Rakelele
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2014
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This took just as long a custom made instrument to be built, and as a matter of fact, I got to specify exactly what I wanted: it's Pono's UL six string model, but the first one with a slotted headstock, a sunburst cedar top, and a herringbone rosette.
Regular guitars have always felt too big for me, so discovering the uke with all its varieties was a great experience which has led me to explore the boundaries between the two instruments. The Pono UL is precisely such a crossover: It is made for steel strings just like an acoustic guitar, but with a scale length of 21.4", it is only slightly larger than a baritone ukulele. It can either be approached as an ultra short scale acoustic guitar or as a guitarlele/guilele with steel strings. According to Pono, they were inspired by Martin's Size 5 Parlor guitars of the old days.
It works well with regular guitar tuning (E-E) and it can be tuned up five steps like most guitaleles are (A-A), but it works best in between the two, what is traditionally referred to as Terz tuning (G-G). This is three steps up from a regular guitar, or two steps down from the typical ukulele tuning.
You cannot expect an instrument of this size to have the fullness of a dreadnought guitar, but to me, that is one of its qualities: regular guitars are not only to big, but also too loud and intimidating for me, whereas this one rings out nicely, but without the overpowering basses. Something about this size and scale produces a very sweet tone and chime-like sustain.
Playability is excellent with perfectly low action. Pono now uses a satin finished neck which is what many players prefer for faster sliding. The neck profile, I have to admit, is a bit too chunky for me, but nicely rounded. At 45 mm, the nut width is similar to many other acoustic guitars. In my opinion, they could have compensated for the reduced scale length with a slightly wider fretboard (~47 mm), leaving more vertical space for tight chord shapes like 002220 which do get a bit cramped at such a short scale.
Craftsmanship is absolutely impeccable, as on all Pono instruments I have owned and played. The sunburst finish is beautifully executed and shown off by a perfectly mirror-flat gloss. For the rosette, they have used herringbone on my request. I think it looks great and I hope they will incorporate it on more models as I much prefer it over their rope style rosettes.
Summing up this little review, I can say this is the guitar I always wanted: small enough to not feel like a piece of furniture on my lap, but large enough to fully resonate. After playing around with several different models, I would say that this UL model has the shortest scale to still work fine with steel strings. If you're looking for a high quality steel string guitalele, this is it.
I didn't get to take pictures of it, so I'm attaching the ones that were taken at the Ko'olau workshop on Hawaii.
Regular guitars have always felt too big for me, so discovering the uke with all its varieties was a great experience which has led me to explore the boundaries between the two instruments. The Pono UL is precisely such a crossover: It is made for steel strings just like an acoustic guitar, but with a scale length of 21.4", it is only slightly larger than a baritone ukulele. It can either be approached as an ultra short scale acoustic guitar or as a guitarlele/guilele with steel strings. According to Pono, they were inspired by Martin's Size 5 Parlor guitars of the old days.
It works well with regular guitar tuning (E-E) and it can be tuned up five steps like most guitaleles are (A-A), but it works best in between the two, what is traditionally referred to as Terz tuning (G-G). This is three steps up from a regular guitar, or two steps down from the typical ukulele tuning.
You cannot expect an instrument of this size to have the fullness of a dreadnought guitar, but to me, that is one of its qualities: regular guitars are not only to big, but also too loud and intimidating for me, whereas this one rings out nicely, but without the overpowering basses. Something about this size and scale produces a very sweet tone and chime-like sustain.
Playability is excellent with perfectly low action. Pono now uses a satin finished neck which is what many players prefer for faster sliding. The neck profile, I have to admit, is a bit too chunky for me, but nicely rounded. At 45 mm, the nut width is similar to many other acoustic guitars. In my opinion, they could have compensated for the reduced scale length with a slightly wider fretboard (~47 mm), leaving more vertical space for tight chord shapes like 002220 which do get a bit cramped at such a short scale.
Craftsmanship is absolutely impeccable, as on all Pono instruments I have owned and played. The sunburst finish is beautifully executed and shown off by a perfectly mirror-flat gloss. For the rosette, they have used herringbone on my request. I think it looks great and I hope they will incorporate it on more models as I much prefer it over their rope style rosettes.
Summing up this little review, I can say this is the guitar I always wanted: small enough to not feel like a piece of furniture on my lap, but large enough to fully resonate. After playing around with several different models, I would say that this UL model has the shortest scale to still work fine with steel strings. If you're looking for a high quality steel string guitalele, this is it.
I didn't get to take pictures of it, so I'm attaching the ones that were taken at the Ko'olau workshop on Hawaii.
