Pono is a fat cat, but WHY?

bellgamin

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I have 4 good tenors. 1 of them is a Pono. Yesterday I noticed that the Pono has a lot deeper body than any of my other tenors. On a *luciousness scale* of 1 to 10, my other 3 tenors are all 10's whereas my Pono is a 12 (off the charts).

I wonder:
  • Does the secret to Pono's luciousness lie at least partly in the depth of its body?
  • If NO, then I wonder why Pono uses a deeper body?
  • If YES, then why don't my other good tenors have equally deep bodies?
 
The Pono also has that wonderful changing depth, where it is thinner near the neck than it is at the tailblock. I do believe the differences in the depth allow for different resonances of both higher and lower frequencies, giving a fuller tone.
But what the heck do I know, I am not a luthier. I have three ukuleles where the back is not parallel to the top, and all three of those seems to sound fuller, with more resonance, than the ones with a parallel top and back.
Of course, those three are also more expensive than the others, so they may just be higher quality overall, but it makes you wonder if there is something to it.
 
My direct from China under $200 two hole Hanknn Uku has a curved back, not parallel front and back, normal depth and has very good projection and sustain. My custom mandolele has a parallel top and back, is wider than normal and has a deeper sound, and my Kala solid cedar top also non parallel, is standard depth and has the best projection and sustain of any of my other ukes.
 
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