I didnāt know that Pono made guitars, they do make outstanding Ukuleles so it should follow that their guitars are made to the same high standards. The only thing I would say in that case is that theyāre probably as rare as rocking horse manure in the guitar shops, Iāve never seen one!
Well, any self respecting guitar shop cleans up after their rocking horses, so I am with you there!
I had to buy my Pono on recommendation and research. Lots of listening. It worked out well. They arenāt crazy expensive , and used do pop up occasionally. Hard to find if you donāt know to look for them.
They have all the features I wanted, 00, 12th fret, short (24.9ā) scale, 46mm nut, slotted headstock. Eastman 00s give them a run for the money, though and they do make an 00 slope shoulder 14 fret that I heard good things about in my searches. The 12 fret Eastman is harder to find as they are well loved.
Here is a lovely used Pono on Reverb, it is mahogany b&s which I didnāt like as much as the rosewood or the rarer Macassar (which I ended up with).
And Eastman: Eastman E10-OOSS All-Solid Mahogany/Adirondack Spruce Slope | Reverb
Good to have options: Short neck, great low end sound, no guitar strap needed and a small kid can play it fine. The bouts appear kind of wide, but that may be just due to the camera angle.
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Judi,
I bought a 00 to replace my Dreadnaught because I didnāt like how big the Dread was. Although I am happy with the smaller size of the 00, I plan to someday replace the 00 with a Parlor, as I really like how it āfitsā me.
12-fret vs. 14-fret is really a preference thing. Since I have no plans on shredding solos above the 12th fret on an acoustic, they are both functionally the same for me.
If you find a good answer to #3, let us all know LOL! Short of buying & selling online until you find the right one, I donāt know what else to do. I also do not like buying a guitar without ātrying it onā first.
I love small guitars. If you want a really , really , small guitar, try Yamaha Jr1. I have that guitar and can play for hours without a problem. I am a small person.
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Wow, a dread to a parlorā¦thatās a switch! Iāve played several parlors that I enjoyed, but because (for now anyway) Iāll have one acoustic, I didnāt think Iād want a parlor for my all-around guitar. Thanks for your observations!
Thereās some critical info missingā¦ what kind of guitar do you have? What is your budget? There are some amazing guitars that are smaller for $1000s.
I have a Martin DM that I bought in 1996 that I love to pieces. But it started hurting to play about five years ago so I started hunting around (Iām also 5ā3"). I couldnāt find anything I liked at a reasonable cost and ended up getting a good deal on a used Breedlove Premier Concert for under $1100 (spruce/rosewood). It has good bottom, but Iām not thrilled with it. I bought it from a place that pays 80% on trade in for anything that it sells, so it was a bit of a desperate buy that I knew I could change at some point - I was tired of looking. The only other guitar I had liked was >$5K.
A couple of years ago I bought the new Martin SC-13e with a very deep cutaway. I donāt play it plugged in so of course it doesnāt have the bottom that the dreadnought does, but it sounds like a Martin and plays really well. Iām extremely happy w/it.
Just as a curiosity for this threadā¦ If I had $15-20K to spend on a guitar, Iād get a Manzer wedge model.
FWIW, I just recorded with a parlor guitar while working on a song. This is the recording (the last two thirds donāt have any vocals, so you can probably hear the guitar best in those parts). Thereās EQ on that, but I actually cut low end on the guitar because it was sounding too āboomy.ā
Played one of these at Guitar Center today:
Ortega Flametalā¦ setup like a steel string but strung with nylon stringsā¦ bright tone, very light, small feel with a nice look & sound. About 1K USD.
Tod
Thank you for sharing that, Jason. It sounded lovely - the guitar sounded quite well balanced.
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Interesting comparison.
This is excellent, thank you Joshua.
My P20e has been a great travel and convenient grab and play companion. Worth a look if you can play one, good luck in your search. Iām going in the opposite directionš. More on that shortlyā¦Rod
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Iām very happy with my Martin 000jr. It has a smaller, shallow body with a really lovely tone. Best of all (for me) the nut width is a comfortable 1 3/4 inches. You wonāt get that from a parlor guitar or most other smaller guitars. And itās a 14 fret.
For reference Iām 5ā7 with long limbs but with joint issues. Iām an advancing beginner and have had a Jim Dandy, Seagull S6 and a Lucida Arista classical guitar. The Martin 000jr is my favorite and I expect to be playing it for a long time.
Depending on your budget you could consider the nicer Martin 000s, supposedly the US made ones have more consistent quality? Some online sellers will set up your guitar for you, which makes it more likely youāll like it.
Good luck!
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Hi Judi.
I also found my dreadnaught was too large to be comfortable , after looking around I tried the Yamaha APX series ,much slimmer body and was surprised by just how much more comfortable I found it ,ended up buying the 700ii ,fantastic guitar and its helped me advance so much faster as I canāt put it down ! hope this helps ,best of luck .
Hi David, That Yamaha APX series looks nice! Thanks for pointing it out.
I just bought a Martin 000 junior streetmaster. Electric/acoustic. I am not particularly small but I wanted my first acoustic to be easy to play. I love it. Has a cut away. Warm sound, very comfortable. Small but mighty. Makes a world of difference after playing a crappy electric.
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