Our family history of making and restoring stringed instruments began 40 years ago. In addition to making instruments, we specialized in the repair and restoration of acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins, ukuleles, violins, and almost every other imaginable stringed instrument.

Then about twenty five years ago we decided to focus more on manufacturing, especially the ‘ukulele. ‘Ukuleles have been popular in Hawaii for over 100 years, however now the whole world has fallen in love with this little instrument. But now there is a demand for higher quality. Our goal from the beginning was to produce the most professional quality stringed instrument possible, regardless of the time and cost required. And so …… Ko‘olau Guitars and ‘Ukuleles were born.

Going back in time, our production costs in Hawaii kept rising. Without compromising on our standards of high quality craftsmanship, we wanted to make a line of instruments that were more affordable. So we tried everything possible to minimize our expenses, simplify designs, and use modern high speed technology.
We decided to have Ko‘olau be our “custom” shop of guitars and ‘ukuleles, and build another line, one more readily available and more affordable… and we named it Pono.

Why the name Pono? In Hawaii the term Pono is a very respectful expression for something that is right, or done right. The complete Hawaiian definition for high quality craftsmanship is Maiau Pono. Pono ‘ukuleles are somewhat of a duplicate or clone to our Ko‘olau models. We don’t claim that our Pono models are the same level of perfection and finesse, but they are as close to Ko‘olau as anything else on the market, regardless of where they are made.

Pono models are made of all solid woods, bindings are wood instead of plastic, nuts and saddles are bone and not plastic. Our tuners are made by Grover, but Grover now has both entry level and a professional line of tuners. So we pay more for the better ones. They are actually almost as good a Waverly. This helps us lower our cost and labor compared to our Ko‘olau models, and all of this makes our Pono line more affordable to our customers. Availability is also a factor, so rather than waiting over a year for our custom line, Pono models are readily available to our dealers throughout the world.

Our Pono factory is on the island of Java, south of Hawaii. These islands are west of French Polynesia (Tahiti) in the archipelago called Indonesia. The Indonesians were taught high quality craftsmanship from European settlers hundreds of years ago. And now their wood working skills far exceed many other countries.

Sometimes the term “import” is considered inferior. Especially when imported to the United States. If that were true then most of what we buy today, including our automobiles, computers, and clothing would be considered inferior. As we know, this is not true. There is old saying that is still true …. “it’s not where something is made, but who made it”
And to insure that our Pono line of instruments are the highest quality available, we personally oversee all phases of Pono production. Our employees in Java have over 50 years of experience making high end stringed instruments. Some of them were the first participants when NAMM was initiated in the 1950’s.

As with our Ko‘olau guitars and ‘ukuleles, we have many professional musicians who now play and endorse Pono instruments. And we appreciate the many favorable reviews on ‘ukulele and guitar chat forums. You can see our “Artists” page to see a few of our customers who play professionally.

Much more information can be seen on our Frequently Asked Questions page on this site.