Why the hate on Pono?

I don’t like Kala ukes, either :rolleyes:

Ha ha thank you for the honesty!
My Kala Elite ( it was Corey Fujimoto personal custom uke) neck is thicker than Pono.
My hands are very small. If I can play it any one can !
Pono is an entrance to custom built uke It has a lot of wood choices !
 
Ha ha thank you for the honesty!
My Kala Elite ( it was Corey Fujimoto personal custom uke) neck is thicker than Pono.
My hands are very small. If I can play it any one can !
Pono is an entrance to custom built uke It has a lot of wood choices !

No doubt, I can play Kala, Pono, and other thick-necked ukes. But I very much prefer ukes with slimmer neck profiles and wider fretboards. If for some reason, I could only own a Pono or Kala, I would. But thankfully for me, there are many wonderful alternatives in the same general price range that I absolutely love to play. And they are well-balanced, have plenty of volume, and sound amazing, too.
 
I don’t like Kala ukes, either :rolleyes:

I had one Kala that had a very nicely shaped neck. I had another one that had a horrible neck shape, like a damn 2 by 4.
So I took them both to my luthier and said "HEY, puleeeeze shaped this awful fat neck like the other one." He did, and now I love that Kala. IT cost me 40 bucks to keep a uke I really like playing. It is tuned to slack key now, very nice to play.
 
Weight and balance? On a small instrument like a ukulele? I don’t get that at all, never have....

When I owned my Pono ATD tenor, I also owned a Cordoba 24T tenor. Though the Pono was doubtlessly a higher quality uke I much preferred playing the Cordoba. Tonally, it is wonderful. The neck carve is fast and comfortable... and its total weight is less than the difference in weight between it and the Pono.

Playing while seated, the Cordoba balances perfectly. I don’t have to support the neck at all with my fretting hand.

This was not at all the case with the Pono. Even seated, I either had to support the neck with my fretting hand or I had to use a strap to play it... leather, rough side down so it wouldn’t slide and force me to pull the uke back up with my fretting hand. Even so, it was so neck heavy I still had to adjust it every few moments.

Nobody is suggesting the Pono tenor is objectively heavy... it’s not a bass guitar. But it is comparatively heavy... and it’s definitely neck heavy. IMO, the benefit of having a truss rod is questionable in a tenor uke to begin with... and the trade off in balance just ain’t worth it.
 
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I too thought the thrust rod was overkill. However, my old Pono MT-E needed a wee more neck relief after 6 or 7 years and a change to a different type of strings. About a quarter turn and I was good to go.

I must say my MT-E is pretty well balanced but it's an older design with the rosewood fingerboard. The newer ebony boards are a little more neck heavy.
 
I like my Pono ATD plenty. It's just been outranked by better ukes. Soundwise it slots in between a Beau Hannam tenor and a Martin T2K. Pretty good company.

The truss rod gives a bit of action adjustment that can spare you a more involved procedure.

The thick neck doesn't bother me much, and truth to tell, as I age and my hands become more arthritic the thick neck gives them a break.
 
I have a Pono MTD-CR as well as a Koaloha and Kala tenors. The Pono is a quality instrument and most definitely not a cheap $40 Amazon Ukulele. I have cheaper Ukuleles - Luna and Washburn and I consider the Pono to be of significantly higher quality.

Although initially I was put off by the Pono's wound C string and had even planned to sell it. But over time and with perseverance, I have come to enjoy playing it. Plus I appreciate the Pono's radiussed fretboard albeit a very minimal radius. So I now consider it a keeper. :)
 
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