new affordable MP series line from Pono sneak look

MGM

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Koolaus new pono mp series in Ohai or Monkeypod which is now gaining popularity also in guitar making. Monkeypod is a beautiful grained and figured wood that sometimes here in Hawaii was considered inferior and many Hawaiian wood products such as calabashes and bowls were copied in asia and the philipines using monkeypod thus giving the wood a cheap connotation but recently some guitar makers are now reconizing it as a great tone wood and figured wood...check out your latest LMI catolog and see the prices for guitar sets...anyway used in Hawaii alot by makers such a Ka Lae and also by Ron yasuda this is a sneak look at the new Ohai line from Pono. this is a concert price full list for tenors are 299.95 for a solid wood uke...heres the peek

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/musicguymic/ponoohaiconcert.jpg
 
Hmmm...is it just me or that wood grain looks like something that a dresser or desk would be made out of...I mean, it would be a nice expensive desk, but it looks sort of like furniture wood to me. It's probably just me.

I wonder how it sounds. But overall, the instrument looks very nice, like your typical Pono instrument. And it's well priced for a pono. I hope to play one in person someday.
 
The price sounds great, but to be honest, the grain in the second set of pics just is not for me. It looks like something organic smushed under glass for a microscope! I actually prefer the plainer, "furniture" looking one in the original post, looks sort of like mahogany. I am also am not crazy about having to explain to everyone that my insument is made of solid monkeypod. Mainlanders never have heard of that and will think it is something illicit and scary. I love Ko'olau, though..I am sure they will sound great.
 
I know for fact Kamaka made ukes in the factory during the 1920's/1930's using monkeypod but they were just sold under Ka-Lai. That's about as straight off the island as it gets

monkeypod is no joke, and I also don't spend this mess of money so my ukulele just looks cool, its all about the sound and I'm sure these pono ukes will be great for the price range
 
looks like a mahogany/koa offspring......




btw....thanks for my uke mike....Im lovin it!
 
I like the exotic woods!

I think the monkeypod wood looks very interesting. I like the exotic woods, strong figured woods and spalted grains. I don't think I would mind saying my uke was monkeypod... it sounds tropical.

The question is... how does it sound?

–Lori
 
The tonal qualities are have been said to be similar to mahogany and has also been used as soundboard material in recent years. Jeffrey Yong brought monkey pod into popular favor when he introduced his monkey pod guitar at the Guild of American Luthier's convention in 2006. That year his monkey pod guitar won the GAL blind listening test. I haven't used it myself but that's a pretty convincing testament. Beyond the specie of wood itself, what is most critical is how the instrument is built, and how the top is braced and thinned. If it's built by a good company, my hunch is that it should make a pretty good uke. I personally would like to see monkey pod gain in popularity to help take some of the pressure ($$$) off of koa.
And BTW, like most other woods, monkey pod can be pretty boring or it can have a dynamic grain pattern.
 
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Thanks for the preview Mike - I love the look. I'll have to hear one of course, looking forward to it.

If they do the same job they do with the Mango and the Koa, it will be a great axe for the price.
 
So is this a common occurrence with Ukes?

What I mean is I just purchased my first Uke - after several weeks of research, trying them out...

And it seems for every decision I made - there is always a new post, new Uke to take a look at???

Is this the start of UAS? (hope not - my wife won't stand for it)
 
The name "Monkeypod" sounds silly... they should change it to something more acceptable like "MonkeySex" :cool:
 
So is this a common occurrence with Ukes?

What I mean is I just purchased my first Uke - after several weeks of research, trying them out...

And it seems for every decision I made - there is always a new post, new Uke to take a look at???

Is this the start of UAS? (hope not - my wife won't stand for it)

Yeah, that's the onset of UAS. Just hide them in your closet or something.:D
 
The name "Monkeypod" sounds silly
I have to agree...it's also known as "Rain Tree," which sounds much better and seems more marketable to me. (Although no matter what you call it I'm not that crazy about the way it looks.)
 
I have to agree...it's also known as "Rain Tree," which sounds much better and seems more marketable to me. (Although no matter what you call it I'm not that crazy about the way it looks.)

I think "rainwood" would be a neat name for said material. :cool:
 
the grain looks similar to the sunlite tenor i got my brother a while back that he then deached to our cousin that wanted to learn to play. this is just a little darker tone.

im interested in hearing what this ukulele sounds like.

the sunlite tenor that my brother had... sounded really nice, played very well, was loud, but the neck met the body at the 12th fret. oh yeah, did i mention it was PLYWOOD? not just laminate... haha. but really though, for $60 it was a GREAT UKULELE.

now this one comes out. solid construction. and stamped with the pono name. they gotta stop coming out with all these ukuleles. i cant afford UAS coming out of remission.
 
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