First Ukulele- Pono ATC-C

Pono ATC-C

I got her this morning. She feel wonderful. Nothing better than a satin finish! Sounds wise, I love it! I don't know how durable the cedar top is going to be.

Solid cedar top. Solid acacia back and sides. Low aquilla g string.

Edit: Never mind, the g string stretched out so much they snapped -.-
Changing them to a wounded low g.

Congrats on your new uke. Looks lovely

Nice ukulele! It's definitely on my list to check out.

Very nice! I had the same problem with the Red Aquila Low-G string.

I think this is a great wood combination and Pono is such a respected brand. I think you will be satisfied for a long time with this uke (or until your UAS kicks in).

Enjoy it!

RedViolin said:

I got her this morning. She feel wonderful. Nothing better than a satin finish! Sounds wise, I love it! I don't know how durable the cedar top is going to be.

Solid cedar top. Solid acacia back and sides. Low aquilla g string.

Edit: Never mind, the g string stretched out so much they snapped -.-
Changing them to a wounded low g.

Click to expand...

The cedar top should hold up just fine if you treat the instrument well. Cedar is a known tone wood used in a lot of instruments and has a nice warm tone. I used to have a hammer dulcimer with a cedar top.

I wouldn't use the top as a desk to write upon, coaster for drinks, cutting board, etc.; but it will be durable and hold up well as a uke.

Congratulations on the new Pono. They sound terrific! I also put a red Low G Aquilla on my Fender uke. It stretched and stretched and stretched. Finally, it stabilized but, the tension felt much lower than the other stings and it wasn't as loud. I put the old string back on. I have a wound low G on my Pono Tenor.

Congrats on your new uke - enjoy!

Thanks for the replies guys!

From one day's worth of experience, I can say that the Pono projects very nicely and it's perfect for fingers picking. It's hard to belief that it's going to sound even better when the cedar top opens up! I hope it gets warmer and deeper after time. Maybe it's because of the wounded low G or the particular set of string I have but I feel like the lows overpower the highs sometimes. But that just means its time to experiment with different type of strings!

Better watch out -- broken g strings can be embarrassing! What an amazing first uke. Something about a cedar top makes it so musical...so warm and lovely. I am having some remorse for choosing koa over cedar for a custom that's on its way, but I guess we all need a koa uke. I have a little soprano that I got for $150 and it sings like a bird. Sounds better than some $1000+ sopranos I've played, and I attribute most of that to the cedar wood.

Does the cutaway rob the uke of any tone?

Curly Koa said:

Better watch out -- broken g strings can be embarrassing! What an amazing first uke. Something about a cedar top makes it so musical...so warm and lovely. I am having some remorse for choosing koa over cedar for a custom that's on its way, but I guess we all need a koa uke. I have a little soprano that I got for $150 and it sings like a bird. Sounds better than some $1000+ sopranos I've played, and I attribute most of that to the cedar wood.

Does the cutaway rob the uke of any tone?

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Haha! I love the sound of cedar tops But I'm sure your custom is going to be perfect! Koa is indeed beautiful, both in looks and sound. Say, does your custom have a satin finish or a gloss finish?

Oh, and since it's my first ukulele I'm not sure of the cutaway affects the tone. I think it doesn't because it sound pretty full to be but I wouldn't really know.

That's a swell uke, redviolin. And, the cutaway doesn't rob any audible tone (to the human ear; perhaps a dog could hear the difference). There was a thread on UU about 9 months ago voting on cutaway, and the jury was split-- about half liked it, other half did not. One little considered cutaway benefit: the most common place on a uke for strum marks and scratches is where the cutaway is. So, cutaway=no wood=no scratches.

Here's a little info about cutaways from Gordon at Mya Moe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z7bYFNliCQ



Whatcha gonna buy next?

coolkayaker1 said:

That's a swell uke, redviolin. And, the cutaway doesn't rob any audible tone (to the human ear; perhaps a dog could hear the difference).

Whatcha gonna buy next?

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Thanks! It was very tightly package when it came! HMS knows what they're doing for sure!
I also like the cutaway because I'm less likely to scratch my uke when strumming

Next, well.....hehe, I really want a Kamaka HF-3 BUT I'm actually not planning to buy a ukelele for awhile. I'm saving up to buy a new and nicer violin in the price range of $1500 (I have roughly $200 right now) but you never know when UAS will hit me. With that amount of money imagine how many ukes I can buy

I got to play a Pono this evening at our uke jam. Man, I am impressed by the quality and sound. You definitly made a good choice. I love the cedar soundboards for the mellower sound. I own the first Breedlove CM guitar made, it was the actual one NAMM judged as guitar of the year(1992); B/L used a cedar top. My Griffins are old growth cedar tops and they sound wonderful.

Like the posts above, the cutaway is perfect for making the higher chords and lead playing. You really researched the ukes before buying and I think that made a difference in what you ended up with and your satisfaction.

Once the cedar "ages" a bit, the true sound will be noticeable but even more, the darkness of the wood will become much richer.

True the cedar tops are softer, but for me, I kind of like the dings and scratches I leave playing. It's like leaving my mark for the future generations of my family to remember me by. If they get too bad, I'll get it re-French polished.

Since you mentioned strings abit, you may want to look at getting a set of Southcoast round wounds for it. They'll make that Pono sing even more than it does now.

Oh by the way, is this normal for cutaways? I don't know if the picture shows it well. In the stock picture, it's shows the part connecting the neck to the body as smooth (they seem like once piece of wood).

For my Pono, it's obvious that it's two pieces of wood. If you were to run your hands down the cutaway, it will feel like it's jumping of a hill and then landing on the neck. It's doesn't affect my playing but cosmetically, it bothers me a little.

Here's the stock photo from HMS:
http://s4ee134128e51b.img.gostorego...e39179cbb6e84d26cc33/p/o/pono_at-c_3_copy.jpg