vahn
Well-known member
So for fathers day my children and their mother gave me "$200 towards a musical instrument", knowing my Love for music but not knowing specifically what to get me. So, since my birthday is coming up I thought I could apply my money those funds and potential birthday money for another low-mid range uke, with my hopes high about those Acacia Kalas.
After my quad-weekly inspection of da MusicGuyMic's ebay store I got seriously interested in the Ohai A/E Tenor Ponos. They sounded truly beatiful in his youtube vid.
Previously I had (briefly) purchased a PKT1-CE Pono Koa Tenor Cutaway Electric. Unfortunately, I had to return it and wasnt able to get another because they were discontinued (I ended up getting instead my 1/4 size classical guitar [guitalale] and solidbody concert electric uke) My time with the Uke does give me a good model to compare the Ohai to.
First off: It sounds great. Solid Ohai w/ a satin finish. Excellent build quality (the issue I had w/ the koa) Frets are well dressed.
The tone is exceedingly similar to the Koas (much more similar to koa than mahogany, spruce or cedar), if just a bit thinner. I do have the stock strings on the Ohai vs Aquilas on the Koa, i dont know how big of a factor that is. Looks wise its pretty much identical looking to koa, gorgeous wood.
One thing I dislike about the Ohai vs the Koa, the top and back are split (I could tell this by the pics, so I knew that going in) they are bookmatched (terminology?) perfectly so that you almost can't tell but I'm unsure how that impacts the tone and if it is part of the reason why it sounds just a bit thinner than the koa.
The pickup is identical in either, no preamp. Initially with the koa i disliked this (my lanakai has a preamp and I am constantly tone adjusting) but that was in part because I liked to occasionally use effects. Now, If I'm going to use guitar pedals/effects on Uke there is no way I wouldnt use my solidbody, so for just the acoustic stuff the Ohai is just fine with the passive pickup. In fact I'm able to get a plunkiness on the Ohai that no fiddling with the tonenob on my (sporadicly functional) lanikai preamp can seem to match.
It came with a really really awesome Pono gigbag, vs the Ko'olau hardshell case with the Koa, but what do you expect at the pricepoints?
I paid $575 + shipping for the Koa so over $600 but I did get that righteous ko'oalau case.
I paid $311 for the Ohai shipped to my door.
I would highly highly reccommend this uke for anyone thats looking at higher end lanikais or kalas, this is pretty much the perfect mid-range uke for anyone on a budget.
Also, this is my first time doing business with MusicGuyMic, and I was simply shocked at how fast it got here. Maybe because it's not a heavy shipping period but I paid for it I think Monday evening, and it arrived Thursday Morning, From Hawaii to Wisconsin.
The only downside is that this uke is so good, I really don't need anymore ukes untill im ready to move up to the 700+ range... Which surprisingly, is fine, as my UAS is completely and utterly satisfied right now (blasphemy)
With Ukes the saying has been proven true many times that you get what you pay for, but for once in this case it isn't true, in the absolutely best possible way.
After my quad-weekly inspection of da MusicGuyMic's ebay store I got seriously interested in the Ohai A/E Tenor Ponos. They sounded truly beatiful in his youtube vid.
Previously I had (briefly) purchased a PKT1-CE Pono Koa Tenor Cutaway Electric. Unfortunately, I had to return it and wasnt able to get another because they were discontinued (I ended up getting instead my 1/4 size classical guitar [guitalale] and solidbody concert electric uke) My time with the Uke does give me a good model to compare the Ohai to.
First off: It sounds great. Solid Ohai w/ a satin finish. Excellent build quality (the issue I had w/ the koa) Frets are well dressed.
The tone is exceedingly similar to the Koas (much more similar to koa than mahogany, spruce or cedar), if just a bit thinner. I do have the stock strings on the Ohai vs Aquilas on the Koa, i dont know how big of a factor that is. Looks wise its pretty much identical looking to koa, gorgeous wood.
One thing I dislike about the Ohai vs the Koa, the top and back are split (I could tell this by the pics, so I knew that going in) they are bookmatched (terminology?) perfectly so that you almost can't tell but I'm unsure how that impacts the tone and if it is part of the reason why it sounds just a bit thinner than the koa.
The pickup is identical in either, no preamp. Initially with the koa i disliked this (my lanakai has a preamp and I am constantly tone adjusting) but that was in part because I liked to occasionally use effects. Now, If I'm going to use guitar pedals/effects on Uke there is no way I wouldnt use my solidbody, so for just the acoustic stuff the Ohai is just fine with the passive pickup. In fact I'm able to get a plunkiness on the Ohai that no fiddling with the tonenob on my (sporadicly functional) lanikai preamp can seem to match.
It came with a really really awesome Pono gigbag, vs the Ko'olau hardshell case with the Koa, but what do you expect at the pricepoints?
I paid $575 + shipping for the Koa so over $600 but I did get that righteous ko'oalau case.
I paid $311 for the Ohai shipped to my door.
I would highly highly reccommend this uke for anyone thats looking at higher end lanikais or kalas, this is pretty much the perfect mid-range uke for anyone on a budget.
Also, this is my first time doing business with MusicGuyMic, and I was simply shocked at how fast it got here. Maybe because it's not a heavy shipping period but I paid for it I think Monday evening, and it arrived Thursday Morning, From Hawaii to Wisconsin.
The only downside is that this uke is so good, I really don't need anymore ukes untill im ready to move up to the 700+ range... Which surprisingly, is fine, as my UAS is completely and utterly satisfied right now (blasphemy)
With Ukes the saying has been proven true many times that you get what you pay for, but for once in this case it isn't true, in the absolutely best possible way.
