Need opinions on mid-range baritones

The Ponos have a dual-action truss rod, in case you should ever need to adjust the neck relief (not the action, though a truss rod adjustment may help temporarily with that as well). I've not yet had to adjust the relief on any of my Ponos or Kalas, but I have had relief problems with a couple of other ukes, so the truss rod feature may pay off some day with my Ponos.

The Kala SMHB also has an adjustable truss rod.
 
Have you also listened the acacia Kala bari (Kala KA-SA-B)? It comes in at $399. I'm rather fond of mine, particularly with Uke Logic high tension strings. The instrument really sings for me, and you can see from my list below that I'm used to some pretty nice ukes. I thought for sure the width of the neck would be an issue (my hands are so tiny I have to buy children's gloves), but the necks on these feel nice. I understand some people are partial to mahogany, too, though.

I have and I would actually prefer the solid acacia over the mahogany since I already have a few mahogany ukes and I prefer the looks as well. Unfortunately, I can't find any shops near me that stock it so it'll have to be the mahogany one if I go for Kala. This is also one of the reasons why the acacia Pono tempts me.

I've actually sold all my previous Kalas so if I go for that it'll be the only Kala I have. My biggest fear with the Kala is that if I get it I might very quickly want to upgrade, as I've done previously with so many of my sopranos. I'm pretty sure this wouldn't happen with the Pono because the next step from that for me would be something like a Kanile'a or some other K brand, and as I said earlier I'm in no way ready for those yet. The Kalas really are ubiquitous and very familiar to me already so it might be nice to try a new brand. It really is a toss-up at this point.
 
I have and I would actually prefer the solid acacia over the mahogany since I already have a few mahogany ukes and I prefer the looks as well. Unfortunately, I can't find any shops near me that stock it so it'll have to be the mahogany one if I go for Kala. This is also one of the reasons why the acacia Pono tempts me.

I've actually sold all my previous Kalas so if I go for that it'll be the only Kala I have. My biggest fear with the Kala is that if I get it I might very quickly want to upgrade, as I've done previously with so many of my sopranos. I'm pretty sure this wouldn't happen with the Pono because the next step from that for me would be something like a Kanile'a or some other K brand, and as I said earlier I'm in no way ready for those yet. The Kalas really are ubiquitous and very familiar to me already so it might be nice to try a new brand. It really is a toss-up at this point.

You have made an excellent point about upgrading in the future....I think most of us here have done that. Do it right the first time and save money in the long run. Sounds like the acacia Pono is the way to go
 
I like Kalas...but some of them have a body resonance Exactly at Low D, which can make it sound like you're playing the open d with your foot..Play a few to be sure you're happy with its sound—they vary a bit from uke to uke.

When I got my Pono Big Baritone, I switched my Kala bari to low-G to serve as an ersatz Renaissance guitar, being of a similar scale. This particular Bari sounds Fabulous up high, but not everyone wants to play Renn music . . .I know some folks like it for the longer scale, pretty much the same reason I prefer tenors to sopranos...more room for my fat fingers.
 
Between Kala and Pono, I'll pick Pono every time. Unlike the ubiquitous Kalas that look like any other brand ordered from China with just a different name slapped onto them and are often over-decorated in my eyes, Pono has their own distinct, understated design and comes from a company that cares about its environmental effect and working conditions. Moreover, they build tremendous baritones.
 
I have both the Pono cedar/acacia, and the Kala spruce/striped ebony. I love them both. They both are cutaway baritones, and they both play and sound great. I personally don't believe you can always count on higher price equaling better quality, as a hard and fast rule. Both Pono and Kala build nice ukes. Buying an instrument online is a challenge, to be sure. Good luck in your quest!
 
Both brands sound good and are well made. If you cant try then buy the one that you look at and think “wow”.

Reading your last post, i think you have already decided, you just haven’t come to rational terms with your decision.
 
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Both brands sound good and are well made. If you cant try then buy the one that you look at and think “wow”.

Reading your last post, i think you have already decided, you just haven’t come to rational terms with your decision.

I don't know about rationality. :D

But yeah, I think I'm eventually going to go with the Pono. The acacia deluxe model calls me. The only things I don't like about it are the normal head stock as opposed to a slotted one and the narrower nut width, neither of which is a huge deal for me. It's a couple of hundred bucks more but at least I won't have the immediate urge to upgrade. :)
 
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