Pono saved from the scrap heap.

Icelander53 · Oct 13, 2015

Awhile back my friend bought a used Pono.
. Spruce/wi awa heartwood. So it had a the spruce and a beautiful orange/red back and sides. (cuttaway). The bad part was it sounded like crap. We did four sting changes and it sounded like crap each time. We contacted Andrew and he said there was a limited production of some of those that did not sound good and so was discoed. Maybe it was one of those but now I think not. And I may not be accurately remembering what Andrew said. So it just hung in a glass case looking pretty but never getting played and her being wealthy was not interested in trying to sell it off at any price.

OK here's the punchline. We bought some South Coast strings and when they arrived we had a lot of them so I suggested we try a set on that puppy. OMG! This went from the worst Pono I've ever heard to one that rivals in sound and sustain our favorite Pono's and my Opio. I never ever in a million years could have believed such a thing was possible. I was hoping for some tiny improvement. IMO most Pono's love South Coast strings. That is all.

sam13 · Oct 13, 2015

One must always be grateful for the Ukes we never get. I think I was coveting that one from a vendor on the West Coast.

I agree with you regarding Pono's loving SC strings. Pono's also love Oasis strings as well.

Andy Chen · Oct 13, 2015

+1 for South Coast, its strings and Dirk's customer service.

On another note, I am surprised they even sold those Ponos when it turned out that they didn't sound good.

Icelander53 · Oct 13, 2015

That's a good point. But the fact is it was just waiting to sound great. It really does. I'm blown away that one set of strings could make such a transformation. I remember when I was first here thinking all this string talk was a bunch of nonsense. :biglaugh:

johnson430 · Oct 13, 2015

Icelander53 said:
Awhile back my friend bought a Pono from someone here who will remain unnamed. They were not exactly honest in the description of how wonderful it sounded or the condition. It had a few marks that were never mentioned but still it was a beautiful thing to view. Spruce/wi awa heartwood. So it had a the spruce and a beautiful orange/red back and sides. (cuttaway). The bad part was it sounded like crap. We did four sting changes and it sounded like crap each time. We contacted Andrew and he said there was a limited production of some of those that did not sound good and so was discoed. So it just hung in a glass case looking pretty but never getting played and her being wealthy was not interested in trying to sell it off at any price.

OK here's the punchline. We bought some South Coast strings and when they arrived we had a lot of them so I suggested we try a set on that puppy. OMG! This went from the worst Pono I've ever heard to one that rivals in sound and sustain our favorite Pono's and my Opio. I never ever in a million years could have believed such a thing was possible. I was hoping for some tiny improvement. IMO most Pono's love South Coast strings. That is all.

Glad to hear the strings works. I have been thinking about some South Coast on my Pono MGT.

Did the buyer get a good discount, especially after it had some cosmetic issues that were not addressed by the seller?

AndrewKuker · Oct 13, 2015

Andy Chen said:
+1 for South Coast, its strings and Dirk's customer service.

On another note, I am surprised they even sold those Ponos when it turned out that they didn't sound good.

There were only a handful of those all from one batch and I didn’t list them for sale but they were sold by Pono to other dealers at about the price of the regular Deluxe model. (Pro Classics) very discounted because they decided not to make it a model. So they should have sold for hundreds less than you would expect. They're quality musical instruments and very well made. Otherwise they wouldn’t have been put on the market at all.

I think this model was before I carried SC strings, so who knows, maybe I would tried that and listed it. Dirk has lots of options too and that’s really cool. It’s interesting how string tension affects the tone. For me, there’s a zone to find when uke/string pairing, but mine or anyone's experienced opinion is still an opinion. There's personal factors like your style, setting, technique and taste. You gotta just try um and see what you like.

Teek · Oct 13, 2015

AND if it was overly humid it could have added a muddy thud. Southcoasts are all a lot of my ukes wear now. I like Worths on some, but two tenors that have them now are going back to SCs ASAP I have time to swap out stings. My Kanile'a is one of the few that doesn't like them, and neither do my Martins. But I think they just want higher tension Southcoasts because they do well with Worths. My Pono Pro Classic loves them too. Shout out for Pono!

DownUpDave · Oct 13, 2015

Icelander53 said:
That's a good point. But the fact is it was just waiting to sound great. It really does. I'm blown away that one set of strings could make such a transformation. I remember when I was first here thinking all this string talk was a bunch of nonsense. :biglaugh:

I love what you said about "it was just waiting to sound good". There is a lesson in there for all of us, patience and persistence pays off. I remember hearing a builder says how crazy it was that people sell off an instrument before giving it a fair chance.

Viva la Pono

Mivo · Oct 13, 2015

Icelander53 said:
Awhile back my friend bought a Pono from someone here who will remain unnamed. They were not exactly honest in the description of how wonderful it sounded or the condition.

I'm a bit torn on "naming and shaming", but this illustrates the downsides of not having a feedback system. If you name someone, it can turn into mud slinging, and if you don't, the person "gets away" with this behavior and may do it again with someone else.

It's good that the uke could be saved, though!

Mivo · Oct 13, 2015

True, especially when it comes to sound, but he also mentioned the condition of the instrument, which is more objective (scratches when it was described as being in mint condition, if that was the case). But you're right, it's tricky.

For some reason, it's often claimed that people today whine and complain too much and about everything, but in my experience when it comes to buying stuff, there is a lot of misplaced politeness going around where customers don't want to be "a problem" or shy away from the conflict, so they "suck it up" even if they have a perfectly legitimate reason to speak up or protest. I see it with my own customers, and I experience it with myself also (where something about a purchase bugs and dissatisfies me, but I don't want to be a bother).

sam13 · Oct 13, 2015

Icelander53 said:
That's a good point. But the fact is it was just waiting to sound great. It really does. I'm blown away that one set of strings could make such a transformation. I remember when I was first here thinking all this string talk was a bunch of nonsense. :biglaugh:

I have a RTC Spruce top ... and had the wrong strings on it .... Re entrant High G Bright Oasis ... I was ready to sell it.

But I put re entrant Worth BT's on it ... and OMG ... it is fabulous ... took the over the top brightness out, added warmth to it ... and softened it up ... and it is now it is getting lots of time.

Strings are a significant factor and glad you found all it needed was a string change ...

sam13 · Oct 13, 2015

DownUpDave said:
I love what you said about "it was just waiting to sound good". There is a lesson in there for all of us, patience and persistence pays off. I remember hearing a builder says how crazy it was that people sell off an instrument before giving it a fair chance.

Viva la Pono

I agree with Dave.

Let the Pono Pose Roam ... into a home near you!

Icelander53 · Oct 13, 2015

johnson430 said:
Glad to hear the strings works. I have been thinking about some South Coast on my Pono MGT.

Did the buyer get a good discount, especially after it had some cosmetic issues that were not addressed by the seller?

It was sold at a price we both agree on. We did not do anything about the cosmetic issues which were all at the bridge end where the strings tie.

Icelander53 · Oct 13, 2015

The only real fault in the sale ultimately was the lack of disclosure of the minor dings. The seller may have thought it sounded fine and they wanted to sell it for whatever reason but in searching their back posts it seems they were struggling with the sound also. However the buyer did that search though the posts and I don't remember if I read them myself or not. Myself and my friend have no ill will towards the seller. And it's turned out to be a fine player. Maybe if they had found these strings they never would have sold it. In retrospect it was a mistake to have posted that about the seller. My mistake and I regret it now. But I've been known to do things I regret. I'll delete that from the OP.

Icelander53 · Oct 13, 2015

AndrewKuker said:
There were only a handful of those all from one batch and I didn

Icelander53 · Oct 13, 2015

Teek said:
AND if it was overly humid it could have added a muddy thud. Southcoasts are all a lot of my ukes wear now. I like Worths on some, but two tenors that have them now are going back to SCs ASAP I have time to swap out stings. My Kanile'a is one of the few that doesn't like them, and neither do my Martins. But I think they just want higher tension Southcoasts because they do well with Worths. My Pono Pro Classic loves them too. Shout out for Pono!

Not really muddy and we keep the humidity at just under 50%. One issue was the lack of sustain. Now it really has it. No other strings could fix that that we tried. I think we tried Worth, Mahana, Freemont, and something else. But it always sounded basically the same.

Icelander53 · Oct 13, 2015

Mivo said:
I'm a bit torn on "naming and shaming", but this illustrates the downsides of not having a feedback system. If you name someone, it can turn into mud slinging, and if you don't, the person "gets away" with this behavior and may do it again with someone else.

It's good that the uke could be saved, though!

I agree. I'm sorry I made the OP with that part. It was not necessary and I apologise to everyone for my bad behavior including the seller. I have deleted it from the OP.

Icelander53 · Oct 13, 2015

ubulele said:
Sometimes "getting away" is just a difference of perceptions and expectations.

True. I talked my friend into it and when it arrived I talked myself into thinking it sounded ok and convinced her to protect myself from making a mistake that she was paying for. It was childish but I do that from time to time but that wore off fairly quickly and then we began the string changes.

Icelander53 · Oct 13, 2015

Mivo said:
True, especially when it comes to sound, but he also mentioned the condition of the instrument, which is more objective (scratches when it was described as being in mint condition, if that was the case). But you're right, it's tricky.

For some reason, it's often claimed that people today whine and complain too much and about everything, but in my experience when it comes to buying stuff, there is a lot of misplaced politeness going around where customers don't want to be "a problem" or shy away from the conflict, so they "suck it up" even if they have a perfectly legitimate reason to speak up or protest. I see it with my own customers, and I experience it with myself also (where something about a purchase bugs and dissatisfies me, but I don't want to be a bother).

That's usually my take also and the cosmetic issues were not stated in the description of the condition. For that the seller is responsible. The rest may just be a difference of opinion.

Icelander53 · Oct 13, 2015

I'd like to address some of that. Yes I was guilty of not complaining to the seller on the cosmetic issues as I didn't feel it was worth it at the time. I don't usually feel bad about small flaws like that but the buyer did. However she is usually very shy about complaining to others. Again I'm responsible for this and I agree it was bad behavior on my part. I will say we paid a pretty good sum for it. It was not a bargain basement sale price IMO.

So I messed up and I'm trying to make it right. Fortunately I had the good sense not to mention the seller by name.

Messing up is part of life. It was my turn to make a mess. I hope I've cleaned it up a little and learned a good lesson.

Pono saved from the scrap heap.

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