Pono Master Series Review - Spruce & Rosewood Tenor

[Tin Ear]

@ scrambled_eggs - Two Cookies for all the effort on the most comprehensive review ever posted !

 

[Rakelele]

@scrambled_eggs

This is such an excellently written review with great feeling for storytelling. And I totally agree with your sentiment: While having acquired several custom ukes from some of the most respected luthiers at three or five times the cost, I still feel that Pono offers me the best bang for the buck. Out of the bunch of my ukes, the ones I usually want to grab are my Pono ETSHC tenor with Ebony body and a Cedar top, or my RBSHC baritone with Rosewood body and a Spruce top. I enjoy their sound, look and feel, they inspire me to play for hours and give me new ideas of what to play. I guess it is because they have many features of a custom made instrument, while still being in an "affordable" range. Very well made precision tools for daily business.

If you're enjoying yours as much as I do mine, it will bring you years of satisfaction and inspiration. Wishing you all the best with your musical journey and looking forward to reading more about your discoveries...!

 

[TimWilson]

I too originally was looking for the ultra-light-curved-for-her-pleasure vibrating ukulele, but now I realize through some expensive purchasing experience that I like the additional resonance in a heavier-built-but-lightly-braced (or HBBLB for short of course) instrument,

That may be the best sentence I've ever read.

 

[scrambled_eggs]

@scrambled_eggs

This is such an excellently written review with great feeling for storytelling. And I totally agree with your sentiment: While having acquired several custom ukes from some of the most respected luthiers at three or five times the cost, I still feel that Pono offers me the best bang for the buck. Out of the bunch of my ukes, the ones I usually want to grab are my Pono ETSHC tenor with Ebony body and a Cedar top, or my RBSHC baritone with Rosewood body and a Spruce top. I enjoy their sound, look and feel, they inspire me to play for hours and give me new ideas of what to play. I guess it is because they have many features of a custom made instrument, while still being in an "affordable" range. Very well made precision tools for daily business.

If you're enjoying yours as much as I do mine, it will bring you years of satisfaction and inspiration. Wishing you all the best with your musical journey and looking forward to reading more about your discoveries...!

Hear hear! And thank you, no exaggeration it's already brought me many hours of wonderful playing, I put in several every day! Thank you so much for your kind words and for taking the time to read my review

Even having had a custom and some other very nice instruments, this one is "built different." There is a deeper level of excellence and understanding of tone here that I simply haven't found before if I'm being frank. These really are voices--bodies--that luthiers are building and designing. I really think the lattice is an advanced feature and not easily implemented correctly. For the player, it's like moving from nylon to fluorocarbon for the first time ever. "Woah!" Or investing in a good set of headphones for the first time, or a good analogue mic. Or the first time you put on a pair of glasses.

 

[ploverwing]

Or the first time you put on a pair of glasses.

Hah! Indeed.

 

[Final_form]

PONO Master Series Tenor RT-MS (S)

Bei meinem Besuch bei Ko'olau/Pono auf Hawaii im Januar 2022 zeigte mir John Kitakis zwei Ukulelen-Prototypen, die sein Sohn Andrew ( Betreiber der "ukulelesite" ) mit Unterstützung des Luthiers Ryan Condon entwickelt hatte. Das Besondere an diesen Prototypen war u.a. das von Ryan verwendete...

gute-ukulele.de

The page says this uke weight 850g, all ponos feature truss rod but other models weight +- 700g, intresting, where its additional weight comes from.

 

[Rakelele]

PONO Master Series Tenor RT-MS (S)

Bei meinem Besuch bei Ko'olau/Pono auf Hawaii im Januar 2022 zeigte mir John Kitakis zwei Ukulelen-Prototypen, die sein Sohn Andrew ( Betreiber der "ukulelesite" ) mit Unterstützung des Luthiers Ryan Condon entwickelt hatte. Das Besondere an diesen Prototypen war u.a. das von Ryan verwendete...

gute-ukulele.de

The page says this uke weight 850g, all ponos feature truss rod but other models weight +- 700g, intresting, where its additional weight comes from.

I would attribute this weight difference mostly to the specific density of different wood species (the Pono homepage has all the scientific details behind it): Rosewood is much denser and therefore heavier than other tonewoods such as Mahogany, Mango or Acacia/Koa, which all have a similar density. Apart from that, each individual set of wood will differ to some extent, resulting in a different weight than another instrument from the very same model.

 

[scrambled_eggs]

PONO Master Series Tenor RT-MS (S)

Bei meinem Besuch bei Ko'olau/Pono auf Hawaii im Januar 2022 zeigte mir John Kitakis zwei Ukulelen-Prototypen, die sein Sohn Andrew ( Betreiber der "ukulelesite" ) mit Unterstützung des Luthiers Ryan Condon entwickelt hatte. Das Besondere an diesen Prototypen war u.a. das von Ryan verwendete...

gute-ukulele.de

The page says this uke weight 850g, all ponos feature truss rod but other models weight +- 700g, intresting, where its additional weight comes from.

Out of curiosity, I checked and mine weighs in at 758g grams. I doubt there is that much of difference between models, so I'll go out on a limb and say that website is inaccurate and maybe they accidentally dropped a sandwich in the soundhole and forgot about it or something. Compare this to my Koaloha Opio at 726 grams, which no one has ever accused of being heavy.

Compared to my Koaloha Opio tenor, my Pono weighs approximately two table spoons of sugar in weight more, which is easy for me to handle!

 

[Rakelele]

Out of curiosity, I checked and mine weighs in at 758g grams.

Always good to add factual data.

In order to give some idea on how much specific densities of different wood species may play a role in the overall weight of an instrument, here are the measurements of the Pono tenors I have owned:

Pono AT Acacia with Satin finish from 2011: 630 grams
Pono ETHSC Cedar/Ebony Pro Classic with Gloss finish from 2013: 848 grams
Pono MGTP Mango Pineapple with Satin finish from 2014: 668 grams

There may be other factors that might add to the weight of the Pro Classic, such as upgraded tuners, gloss finish, slotted headstock, binding, etc.

The tenors I have owned are all in between 556 grams and 848 grams, the aforementioned Pono Pro Classic being the heaviest of them all, while a bare-boned Kanilea K1 with their older, almost invisible Satin finish being the lightest. To my perception, the heavier ukes have no disadvantage when it comes to volume, sound, or sustain, on the contrary. One of my best and loudest custom made tenor ukes, built by Beau Hannam, comes in at 805 grams.

 

[CalinVa]

THE REVIEW
Link to my exact instrument on TUS

I'm going to break down this review into what I consider three general areas that players prioritize: Tone, Playability, and Looks.

Tone
Sound sample 1



Sound sample 2


Strings used are Uke Logic low G (soft)

This instrument is replacing my late used custom tenor. And so in determining what I was looking for I was considering those price ranges as well, $1.5k - $3k or so where I feel like you are no longer paying for tone or voice but for bling. I feel the tone of this instrument is easily in this price range and this is the best quality of this instrument, periodt. When looking at this, consider it a peer among customs save for probably some additional looks, bling, and the back-and-forth unique experience you get with a custom.

As I said, Pono is for players and this instrument has serious tone. The tone is remarkably balanced in my opinion, not a lot of loss in the low end either. It feels extremely responsive--the smallest bit of attack with fluorocarbon strings will make it ring out. With it's balanced tone, it can add some nice warmth to solo or group play. One thing that is very interesting is that I am generally used to having to play with a bit more effort and use more energy to get notes to ring out the further up the neck I get. This will always be the case, it's just physics. But with this instrument and bracing, the incline on the increase in effort is very very subtle and gentle. You can pretty much play the same way all over the neck. The highlight of this instrument for me is how expressive it is--how many distinct and true sounds I can make it make! From my mind to my fingers to the instrument. In one of the TUS podcasts, Ian O'Sullivan mentioned a few things that stand out and are worth repeating. These are heavily paraphrased with some of my own perspective probably added.

• You will stand out, loud and clear, right at the forefront with your voice with this instrument. For better or worse, so you best be calm and in control! I can very clearly hear when I grip harder on this instrument---it's THAT clear.
• It will change the way you play

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I thought this second remark was a bit of an exaggeration. He means others players, players less grand and skilled than I surely? This instrument has indeed changed the way I play. I used to avoid playing a lot near the saddle as I think it sounds tinny and nasal on many instruments. In fact, I thought it was just a quirk of the ukulele at this point. You can actually look back at my old videos and watch my right hand position--it has moved much closer to the bridge and saddle now--but not permanently! I feel like the clarity and responsiveness allows you to really move your right hand around more as well to emote and express tone. My guess is this all has to do with the lattice bracing and the specific voicing made for this instrument by Ryan Condon, one of the luthiers (along with Noa Bonk) at Ko'olau. I am guessing that with these small batch instruments they look to replicate this specific voice as closely as possible with each instrument.

I watched some videos on lattice bracing and, essentially, it takes significantly more time from the luthiers to brace in that style and to voice it. It probably also necessitates the use of a vacuum press during the gluing of the bracing to the soundboard--or some very very patient luthiers using more traditional methods. It does, however, generally allow for excellent clear tone, good stability, and even thinner tops. I don't know the specs on the top used, but thick or thin it is EXTREMELY resonant and importantly balanced. Honestly, it's kind of hard to describe until you've played it.

Again, I like the fact this instrument is slightly heavier! I like the heft in the neck and headstock, you get a little bit extra from Gotoh UPT tuners. If weight was the only factor I'm sure they could take off a few grams here and there. But the balance of the instrument and how it supports resonance and tone specifically is superb. I find this balances very well with the body and light bracing, resulting in a beautiful full voice for this instrument that doesn't dull or muffle much from being in contact with your body, even when your playing goes very high up the neck. As this is a more soundboard driven uke, it's great for a person who plays in all sorts of goofy relaxing positions, like me (sitting, lying, walking around, cat in lap, etc.)

Playability

The setup on the instrument from TUS was, of course, excellent. I am one of those players who prefer a higher action, and I think this is generally more common among fingerstyle players. I find a good setup at the nut is the biggest impact to improved playability. The action and saddle adjustments, instead, seem to influence a few other things including the sweet spots to play where you will play with your right hand and sometimes very very very fast fretting or playing or crazy fast hammer ons and such. It's nice if you want to play in more of an electric guitar style. Or if you pretty much always plugged in, lower action might be a good idea since you're not getting or relying on acoustic tone anyway. You can add any filters or effects you want in after.

My preferred setup and the string height and the one used for the instrument heard and seen above is about 2.7-3.0mm at the 12th fret, which is just perfect for me. More than that sacrifices too much tone and volume for my playing needs. I personally don't find it makes the instrument much easier to play having the action any lower than this, again unless you are playing very very very fast. It's the setup adjustments at the nut that really makes the fretting much easier. To test and make sure things are all good, I'll generally see if I can play and barre easily up and down the neck without using the thumb on my left hand, particularly on the first two frets. I was able to do this, even with an action of 3.0 at the 12th fret.

I will admit, however, that I am coming from generally thinner necks. Even the Kala Elite, though chunky, seems a bit thinner than this neck. While I was able to fret easily, I did find that I was very clearly fretting too hard while playing. I suspect this is due first to muscle memory and playing on thinner necks, but also due to the way the human hand grip strength works. In the closed fist position, our hands aren't very strong at gripping. Neither are they when in a fully open position. If you were to graph your grip strength at all the positions between a wide open hand and a closed fist, it would follow a bell curve (for more info see JAMAR grip strength tests). With a thicker neck, you quite literally will be able to grip it harder and it's possible you will, so be careful of this. If your finger tips are hurting, it is likely not because of the action or strings, but because you are gripping too hard with your left hand. Everyone makes this mistake. Everyone. Quick fix and tip if this is you (it probably is): practice playing (volumewise) softly with your right hand attack. Don't use much force, lower the volume on your playing. Your brain will match the exertion in your left hand and you will begin to learn the left hand muscle memory for a more gentle touch. Add volume back to your playing slowly and with caution. With a bit of intentional playing and the ability to diagnose this problem it was a pretty quick fix and muscle memory has kicked in. As noted above, Pono has thicc necks for fast action.

A very important detail for me was a satin neck. I have very sweaty hands, and they get three times sweatier when someone is listening to me or I hit the record button. It was a limiting factor for me on other instruments. The lacquer satin finish on this surprised me a first with how smooth it was, but it's extra nice that way. Honestly if they want to get brandy they should call it "silent satin" because it's less loud than other satin finishes I've played, meaning no noise either as you move your left hand.

I've seen a lot about Pono's truss rods, but usually nothing heavily positive. I would like to make the case for it, truss me. Many setup issues an instrument can experience later in life after humidity changes can be fixed with a truss rod. A truss rod also means they can consistently add relief to the neck and can give that nice setup easily on day one or year 10. The bolt on neck also means, if its around for a long long time and eventually needs a neck reset (or if it's not so long for any reason) it will be reasonable and affordable to actually have this done. I feel like they really just make instruments that will last and respect the consumer. As noted, I also like the truss rod for the additional weight and tone for the styles of builds I prefer. I bet if they started calling these "neck tone bars" instead of truss rods people would ask to have them installed.

Additionally, having had both wide 38mm nuts and thinner 35mm nuts, I really don't mind either. I am 6'2" and used to play a lot of volleyball, I am probably bigger than you and so are my hands The point being that a 35mm nut is just fine for me. Difficulty here again might be a misinterpretation of the player over gripping the instrument a bit. I personally care not only about the nut width, but more importantly the string width especially after the 12th fret. I find the way Pono necks taper to be quite comfortable and easily playable personally and I'm able to use all my different techniques on this instrument without changing the way I play, which was important to me. I want my voice to come out naturally through my fingers without the board being a limiting factor, basically.

I also really really really love Ponos frets and fret works. Very smooth and a different profile than I've seen before. They are low and a bit fat with a round square edge. I find they are especially excellent at expressing vibrato and slides, which I love to do most so it makes sense I like them. I feel like it allows me to get a very R&B tone, which I love.

EDIT 12/9/23: I'd like to add additional positive findings regarding Pono weight, balance and neck weight. These aren't factors I've considered before because I haven't played anything with this weight to impact it in this way, so I find it very very satisfying and interesting. Anyway, I've found when I play the ukulele, I grip the instrument to my body with some point between my mid forearm and elbow--it may change for advanced right hand movement. Not everyone uses this method, but it is comfortable for me and the method recommended by James Hill. This instrument is not heavy, but you can feel there is specific balance and weight in the fingerboard and the tail of the instrument. I find this makes the leverage you obtain when holding the instrument in James Hills recommended method particularly comfortable! The fingerboard doesn't really want to get away from you as much, as he describes, due to the increased inertia and different leverage.

Additionally, with my style of playing and the way I make vibrato, I essentially think of my left fingers and hand like a little dancer on a tiny dance floor. This dance floor is guided and balanced in the air by my left hand like a tiny hydraulic lift. To make vibrato, my hand basically does the Michael Jackson "anti-gravity" dance move.



This is not magic, it's science. Michael and team needed nails in the floor to do this in order to obtain appropriate leverage, and it was probably still really difficult. Your hand-dancer (handcer?) is supported by your wrist in the air and thumb on the other side (acting like Michael's nail) making this possible for you. But if the floor you are on is very light, when you try to do this move and add vibrato you'll end up shaking the whole fingerboard, and the instrument sometimes. Imagine Michael trying to do this on, say, a plywood dancefloor suspended in the air versus a very heavy log dancefloor suspended in the air. The first would shake all over the place and would require counter balancing from the hydraulic lift (left hand) while performing the technique. It is SIGNIFICANTLY easier for me to apply vibrato on this instrument due to the inertia in the fingerboard and leverage at my right arm anchor. Since I've never played on an instrument like this I've never considered it before. Not that it's impossible with a lighter instrument, but you'll need to learn the skill of counterbalancing actively to do it making it much more difficult.

Looks

Do I really need to say anything? I guess I will.

The fit and finish, frankly, are flawless. (ALLITERATION!)

Gorgeous headstock with inlaid EI Rosewood tree flower (I think?) bird of paradise flower! My partner noticed as soon as it arrived, but my ears were plugged with excitement and I didn't hear them lol until about a month later . From reading a bit about this flower it seems the flower can--among other things--represent joy, excitement, anticipation, love, faithfulness, and having a good outlook on life. Very appropriate! I still also I kind of wish mine had the Pono Wahine, the woman playing 'uke that Andrew's mom designed which I think was really cool.

View attachment 162264

I actually kind of like the double markers are 7th and 12th fret, I guess marking the harmonics? Also just makes it easier when quickly glancing at the neck if you lose your orientation.

This is my first gloss finish and it's totally gorgeous, flawless all over. The woods were clearly selected to please, including the wicked flaming and waves in the spruce top caused by medullary rays in the wood and a perfectly quartersawn piece. Imagine you wanted to make a sandwich but hated the end pieces of bread so much that you only would accept to eat the single middle piece of bread in every loaf. That's what "perfectly quarter sawn" is trying to convey. Very very tight grained top. Kind of hard to capture its glory under camera. I also hate abalone and love the understated rope rosette.

View attachment 162265


Rosewood isn't usually much to admire, but wowee!! And the flamed maple binding on top and bottom to boot. Besides looks, this is basically the equivalent of having bumpers on your car. If you get a big ding or something on the corner in the future this is much easier to fix than than if the binding were not there. Usually I don't like binding much, but I think it really does look excellent with this combination.


View attachment 162266

Behold the Great Eye. Lidless and wreathed in Flame(d maple binding)! A lovely eye of Sauron on the back of my instrument. I imagine if the crazy Dos Equis guy threw this into a fire it wouldn't melt or burn, but rather an inscription would appear around the edges in a form of Elvish used in Mordor, Black Speech.

View attachment 162267

Final Remarks

I would strongly recommend this instrument. Some people shop with their hands, some with their eyes, and some with their ears. This is for the ears. I think it would be good instrument for you if you want to progress as a player and want to get custom level voicing and quality. This remark is made without consideration to the price point. However, in addition to the excellent voicing, they are still remarkably affordable-especially with the current exclusive pricing.

Lord am I knee deep in the middle of that process.