mandognome
Mar-04-2021, 7:45pm
Just thought Id share my thoughts on the Pono.
I have been curious about these GBOMs and particularly what the difference in tone and playability I could tell between the 21.5 and 23 inch scale lengths.
I heard from the Denver Folklore Center they were getting some in soon, and they were nice enough to call me when they arrived yesterday.
I beat a snowstorm to Denver this morning and had a blast playing all 6 that they had just unpacked.
I liked the feel of the larger (tenor guitar) sized body but the smaller (baritone uke) sized body was cool too.
Cool enough, they had a gorgeous rosewood/spruce (with pretty maple binding) model in 23 and the same woods in 21.5 so those made a nice our for A/B-ing. The 23 neck meets the body at the 14th fret. The 21.5 meets at the 12th.
My thoughtsparticular to my sensibilities of course:
The 21.5 worked great for melody, Neck felt really comfy, and didnt lack anything for bouzouki style use for backing fiddle tunes or songs.
The 23 also felt great. I didnt think it had more mojo/jangle/Umph for chord backing work though. I liked the additional 2 frets of space on the neck but eliminated it because playing comfort (not stretching) is a big priority for me. It did feel like more of a hand stretch of course.
They had a mahogany 21.5 cutaway model that could fit the bill really well, but I didnt love the look of it, and maybe I didnt take enough time to get it in tune after its recent journey but it just didnt sound quite as good up the neck to me. I thought I could tell the cutaway reduced the volume a little too.
I really liked the mahogany back models while playing them because it had more punch in general and a stronger midrange, but were balanced all over the fret board. They had a burst and a natural in the larger body size, plus the cutaway I mentioned.
The rosewood model just looks amazing, Especially the binding, and when someone else played it I liked it a bit better than the mahogany one. It was darker by comparison and a little mellower with less midrange but still had plenty of volume. It will be an amazing instrument for someone. I was really tempted.
Though I didnt go to the Denver Folklore Center certain I would buy, I just couldnt pass on the mahogany backed 21.5 scale OM, figuring I mostly play for my own enjoyment or at jams where its loud, or sometimes amplified, so Id go for the instrument that sounded better to me while playing it. I brought it home and I am super stoked. If I were doing a lot of studio work I might have chosen the rosewood back 21.5.
The Denver Folklore Center staff was really great to me. NFI, just enjoyed it!
I have been curious about these GBOMs and particularly what the difference in tone and playability I could tell between the 21.5 and 23 inch scale lengths.
I heard from the Denver Folklore Center they were getting some in soon, and they were nice enough to call me when they arrived yesterday.
I beat a snowstorm to Denver this morning and had a blast playing all 6 that they had just unpacked.
I liked the feel of the larger (tenor guitar) sized body but the smaller (baritone uke) sized body was cool too.
Cool enough, they had a gorgeous rosewood/spruce (with pretty maple binding) model in 23 and the same woods in 21.5 so those made a nice our for A/B-ing. The 23 neck meets the body at the 14th fret. The 21.5 meets at the 12th.
My thoughtsparticular to my sensibilities of course:
The 21.5 worked great for melody, Neck felt really comfy, and didnt lack anything for bouzouki style use for backing fiddle tunes or songs.
The 23 also felt great. I didnt think it had more mojo/jangle/Umph for chord backing work though. I liked the additional 2 frets of space on the neck but eliminated it because playing comfort (not stretching) is a big priority for me. It did feel like more of a hand stretch of course.
They had a mahogany 21.5 cutaway model that could fit the bill really well, but I didnt love the look of it, and maybe I didnt take enough time to get it in tune after its recent journey but it just didnt sound quite as good up the neck to me. I thought I could tell the cutaway reduced the volume a little too.
I really liked the mahogany back models while playing them because it had more punch in general and a stronger midrange, but were balanced all over the fret board. They had a burst and a natural in the larger body size, plus the cutaway I mentioned.
The rosewood model just looks amazing, Especially the binding, and when someone else played it I liked it a bit better than the mahogany one. It was darker by comparison and a little mellower with less midrange but still had plenty of volume. It will be an amazing instrument for someone. I was really tempted.
Though I didnt go to the Denver Folklore Center certain I would buy, I just couldnt pass on the mahogany backed 21.5 scale OM, figuring I mostly play for my own enjoyment or at jams where its loud, or sometimes amplified, so Id go for the instrument that sounded better to me while playing it. I brought it home and I am super stoked. If I were doing a lot of studio work I might have chosen the rosewood back 21.5.
The Denver Folklore Center staff was really great to me. NFI, just enjoyed it!