My future Semi acoustic Baritone planning

kissing said:

Wow! The figuring on your Acacia is absolutely stunning. Mine is travelling and I am tracking the parcel like a stalker.

I hope mine is as beautiful as your's!

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Right?! I was like omg when the guy sent me a photo at the shop! I wasn't expecting it for weeks! Gave me time to save up and just take it home by the time it arrived.. But it arrived earlier then my wallet :/ I watched the website for Pono on quality control and how they select the pretties ones and test every pickup install and if it takes making 6 ukes to find that one to send to you then they would rather scrap the 5 rejects in order to make the best one to send. I plugged it in too and damn I'm so excited.. I now have to wait two weeks before it can come home with me
Atleast when yours arrives which will be soon you get to play with it as long as you want

I have a small vid I will upload https://vimeo.com/161361526 lol my face at the end "wow"

They just made 12 of them when my shop guy called so it was kismet timing in ordering he told me. I'm sure yours should be on the way as we speak.

Oh hohohoho! I don't know if I love you or hate you for recording that video.... It sounds and looks fantastic! I love how loud and projecting it is!! It's everything I wanted from the Pono Nui....

I will be using it acoustically live at church weekly.

Currently I do so with my steel-string acoustic guitar, but I've been wanting to find a baritone ukulele loud enough to replace it. The Pono Nui is it!


c'mon delivery service... track faster!! I want it now! LOL!

kissing said:

Oh hohohoho! I don't know if I love you or hate you for recording that video.... It sounds and looks fantastic! I love how loud and projecting it is!! It's everything I wanted from the Pono Nui....

I will be using it acoustically live at church weekly.

Currently I do so with my steel-string acoustic guitar, but I've been wanting to find a baritone ukulele loud enough to replace it. The Pono Nui is it!


c'mon delivery service... track faster!! I want it now! LOL!

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Lol well atleast you know what your getting in quality

I've been moving towards a guitar sound for a long time and this I think is my final evolution in ukulele.

This will be my open mic or gig(if I get those one day) uke. I feel confident I can play in a band with this sound and also will be something I protect and care for at home. The Tenor Mango I can take places like I normally do since I find any time is a good time. I also think this will be me challenging myself to separate the tuning of both Baritone and Regular Tuning Ukulele and try to co exist and remember for both of them? Not sure if I am complicating my life but I don't want to abandon my Tenor with the Nui.

I had a short window with it and recorded other samples but that one was the best out of the recordings I think and captures my reaction perfectly lol

I can't wait to visit it again... Far as naming it I keep thinking Bear.. But maybe I need more time with it to decide as the wood grain looks like an animal pelt and the head stock like a spotted leopard.. I've NEVER seen anything like this and man I wish the photos could catch the satin gleam in the light it made all the colored tones in the woods texture almost 3D and alive..

Congratulations! I'm so happy for you that you got this model, and that you love it as much as I do mine. Yours is gorgeous, and sounds superb. I hope Kissing will be getting his soon, too. Congrats to the both of you. Looking forward to hearing more of your toughts about it.

I just picked up a Pono spruce/rosewood baritone. I think Ponos are a wonderful quality buy. At their price point I don't know how to beat it. Congrats on your new Pono!!

Rakelele said:

Congratulations! I'm so happy for you that you got this model, and that you love it as much as I do mine. Yours is gorgeous, and sounds superb. I hope Kissing will be getting his soon, too. Congrats to the both of you. Looking forward to hearing more of your toughts about it.

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Thank you, I can't stop watching the videos or wanting to watch videos of YouTube on it just to hear it again. I can't wait till I can see it again and I'm glad it's an enthusiastic feeling that's shared between all Nui owners. It projected not just acoustically but plugged in even more so. Such rich warm sounds. I can't wait to see Kissing's when it arrives I wanna see how pretty if will be as well!

Regular Pono Baritone

http://youtu.be/RNWz4mBo_5c

Pono Nui

http://youtu.be/iEoM8p0MJVs


Uggghhhh the wait for us both!!

CTurner said:

I just picked up a Pono spruce/rosewood baritone. I think Ponos are a wonderful quality buy. At their price point I don't know how to beat it. Congrats on your new Pono!!

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Thank you, it was on my list of brand ukuleles I wanted as my quality piece to fall in love with. They are amazing in quality selection for looks and sound. What strings are you using on your Pono Nui? I'm curious about the Ko'olau Alohi vs Mahana as I have Mahana's on my Oscar Schmidt Mango Tenor Uke already and what other strings people have used.. I saw some used some Clasical guitar strings too

I thought it would be another year before I would own one because of cost.. I'm lucky to have a great shop..and Pono decided to be awesome and release a limited edition within a price range that was better fitted to my economics sooner rather then later...good timing to commit. I danced for a bit with the idea but you guys def helped me on this journey thank you all again

After the long-awaited wait, my Pono Nui (and tenor) came!



Some observations:

-It came with the Alohi strings. I didn't like them, so I removed them and replaced with D'addario Hard Tension classical guitar set, using the DGBE strings as I would on a classical guitar.

-The tension was still a bit too much for my preference, so I changed it to D'addario Normal Tension classical guitar set. This is how I like it!


The scale is nearly the same length as a full size Classical guitar, so it makes sense that Classical guitar strings can be used directly on it (and discard the 5th and 6th string).


The sound is GREAT! It's buttery, it's vibrant, it's warm, deep and sustains!

I'm going to be having LOTS of fun with this thing!

The electronics work really well too!


I'm glad I opted for the affordable Satin version, because it looks SWEET as - I may even prefer this look over the gloss+slothead version.
Furthermore, I definitely prefer the FLAT fretboard with the saddle sanded at a slight angle, so it is similar to a classical guitar. I don't think I would have liked the radiused fingerboard afterall.

Win Win!

kissing said:

After the long-awaited wait, my Pono Nui (and tenor) came!



Some observations:

-It came with the Alohi strings. I didn't like them, so I removed them and replaced with D'addario Hard Tension classical guitar set, using the DGBE strings as I would on a classical guitar.

-The tension was still a bit too much for my preference, so I changed it to D'addario Normal Tension classical guitar set. This is how I like it!


The scale is nearly the same length as a full size Classical guitar, so it makes sense that Classical guitar strings can be used directly on it (and discard the 5th and 6th string).


The sound is GREAT! It's buttery, it's vibrant, it's warm, deep and sustains!

I'm going to be having LOTS of fun with this thing!

The electronics work really well too!


I'm glad I opted for the affordable Satin version, because it looks SWEET as - I may even prefer this look over the gloss+slothead version.
Furthermore, I definitely prefer the FLAT fretboard with the saddle sanded at a slight angle, so it is similar to a classical guitar. I don't think I would have liked the radiused fingerboard afterall.

Win Win!

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YAY!! it looks BEAUTIFUL!!! so happy it finally arrived for you Kissing! isn't it AMAZING??!!!! !!! <-- this is as far as i can express Textually my happiness in this Baritone Nui from Pono..best decision ever! I am playing it both ways...some chord songs i am keeping them as i played it and others i am practicing playing them with the new chord shapes..

I finally got mine as well!! I had the Alohi's on for a bit but today i changed them to Mahana's and tuned it sharp to cut down on settling time..one string snapped off on install and made a small indentation in the wood *Sigh* nothing major though (i already have these on My tenor..but I'm curious to see on the Nui!) I emailed Pono about the classical guitar strings and they replied to me pretty quick which was nice of them

"aloha Joanne, the BN-1 can handle a wide range of gauges of classical nylon strings.
the D’Addario Normal tension is .029, .040, .032, and .029
we use D’Addario, and our sets are .030, .040, .033, and .029, so anywhere around those gauges should be good.
glad you are enjoying it, John"

I am guessing those are single string preference because i found no sets with those gauges exactly.

Also I don't know if you have this issue or its just ME and my still trying to get better with the (Bb on my Tenor) F Chord but I'm getting Buzzing when i play that chord on the B string I'm thinking its my finger/hand strength or hoping it is. I was hoping to get away from buzz quality wise...but I've had people tell me there is no true escape from Buzz with instruments.

I made a video (alohi Strings still) showing the F chord issue

https://vimeo.com/162886142

I can't stress how amazing this Nui is though all that aside I finally feel like I have the sound i have been chasing in the ukulele. I like the guitar Ukulele hybrid but I want to also try classic guitar strings too. I am going to start a FB page for friends or people who are interested and show the difference the choice in strings can make in playing with the video I've recorded with the Aloha and tonight or tomorrow with the Mahana's. I want more Baritone Vids to exist but maybe I might try to fill that void? I am not a Ukulele god but hey I got some things to share to help others.

I will also share with you guys the difference when i make that video. Maybe get a Nui Q&A thread if one doesn't exist? videos..questions..appreciation..
I tolfd Pono in my original video how beautiful and how they really shouldn't make this a Limited release with the BN-1 because A. I could afford this one and B. It is good to have a Satin option because it is so beautiful and better then the gloss as i have seen both now.