Big Island PONI-T Solid Cedar/Hawaiian Mango Tenor Ukulele w/Gigbag SUS EXCLUSIVE #230258

We are delighted to bring you these Southern Ukulele Store exclusive Big Island tenor ukuleles. The PONI is a very special instrument, and we're sure you'll agree. 

Many of you will have by now seen our famous custom model from Big Island ukuleles known as the Uli? The Uli is a concoction of select cedar and mango with a gorgeous deep green stain on the mango to give it a completely unique, tropical look whilst sounding basically as good as any ukulele ever! This is because cedar brings depth, clarity and projection and mango offers a bombastic, colourful, fruity (pun intended) sound. From one to the next, the wood and the stain create a unique combination making some quite subtle and understated, and others bombastic and a full on assault of the senses.

Back in Jan 2020 before the world turned upside down for a while, Alex and Phil had the pleasure of travelling and meeting with Big Island at the NAMM show. They showed off a new range of beautifully stained mango ukuleles with decorative flower soundhole rosettes. We absolutely loved how those ukuleles looked and sounded but felt that with a few tweaks they could become more practical for our playing customers.

We knew they would be good but the two years on, these small batch of ukuleles have continued to exceed our wildest expectations. With the ULI's success, we have been working on a new series with Big Island to appeal to those that want something a bit more royal and unique. Truly, the new Southern Ukulele Store exclusive PONI model is an instrument fit for a King or Queen.

The top wood is a lovely straight grained cedar inspired by the popularity and flexibility of our popular Kanile'a SUS model, which had always been especially popular with concert and tenor players. Cedar is warm but expressive, its not a traditional ukulele wood but it is definitely one of the most popular woods in the ukulele world because of its slightly louder and open nature and its a great fit here with the mellower, darker sounding mango back and sides.

The back and sides on this ukulele are stained solid Hawaiian mango. The purple used is extremely dark and has this tremendous effect of becoming more vibrant in natural light, but understated the closer you get to it becoming also natural wood. Mango takes stain in its own way, and displays the colour of purple stain a in a way that looks almost black forest/cherry coloured. It keeps the browns and yellows of the natural wood below but covers it in a light layer of dark translucent purple.

Cedar and mango together offers players something unique. An honest sounding ukulele that somehow retains hidden depths and secrets. It comes in a padded gigbag and really does challenge the current big name brands at this price point with something you will want to play every time you look at it. I am excited for this ukulele, can you tell? I used the tenor version as my main ukulele for most of 2021/2022, it's just the best!

Specification:
Solid cedar top
Solid Hawaiian mango back and sides with translucent purple stain
Honu headstock
Gloss finish
Mahogany neck, gloss finish
Closed back geared tuners with snakewood buttons
35mm nut width, with 28mm G to A string spacing
17'' scale length
Bone nut and saddle
Indian rosewood fingerboard and bridge
Aquila sugar clear fluorcarbon style strings
Padded Hosco gigbag included