PONO taropatch 8 string concert

uketanzon

uketanzon

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I just got one of the PONO all acacia solid wood Tropatch 8 string PONO.
Bought from HMS and with a full set up...

Impressions..

Beautiful top quality instrument,,,,,hey its a PONO
very nice inlay of a taropatch flower on the fretboard
Nice low action..great setup
Pono Koolau strings.......do not like though....too floppy and thick, put on fremont black lines flurocarbons, made a big difference
, it needs flurocabon thinner strings...
Playability....quite excellent
Sound...Great..mando like..a bit....adds great flavor to my uke group
((had an ohana 10 string tiple, to me this beat it out ...sold the tiple)
my tuning....Gg, CC, EE, AA
stays in tune....pretty much..but will upgrade to gotoh upt someday which will make it awesome
Nice hard case
Price to Value...9’
Really surprised this is flying under the radar...
they have a few left,,,discontinuing due to lack of interest and slow sales i was told
note, was experimenting, makes a very nice sounding 5 string concert as well, high and low g....
see
https://www.theukulelesite.com/pono-ac-t-concert-taropatch-8-string.html?___SID=U
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the heads up. This is a killer deal and I would go for it had I not just bought an old Kamaka Lili'u. FWIT the Pono FAQ states that they use "Acacia preta" which is not acacia in a strict sense but otherwise known as "monkey pod". IMHO this is actually a step up from the Acacia confusa that is used for many other ukes.
 
I've had one of these bought from Uke Republic several months ago. The sound is great and the build quality also excellent. I used to play a 12 string guitar and wanted something with a similar sound. The only issue I have with it is I'm not a big fan of the friction tuners although they look great. I have to continually adjust the tension on them. That has slowed down fortunately but playing in a uke club, I find I have to retune multiple times (I don't have to do it with my Martin tenor). I have mine strung all unison with Martin flouros now after ordering it with Worth Browns (octaves on the G and C). Didn't like the Worths at all on this uke but won't count them out on another instrument possibly at some point.
 
Photodan said:
I've had one of these bought from Uke Republic several months ago. The sound is great and the build quality also excellent. I used to play a 12 string guitar and wanted something with a similar sound. The only issue I have with it is I'm not a big fan of the friction tuners although they look great. I have to continually adjust the tension on them. That has slowed down fortunately but playing in a uke club, I find I have to retune multiple times (I don't have to do it with my Martin tenor). I have mine strung all unison with Martin flouros now after ordering it with Worth Browns (octaves on the G and C). Didn't like the Worths at all on this uke but won't count them out on another instrument possibly at some point.
Click to expand...
If the strings are already stretched, maybe you need to tighten the screw on the back of the tuner a little. It sounds like they are slipping. I've had an individual friction tuner that couldn't hold, but I've never had four at once.
 
Ziret said:
If the strings are already stretched, maybe you need to tighten the screw on the back of the tuner a little. It sounds like they are slipping. I've had an individual friction tuner that couldn't hold, but I've never had four at once.
Click to expand...

Ziret, maybe I wasn't clear on that. I have adjusted the screws frequently but in small increments. A couple of the tuners are very tight to turn already so I don't really like to tighten the screws any more on them. Like I mentioned though, tuning is holding up better than before as I close in on the proper tension on the screws I guess.
 
Got the Ohana 8 string concert, sure wish I'd have gotten the Pono instead
 
Photodan said:
Ziret, maybe I wasn't clear on that. I have adjusted the screws frequently but in small increments. A couple of the tuners are very tight to turn already so I don't really like to tighten the screws any more on them. Like I mentioned though, tuning is holding up better than before as I close in on the proper tension on the screws I guess.
Click to expand...
Ah, I see. How's it working now? Hope you got it sorted out.
 
This is what i did with mine...
bought a set of worth brown low g
and a set of worth clear high g.
put 4 strings clear high g
and 4 strings brown low g.
sounds awesome!

Was going to put on 8 gotoh upts, but the headstock is a bit fat, and I would have to leave out a washer, so decided against it.
 
if you leave out the top washer .....was speaking to Joel
at Hawaiin music supply who did one...problem is you see the indentation on wood from the old washer ..
I did not like the look...
 
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