Your opinions.....Best Baritone without spending over $1,000 on one of the Big Four K Companies? I play tenor and want to learn Baritone also but want to stay under $800.
I’ve looked at some Pono, Kala, Mainland, Loprinzi etc
Roy Wood in Dallas has seen a lot, no a really large number of baritones. I'd ask him. But none of those you mentioned (assuming you are not at the bottom of lines like Kala and Ohana), sound pretty good. And the Cordoba 20 series are highly rated for their price range.
You can get a decent Baritone for $400 or so. Your $800 budget would give you a Pono or LoPrinzi, which are both well respected. I have two Baritones, both Kala’s. An all solid Mahogany and a solid Cedar top. I like both a lot. Set up does a lot for both sound and playablility. If I were to upgrade I would look at LoPrinzi’s and Kala Elite. Who am I kidding, of course I want to upgrade. But I do love what I have.
The above is a great list, espiecally the Pono in either spruce or cedar top. If you can find a used Kamaka around $1000 I would jump on it. Mine is really wonderful and I have had a number of good baritones.
I really like what Pono is offering in the baritone range, with all kinds of possible upgrades and features such as a truss rod, slotted or solid headstock, radius fretboard, and optional cutaway. Or choose a more basic model if you have limited funds and/or prefer a flat fretboard. I'd also recommend looking at their slightly bigger ULN models and the much bigger Baritone Nui body, if you want to go for something a little more guitar-like. My top choice would be cedar top or all acacia.
Another option I'd be looking at is the Larrivée that the Doc mentioned.
Ponos tend to have narrower necks, while Kalas are wider. I've had a couple Kala baritones over the years and I prefer their feel over the Ponos I've played.
Slotted headstocks look pretty, but I find are also noticeably heavier, so if you get one you'll probably want a strap so you're not wasting muscle holding it up.
Strings you can change (and probably should) for either brand. Some people swear by the golden ones that come on Ponos, but I find them thick and rubbery. Kalas almost always come with straight Aquilas, and while Aquilas are a fine choice on smaller ukes, their baritone strings (esp. the wound strings) aren't their best. If you want that punchy Aquila sound, get the D'Addario Nyltechs instead.
