Boozelele
Well-known member
I added my comments about the new Pono Ohai Ukuleles to another thread but thought maybe my review warranted it's own so as to not piggy back on someone else's thread.. A lot has been said on this forum about these ukes, but there are a few of us who have a sightly different opinion, and in fairness to all, I would like to share it...
First this uke is really nice to look at. The color and grain are of the wood are stunning (it reminded me of the beauty of oak cabinets). Unfortunately the sound board seems as thick and heavy as oak furniture as well. The sound is pleasant when you are close to it, but I'm afraid the face is so thick that it doesn't resonate very well. It is apparent as soon as you take it from the case...this thing is heavy. The finish was nice, I like the matte. It feels good in your hands...but.... ...and I wont even go into the tuners, bridge, nut, binding, etc...it simply doesn't make enough of a difference to get past the resonance, or lack there of.
Deach has the version with the pick-up, and I wont speak for him, but I can understand how his could be better. Maybe it's a lot like a solid body electric.....not something to be played without amplification. He can speak to this better than I.
I bought the Pono Ohai with the idea that it would be a major step up from my Kala Solid Mahogany Tenor...It wasn't. My trusty $200 Kala is a much better sounding and playing uke. I wrestled for a couple days with what to do, and ended up shipping the Pono back to MGM.
On a side note I was also not a fan of the wound C string. I could not keep it from buzzing. I don't know how much of that was the instrument, and how much was my crappy playing, but it annoyed the hell out of me. I ended up replacing that string with an Aquila un-wound C string.....and the buzz persisted. I thought well hell, I wonder if my Kala does that too, and I just never noticed it.....nope, just the Pono.
So, long story short...the Ohai is on it's way back to Hawaii. It was beautiful to look at, but that's about it (much like my second wife).
First this uke is really nice to look at. The color and grain are of the wood are stunning (it reminded me of the beauty of oak cabinets). Unfortunately the sound board seems as thick and heavy as oak furniture as well. The sound is pleasant when you are close to it, but I'm afraid the face is so thick that it doesn't resonate very well. It is apparent as soon as you take it from the case...this thing is heavy. The finish was nice, I like the matte. It feels good in your hands...but.... ...and I wont even go into the tuners, bridge, nut, binding, etc...it simply doesn't make enough of a difference to get past the resonance, or lack there of.
Deach has the version with the pick-up, and I wont speak for him, but I can understand how his could be better. Maybe it's a lot like a solid body electric.....not something to be played without amplification. He can speak to this better than I.
I bought the Pono Ohai with the idea that it would be a major step up from my Kala Solid Mahogany Tenor...It wasn't. My trusty $200 Kala is a much better sounding and playing uke. I wrestled for a couple days with what to do, and ended up shipping the Pono back to MGM.
On a side note I was also not a fan of the wound C string. I could not keep it from buzzing. I don't know how much of that was the instrument, and how much was my crappy playing, but it annoyed the hell out of me. I ended up replacing that string with an Aquila un-wound C string.....and the buzz persisted. I thought well hell, I wonder if my Kala does that too, and I just never noticed it.....nope, just the Pono.
So, long story short...the Ohai is on it's way back to Hawaii. It was beautiful to look at, but that's about it (much like my second wife).
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