Want To Know About PONO Ukulele W/Wire Strings

johnnysmash

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I have heard of Pono Ukuleles slightly larger than a Baritone Ukulele and smaller then a Tenor Guitar with steel strings. Please give me all of the pros and cons. I think the bug has bitten me.
 
Ok here goes. Myself and Rakele were involved in influencing Pono to make these. We bought the first two instruments they made. I had the cedar/mahogany and Rainer got the spruce/rosewood. As with all Pono instruments they were well thought out, designed and built. The fit and finish was excellent, they are a high quality instrument. The 1-3/8” nut width was designed to allow ukulele players to feell comfortable with the string spacing, most other tenor guitars are 1-1/8”. If you want the sound of a steel string instrument but are put off by the larger body size and narrow nut of a standard tenor guitar this is a great way to go. Feel free to ask any questions.
 
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I had the spruce/rosewood, in a a “deluxe” version. It was very pretty, fit and finish excellent. I preferred the tone, volume and sustain to my previous Pono reg baritone (fluorocarbon string). Both were headstock heavy which botched me a bit (one paddle head on slot head). I sold the reg bari to buy the big bari and sold the tenor guitar (“big” bari) to buy a conventional tenor guitar. I’m not one who keeps several similar type of instruments mainly for financial reasons but also space and philosophy. Anyway, after playing mandolin and guitar for a while, I really prefer the closer string spacing/slimmer neck that a conventional tenor guitar has and also wanted the bigger body and sound. I got an old Kalamazoo tenor guitar to replace the Pono. Pono steel string big bari was nice though and I think you’ll like it. I bought my Pono TG used, for a good price ($600, I think) from Mandolin Cafe’s marketplace. When I rehomed it, it sold in a heartbeat, so if you want to just buy and try (used) you won’t have trouble selling and won’t take a financial hit.
 
Is the steel string Pono as easy to fret as the baritone ukulele?

Does the steel string Pono sound like a guitar or a ukulele or somewhere in between?
 
Steel strings will naturally have more tension but I did not find it an issue. It sounds like a baritone ukulele with steel strings, if that makes sense. But more guitar like because the sustain and projection is much bigger. So somewhere in between I guess is the correct answer
 
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