NUD-Pono AT-CR Tenor

deadpool

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My brand spanking new Pono arrived yesterday from The Ukulele Site. Set up was spot on; I had them set it up with a low G string. Playability is exceptional. It is a really well constructed instrument. No excess glue or anything in the interior. Cosmetically it appears flawless.

I do have a bit of a beef with the tone so far. It seems a bit muted and quiet. I actually think my Flight has better tone and is louder too. Plus it was about $250 less. I have wanted a Pono for a long time, but this one may not be it. I need to decide if this one is going back or not-I'll be playing it a lot in the next day or so before I decide........
 
What strings are on it?
 
My brand spanking new Pono arrived yesterday from The Ukulele Site. Set up was spot on; I had them set it up with a low G string. Playability is exceptional. It is a really well constructed instrument. No excess glue or anything in the interior. Cosmetically it appears flawless.

I do have a bit of a beef with the tone so far. It seems a bit muted and quiet. I actually think my Flight has better tone and is louder too. Plus it was about $250 less. I have wanted a Pono for a long time, but this one may not be it. I need to decide if this one is going back or not-I'll be playing it a lot in the next day or so before I decide........

You Pono's sound will open up with play and become somewhat louder. I have no experience with the Fight ukes. But make sure you compare them with the same strings.

Ponos are not the loudest ukes. But they have a very musical, chimey sound.
 
It has the stock Ko'olau Alohi strings with a Uke Logic wound low G. The Flight is strung with Worth Browns including the low G. I also have an Islander strung with Fremonts. Maybe I just like flourocarbon strings. I know I did on my nylon string guitars (when I owned some).
 
I used to have a spruce top Pono tenor. I found the same when I first owned it. It responded well to flourocarbon strings and after about 6 months lost a lot of that muted / quiet tone. Was never the loudest uke but, given time, got a lot better. One I probably should have kept in hindsight, would love to have it now!
 
I had a pono and noticed the sound was a lot louder and less muted with fluorocarbon strings. I think you have to dig in and play pretty hard to get a really loud sound out of them. Just my experience on that one instrument.
 
I do not like the stock Pono strings. Fluorocarbons are the way to go. So far I like Uke Logic soft tension, and Worth Browns. Ponos are not the loudest of ukes, but they do open up and become louder.
 
Another vote for Flurocarbon strings. Both my AT (satin finish] and MTD-SP were muted until Imput fluro carbon strings on them. Former plays in high g. The latter is strung with low G. Build is exceptional on both. Great value. Don’t give up until you have explored more.
 
Another vote for Flurocarbon strings. Both my AT (satin finish] and MTD-SP were muted until Imput fluro carbon strings on them. Former plays in high g. The latter is strung with low G. Build is exceptional on both. Great value. Don’t give up until you have explored more.

I totally agree that the build is exceptional for the price.
 
Thanks all! Looks like I'll be on the hunt locally for some fluorocarbon strings tomorrow....
 
Wow! Just put on some Fremont Black Lines. What a difference. It now sounds like it should have when I got it. Saved the Ko'olau strings but now I'm not sure why.....
 
Wow! Just put on some Fremont Black Lines. What a difference. It now sounds like it should have when I got it. Saved the Ko'olau strings but now I'm not sure why.....
Yup! I don't know what they're thinking with those strings. They don't do the Ponos justice, imo.
 
I think generally speaking, Cedar tends to be a mellower, warmer sounding tonewood compared to others like Spruce which really 'pop' and 'bang'.
With Cedar, think classical guitar tone.
 
I recently bought a Pono Tenor Electric Mango Deluxe LTE. Again, like some other posters, nada on the stock strings. (this electric is the chambered version ... looks solid body, but can still be played with volume as a acoustic, granted not loud, but nice sounding). My concern was that I got some kind of muted solid body electric uke. I wasn't getting the acclaimed near-acoustic sound that the players on the Ukulele Site (and a few Youtube reviewers) were touting. A friend has been playing Fremont Blacks, which I purchased and wow, what a difference. Used the Fremont Soloist for the low G. and really pleased. So... stock strings, "eh"... In my experience.

BTW, I've also tried higher tensioned Uke Logics and, while the sound was bigger and with great sustain, I didn't care for the tension. I normally prefer a concert scale with a flatter neck. With the higher tension, thicker neck, and somewhat wider fret distances, I found barre cords harder to play. The Fremont Blacks seemed to be enough of lowered tension to work for me.

[Now if I can just figure a way to make the neck more narrow ...... :) ]
 
I'm also waiting for my Pono to open up and to replace the strings when current set retires.
My question: seems most people in this thread recommend fluorocarbon strings. How about nylon strings? If I like warm and deep sound and I use Low G. (Though I don't like muted sound).
 
It is the Antonia. BTW, since moving to Worth strings the the tone and volume of the Pono are excellent.
 
Absolutely get some flourocarbons on it before you decide.
This. I put fluorocarbons on my Pono and it was like night and day. A big improvement on tone and sustain. Couldn't be happier.
 
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