Pono Inspection
All Pono manufacturing has personally been overseen by son Noa and I since the beginning in 2006. Although our goal was and still is to make Pono ukuleles to the same high standards as our Ko'olau models, they are not, and were never meant to be exactly the same. For us to measure up to our own custom Ko'olau line, in a sense, having Ko'olau as our "competition" has been difficult. To insure the highest quality in a solid wood instrument, and be able to sell it for a reasonable price is not easy, but we decided from the start to maintain that standard regardless of the difficulties or cost. At first we attempted to instruct and oversee operations, and then perform final inspections in Hawaii, but soon found out that without continual supervision, there were difficulties. So, beginning 2009 we now personally perform a detailed inspection of each instrument at our factory in Java, Indonesia. This is the same strict inspection that every Ko'olau ukulele goes through. Every Pono must pass an extensive quality control checklist. And so, to address the comments about the initials, yes, every one so far has my JK initials, because I personally inspect each one. Inspection includes detailed and continual instruction in every facet of construction, in every department of our factory ..... so, it is not much "LOL" on our part, but with Ko'olau on the label, I have decided it is necessary. Again ... just clarifying the label, which my good friend MGM was supposed to have removed. Our intention was to remove each label after they go through a second (same detailed checklist) inspection in Wahiawa, just in case we missed something, or there was damage in transit.
John Kitakis
Put that on my list of things someone could've thought twice about.
