Pono yes/no

I don't see much chatter about the Pono Ukes on here or anywhere else...

What do you think of them??

Thinking about adding a Mango Tenor to the wall of shame!!!!!

I have a PTM-CE. I think it's great!

One of the Grover tuners was a little sharp (snapped multiple A strings before figuring it out), but I fixed that. Also, the frets are a little sharp when it reaches the body. I'm planning to fix that soon.

I think they're not producing any in Mango Ponos in 2009, so I feel like I have a limited edition. LOL

While there isn't as much Pono chatter as Kamaka chatter on here, there is certainly enough threads to read over. I think most people think it's a great deal. GrumpyCoyoteTunes has a Mango and seems to be enjoying it.

for the price, my pono was the best bang for the buck ukulele i ever bought. i love that uke.

The Pono website says only Soprano & Concert Pineapples startin next year.

I was playin it yesterday and it sure sounds sweet and is very pretty too...

I was wanting a Koaloha Tenor but the not making them (Mango Pono) anymore is pullin at me along with the way it sounds and plays, and its about half the price of the Koaloha hmmmm.... what to do.... not that I "need" another Tenor and there is always next year for the Koaloha...

We are HUGE pono fans, our first was a simple mahogany tenor, which we got from Andrew at Hawaii Music Supply. That same night I drug home their all mango prototype guitar as I couldn't leave without it. Both are built like tanks and love their sound. Then in August hubby wanted an 8string and had heard Pono was discontinuing them so we had Andrew pick one out for him as we were on the mainland.

Now tomorrow morning we are awaiting a solid tenor mango pono, and a koa concert from Pono. I had Dean at Ko'olau and Andrew play them all and pick out their favorites again. I can't wait to get my hands on them.

Pono's are solid wood, all come with a kick butt hard case, and have a beautiful sound. I consider them fantastic value and their finish is quite nice. I've held Martin guitars that had just as many imperfections in their finish. I could pay a whole lot more for one uke, but for my ears and skill level these are perfect.

The PKC 1-E was my first uke and it was a very nice instrument. I even reviewed it for my site

Regards,
Julie Strietelmeier
http://ukulelereview.com

Played a Pono for the first time last week, koa cutaway with pickup. Was impressed with the craftsmanship for an import manufactured ukulele. The sound was quite good and for half the cost of other island made ukes, definitely worth the money.

There was a time when I was planning on purchasing one, I did alot of research and ound there to be many mixed reviews. In the end I've decided to save of for a top of the line Kamaka instead. If all goes well, it will be the last uke I ever buy.

I had a Pono tenor - mahogany with cedar top and high gloss finish - it sure looked real nice, but the tone was very mellow - way too mellow for me. It sounded deader than a doornail when I played it, but I sold it to someone who loved it and made it sound very lovely indeed...

One thing I noticed about it right away - the string tension was hard even though the action was low - the neck must be angled back to give you that high tension. Other Pono tenors I've played all had the at same high string tension.

I bought a Pono, I have had it for about a week now. It's a PKS-1 with beautiful wood grain, it is among the ones that will be discontinued (koa) The one thing I do not like is, well the Kala that I have been playing for the past month or two at the 2nd fret the A string is about 3/16" from the edge of the fingerboard & the Pono is 1/8" and I find on some chords my palm mutes the A string if I'm not careful, I like the 3/16" clearance better. I'm still trying to decide if I like the gold strings, before I bought the pono I saw a lot of people did not like the Ko'olau golds so I have some Aquila strings on the way to try. All in all I'm glad I bought it.

out of all the ukes i played at the uke festival the solid koa pono was one of my favorites for price/sound/look

freedive135 said:

The Pono website says only Soprano & Concert Pineapples startin next year.

I was playin it yesterday and it sure sounds sweet and is very pretty too...

I was wanting a Koaloha Tenor but the not making them (Mango Pono) anymore is pullin at me along with the way it sounds and plays, and its about half the price of the Koaloha hmmmm.... what to do.... not that I "need" another Tenor and there is always next year for the Koaloha...

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I dunno what kind of inventory your local music store has, but if you want one you bettah get 'um now while some are still available. You might wanna check HMS for availability.

SuperSecretBETA said:

I have a PTM-CE. I think it's great!

One of the Grover tuners was a little sharp (snapped multiple A strings before figuring it out), but I fixed that. Also, the frets are a little sharp when it reaches the body. I'm planning to fix that soon.

I think they're not producing any in Mango Ponos in 2009, so I feel like I have a limited edition. LOL

Click to expand...

I have a PONO TENOR MANGO... just picked it up in August... I had the nut shaved down a little cause it was hard to fret in the 1st and 2nd... but the action was already low... then I went through 4 sets of A strings... it kept on breaking because of a sharp edge in the gap of the A string which was also shaved down a little... and now I have buzz on the C (3rd) string... the luthier I take it to says the action is on the lower side.... I'll get that fixed later as well, just having them raise the saddle... but I will probably take it back to Ko'olau when I fly home again and have them set it up properly...
overall, I like the sound, it's very mellow compared to Kamaka, Sonny D, and Koaloha... which were koa's anyways... I expected that... fretting is definetly a lot easier on those other ukes... I've used Koolau Golds, Aquilas, and D'addarios, which I have on it now... the Aquilas were probably the best match for it, Daddarios J71 are soft, and with the mellow sound, it probably doesnt help... I like the feel of the Daddarios vs the Aquilas... although the Aquilas wake the uke up... it is also a bit heavier than other ukes, probably cause of the truss rod in the neck... it'll take a little more fine tuning, but overall, I love the uke...

:music:

I have a Pono Tenor Mango and it's a beauty. Sounds great too, http://myspace.com/jharsonomusic


Edit: I'm currently using the J71's and haven't done anything to adjust the action. I've tried the Ko'olau Golds that they came with and they were really mellow sounding and the 71's sounded brighter and a nice blend. I haven't tried the Aquilas yet or Worths; I'm very happy with the tone right now.

So I went to the Uke store to talk my self out of getting this Tenor...well I didn't have to it was sold!!!! To one of my classmates he picked it up lastnight....

Well I didn't come home empty handed though this is what I was looking at in the first place when my eyes landed on that Tenor, no it's not a Tenor nor Mango!!!!

k0konutz said:

I have a Pono Tenor Mango and it's a beauty. Sounds great too, http://myspace.com/jharsonomusic

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where did you get the tabs for the "cant help falling in love" song... thats a nice one to learn?

mahalos

julie said:

The PKC 1-E was my first uke and it was a very nice instrument. I even reviewed it for my site

Regards,
Julie Strietelmeier
http://ukulelereview.com

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Your reviews are definitely the best ukulele reviews I've ever seen!

PONO YES!

i want the pono... pono PTE... its the uke i want after the koko... then a flea, then the PTE

i think they said awesome.

Since I posted on this thread, I purchased a Pono Tenor from MGM. This model is PTRC-CE with rosewood back and sides and cedar top, ebony fretboard and bridge, and cut away with Pono pickup. Honestly, I wasn't expecting it to be the best player as my other ukes cost me two, three, four times more than this Pono. I played other Pono's before and although they sounded okay, they were a bit quiet.

This new model has lightened bracing which we all know should help with the acoustic sound and in this case, it does! I'm also guessing that the rosewood/cedar combination also contributes towards the sound of this uke. The volume is good for a brand new uke, although volume doesn't always mean great sound. The Koolau gold strings had a really mellow sound and since I was looking for a brighter sound and more sustain, I switched out the strings to Savarez Alliance classical guitar strings which made a huge difference. Sustain and volume is very good now. The notes are clear, especially the trebles, but it also has decent bass which I'm sure will open up as the instrument loosens up. Strumming sound is balanced and not muddy. I honestly am totally impressed that an uke that cost less than $550 can look and sound so good.

My uke had a couple minor flaws being a production uke. The peghead had a small dent on the corner and the fretboard had a small 1-1.5 cm scratch just past the last fret. Although a little disappionted that a new uke already had two flaws, I wasn't willing to send back such a great sounding uke. I can live with the dent which is not noticeable and the scracth can probably be sanded out given it's past the last fret.

I have yet to play it plugged in, but I will to make sure the electronic are working properly.

BTW, the new Pono tenors come with an adjustable truss rod for neck adjustment. The action was good, but could probably be lowered just a bit as the notes were ever so slightly sharp up the fretboard. The uke came with a beautiful $90 Koolau hardshell case.

The Pono also has a 5 year original owner warranty. I'm quite tempted in picking up another Pono, dang, and I thought this purchase would cure my UAS, all it did was make it worse!