New Pono octaves!

[dchernack]

http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/97123#97123
https://vimeo.com/162012592

Great news to see on the classifieds this morning. I bet these have the possibility of becoming the least expensive octaves available on the American market... different scale-length options, spruce and rosewood or spruce and mahogany... wonder if solid woods will come standard? Either way, I'm excited to find out about a pricepoint and then probably just buy one. Sounds sooo good!

[Pick&Grin]

Nice! Wonder what the price will be.

[red7flag]

I am a GOM fan, having had a Weber and now a Mowry. That Poma is a really nice sounding instrument. Guess I better dig my Mowry out and see if I can come close.

[EdHanrahan]

Very nice!

[Trey Young]

I'm very interested to see what these retail for....

[multidon]

Pono ukes are not cheap. They range from 400 to 900 or so. I would expect the price to be in the neighborhood of the upper range of that or a bit beyond.

Lots of questions about design. I hope that a company used to nylon string tension would take into consideration the much higher stresses on the neck and body from steel strings in the design elements.

[Mark Wilson]

It does sound nice. I saw their post on AGF - this one might be a one-off

the attached video is the smaller version, using our UL 11 1/4" body, a 21.5" scale, body meets at the 12th, and internally re-braced to allow for 8 steel strings.
Tuned GDAE.
this one is Mahogany with a cedar top, but we will use spruce for future models.

Another model will be larger, using our BN 13 5/8" body, a 13" scale, and body will meet at the 14th fret.
Final models will be both Mahogany and Rosewood, with Engelmann Spruce tops.
Still in the working stages, but couldn't help but show off the first one

[Barry Wilson]

sure sounds good with him playing

[Ron McMillan]

That has a lovely sound. I'll be interested to learn more.

[boombox]

Definitely sounds nice. The choice of scale length is appealing too. The only problem is choosing between mahogany and rosewood.

[Freddyfingers]

I had the same questions. Sent them an email. They are still,prototypes , at this point, but he goal was to keep them at $1000. They do quite a bit of set up before it ships. The price is not extreme for an octave, and for me the sound of this is warm, I like it.

[choctaw61]

Very nice indeed.I like the look as well as the sound.May be one of those gotta have one.why did I watch that video!

[Dave Hanson]

Some builders seem to me to be on a mission to make everything look like a guitar.

Don't know why ?

Dave H

[Freddyfingers]

Without creating a uproar, but doesn't a bigger body project a fuller sound? Wouldn't the little guitar shape add to the bass end of the instrument? or is it just that the bigger body allows for more reverberation, and a standard A shape only larger would do the same? Loyd Loar I am not.

[foldedpath]

Some builders seem to me to be on a mission to make everything look like a guitar.

Don't know why ?

In the case of GBOMs (guitar-body octave mandolins), it's usually the result of re-purposing an existing body in a builders' inventory to open up an additional market. All you need is a new neck and headstock, basically. Maybe some heavier bracing for the additional string tension. Pono isn't the only one doing this; it's been done by Weber, Eastman, Santa Cruz, and others.

There may be some thinking that guitarists will find these shapes easier to relate to, but I think it's mainly just taking advantage of existing tooling and materials to nudge into a different market.

I'm sure this Pono OM will find a market, especially if they can bring it in under $1,000. We need more affordable OMs. Personally though, I'm not a fan of guitar-shaped CBOMs and/or flat top designs. I already have several nice guitars.

When it comes to OMs, I prefer the looks and tone of a big Gibson-style mandolin on steroids, where the "chorrnng" is clear and doesn't get buried with a woofy bass from a guitar body, or sound too much like a 12-string guitar. I also like the more focused, midrangey sound of a hand-carved archtop. It's a dark, moody flavor; something different than the jangle of a flattop bouzouki. But that's just me. Everyone has different ideas in the OM world. It's not an instrument with a deep history, so the designs are all over the place.

[whitelines]

this thing sounds incredible!

[fredhicks]

Is there any sheet music to what he is playing?

[Al Trujillo]

Love the sound from that one! Hope they go full production on it.

[soliver]

Definitely very cool... It's not a ukulele

[Mark Gunter]

Some builders seem to me to be on a mission to make everything look like a guitar.

Don't know why ?

Dave H

I don't think they are necessarily on a mission, most probably just have practical reasons as foldedpath has imagined. Kilin Reece in this very video says something to the effect of "This is what happens when a mandolin player goes to work at a guitar factory".

I'd also like to have one that looks like an F5 on steroids, but in reality the first one I own will have a guitar body with a longer scale length than I really want - because of the size of the half-finished resonator guitar that I decided to convert to an OM. If I could afford to buy a pre-made OM of the quality I want, I wouldn't be experimenting with guitar-like prototypes.

[Mark Gunter]

Does anyone know the name of the first tune he is playing in that video?

[fredhicks]

I'll go ahead and ask again.......anybody know the first tune he played?

[Mark Gunter]

I'll go ahead and ask again.......anybody know the first tune he played?

I think the thread is dead, Fred.

[fredhicks]

Poop.......

[darylcrisp]

guys, i'll find out that tune for you, i'll approach Kilin thru the AGF and invite him to come on board here with this thread.

d