Right, this happened somewhat unexpectedly. I was offered a Pono baritone, the RBSH-PC-S, at a rather nice price, and it's in Europe already, so no importing. It's this model. In Corey's hands, it sounds magical.
Might seem like a no-brainer, but I'm pretty torn on whether I want a baritone ukulele. After a bit of an evenful journey, I found a Black Bear koa soprano that made me quite happy and that subdued my interest in concert and tenor sizes at the moment (but you know how long these periods of satisfaction sometimes last). It gets most of my playtime lately, though moods and favorites change (I like my other ukes too).
I had been considering a baritone as a "secondary" uke (I'd sell the others eventually) because I felt it would complement the soprano nicely. The same type of instrument, but sufficiently different to be its own thing. Is it really, though?
I like the sound, it's a nice contrast to the soprano. But it sounds a lot like a guitar, sans the bass strings, so does it make really sense to get a baritone instead of a guitalele, 1/2 or 3/4 guitar? I can't fully shake the feeling that it's a bit of a novelty instrument that is neither here nor there.
But on the other hand I can't deny that it sounds beautiful. I have no particular interest in a full-size guitar, and part of me feels that a baritone is too large already for what I wanted when I embarked on the ukulele journey (a portable, fun instrument), so this isn't really about baritone vs. guitar. I still wouldn't get a guitar if I don't grab this baritone uke (it's not a direction I want to drift into, either, which I guess is always the "risk" when you start embracing the more guitar-y sizes).
But for curiosity's sake: Why would you pick a baritone ukulele over palor/small/tenor guitar? What does it offer that is unique to it? What is its place? (Does this question even make sense, if I enjoy the tone and would make music with it?)
Any thoughts on this particular Pono model? Is set-up an issue with factory Ponos? General feedback and ponderings on the topic of baritones?
I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking for. I'm pretty indecisive about this as I don't really want to pile up even more ukes (this would be #9), but now that it's on my mind and I could grab this model at a good price, I go back and forth on the up- and downsides.
I've never had a baritone, so I could justify it from that angle. I do definitely plan on downsizing my uke collection next year, so perhaps it makes good sense to experience a quality baritone as part of the journey, even if I ended up re-homing it in a year.
What do you folks think?
Might seem like a no-brainer, but I'm pretty torn on whether I want a baritone ukulele. After a bit of an evenful journey, I found a Black Bear koa soprano that made me quite happy and that subdued my interest in concert and tenor sizes at the moment (but you know how long these periods of satisfaction sometimes last). It gets most of my playtime lately, though moods and favorites change (I like my other ukes too).
I had been considering a baritone as a "secondary" uke (I'd sell the others eventually) because I felt it would complement the soprano nicely. The same type of instrument, but sufficiently different to be its own thing. Is it really, though?
I like the sound, it's a nice contrast to the soprano. But it sounds a lot like a guitar, sans the bass strings, so does it make really sense to get a baritone instead of a guitalele, 1/2 or 3/4 guitar? I can't fully shake the feeling that it's a bit of a novelty instrument that is neither here nor there.
But on the other hand I can't deny that it sounds beautiful. I have no particular interest in a full-size guitar, and part of me feels that a baritone is too large already for what I wanted when I embarked on the ukulele journey (a portable, fun instrument), so this isn't really about baritone vs. guitar. I still wouldn't get a guitar if I don't grab this baritone uke (it's not a direction I want to drift into, either, which I guess is always the "risk" when you start embracing the more guitar-y sizes).
But for curiosity's sake: Why would you pick a baritone ukulele over palor/small/tenor guitar? What does it offer that is unique to it? What is its place? (Does this question even make sense, if I enjoy the tone and would make music with it?)
Any thoughts on this particular Pono model? Is set-up an issue with factory Ponos? General feedback and ponderings on the topic of baritones?
I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking for. I'm pretty indecisive about this as I don't really want to pile up even more ukes (this would be #9), but now that it's on my mind and I could grab this model at a good price, I go back and forth on the up- and downsides.
I've never had a baritone, so I could justify it from that angle. I do definitely plan on downsizing my uke collection next year, so perhaps it makes good sense to experience a quality baritone as part of the journey, even if I ended up re-homing it in a year.
What do you folks think?
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