Pono evolution? Interesting. I had an acacia slot head tenor that was lovely to look at but rather heavily built and lacked the sound I was looking for. Sold it and the buyer loves it dearly. If Pono has made changes to a lighter, more resonant build that would be a good thing indeed.
My limited experience with Martin did not encourage me. A friend brought one to me to look at. It had a warped neck and to the extent that there was no way to bring the action down to anything reasonable. We sent it off to Martin under warranty. My main concern was the neck blank they used, in that it had an area of swirled grain about halfway up -- an invitation to warping over time. The did fix it, but with the same neck wood. More than that, however, was the fact that it took them over three months once they had the uke in hand. We checked in every few weeks and were told that it was on the wait list for warranty repair. Three months is a very long time for a warranty repair.
So, were it me, I'd play a few Ponos and if you like the sound go for it. The Pono I had was impeccably made and a very good value -- just not the sound for me. I'd be careful when it comes to Martin, at least with ukuleles -- I've the feeling the Martin ukes may not get priority in building or service.
My limited experience with Martin did not encourage me. A friend brought one to me to look at. It had a warped neck and to the extent that there was no way to bring the action down to anything reasonable. We sent it off to Martin under warranty. My main concern was the neck blank they used, in that it had an area of swirled grain about halfway up -- an invitation to warping over time. The did fix it, but with the same neck wood. More than that, however, was the fact that it took them over three months once they had the uke in hand. We checked in every few weeks and were told that it was on the wait list for warranty repair. Three months is a very long time for a warranty repair.
So, were it me, I'd play a few Ponos and if you like the sound go for it. The Pono I had was impeccably made and a very good value -- just not the sound for me. I'd be careful when it comes to Martin, at least with ukuleles -- I've the feeling the Martin ukes may not get priority in building or service.