I never knew my Pono baritone ukulele had a truss rod until a couple of weeks ago. I suddendly noticed, much to my horror, that my Pono had started to buzz badly when I played certain strings. I knew the strings were not to blame as I had changed them shortly before the buzz first occurred.
I couldn’t understand what caused the sudden change in the sound. I hadn’t dropped my ukulele and it had received no shock, nor did I leave it in the sun or in the cold.
I showed it to my friend Guillaume and he spotted that the truss rod was slightly coming out. We could take it out even more when we pulled it gently. I quickly searched on the internet and found this explanation from Ko’olau Guitar and Ukulele Company on how to set the truss rod. This guitar page (in French) was helpful to understand the principles of a truss rod too.
Here is my Pono with its truss rod sticking out. Thanks to Guillaume for the picture.
Not wanting to risk doing any damage to my uke, I emailed Ko’olau Guitar and Ukulele Company for advice. I got a very fast answer from John and applying all he said restored my ukulele’s natural buzz-free warm and mellow tone. Thanks John !
Here is the explanation I got, in case you ever have the same problem :
