Belated NUD: Pono UL4N-2

So I picked this up secondhand a week or two ago. I've been selling off many ukes (some still to go) to scale down but I developed a hankering for a bigger baritone after my baritone went. I like the deeper sound of a baritone but have found the ones I've played to sound muddy when strummed and I don't like the lower string tension. I've been keeping an eye out for a Pono Big Baritone but they are few and far between over here. I thought I'd give this one, with it's 21.4" scale and larger than usual body, a whirl and see how I felt.



I've strung it with Thomastik-Infeld CF35 and CF30 basses and some clear nylon trebles (guitar G and B for the B and E). The tension is lovely. I've been playing exclusively re-entrant for a while now so it took me a few days to warm back up to linear tuning. But the sound is just great. To the point that I'm now thinking about putting a low G on my tenor. It's clear, it's smooth, it's not muddy and I can really dig in on the strumming and it's got all the headroom for that I need. The trebles ring out really clearly, all the way up the neck. I am impressed. It's also a surprisingly comfortable size - big enough to feel like a guitar (and I am a converted guitarist) whereas some normal baritones have felt a bit neither one thing nor the other to me. This one is a keeper. It also has a MiSi so that's a nice bonus.

Cheers Campbell, planning to tackle some of your tabs with it!

Congratulations, Jim, glad to hear you like it. I love mine.

Just listened to the sound sample on The Ukulele Site, gorgeous.

Glad that you have found what you were looking for, (for now?).

Steve

Belated congratulations Pirate Jim. I had the steel string version but truth be told, from HMS sound samples I like the tone of the nylon string one better. Enjoy it

Thanks all! Steve, ne'er a truer word spoken. I'm nearly down to my favourite uke of each scale length but I can't help myself in checking the Marketplace and eBay. I like fellow member Kevs-the-name's approach - buy used, sell used, try loads of different ukes. In truth I hadn't expected to like this one as much as I have, a really great surprise.

Congrats Jim. I've heard that Pono makes some of the nicest baritone ukes to be had.