned instruments, and the Fluke SB that I mentioned uses the B-Band active pickup whose element is a PVDF piezo 'film' about as thin as a business card.

Most folks wont be able to tell the difference in sound, but if you have a discriminating ear, you can hear it.

So, I hate to say it, but if the SOUND is most important, and the play/feel is important, you might want to try before you buy.

I have installed the Mi-Si pickup in 3 ukes and one guitar myself, and for me, the driving factor that sealed the deal was the fact that the Mi-Si has a capacitor inside that you recharge (either with a 9v batt or the included cable) instead of those CR2032 batteries that cost like $1.50/each.

It seems unnecessarily wasteful to use these batteries, or any batteries that are single-use, if/when a rechargable solution exists.

Besides all that, the Mi-Si sounds great, and has been trouble free for me.

Lots of folks here on UU that have either the Pono or Godin are happy with them, and if either one fell into my lap, I would be very happy.

To clarify/correct some previous statements:

The Pono TE comes in either passive or active (MiSi, add $115) pickup, and the passive does have a volume knob (which surprised me, but it's there).

(I have a TE and think it's great. I wouldn't be surprised if I'd feel the same way about a Godin if I had one.)

I have the Godin. I don't think it requires any tinkering. I set the equalizers once and then make any other changes at the amp. The ability to set the tone with three buttons is a little more sophisticated than with just one, but not more complex. I tend to boost the low end a little, keep the mid in the centre, and reduce the high - much the same as twisting a single tone dial towards the low end.

Passive pickups are great (I have a Pono mango with one) but you end up doing the same sort of tweaking in the amp as you do on the instrument.

The unamplified sound of the Godin is also quite good, and can be played by itself although not as loud as a hollow-bodied uke.