Acacia vs Koa - How Similar?

We have a GIANT tree in our back yard that needs to be trimmed every couple years. The guys removing the limbs said it was an Acacia. Living in Chicago, I found that difficult to believe...but possibly there is some northern variety. It has tiny leaves and is a major PIA to rake up around in fall. If anyone needs wood for several thousands of ukes, bring a saw to my home.
 
Some people might not realize that acacia is a genus for many species of trees and shrubs.
Acacia Koa is the species that people commonly refer to as Koa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia

Yes indeed. Another reason I wondered about that marketing angle.

Don't get me wrong, I think the acacia ukes look very nice indeed, and Matt's (thejumpingflea) Kala tenor sounds gorgeous in the video review he did. I just wondered if people might be a little misled by the marketing emphasis on the relationship between the two woods.

This is an example of why I'd like to see manufacturers do good quality video comparisons.
 
oh man... I said I'd do a comparison between the KPK and the new Kelii. Ack! There is no comparison that I can make. The sound is similar, but the Koa is definitely clearer and brighter, the acacia more muted. But in general, the KPK sounds choked compared to the Kelii.
 
We have a GIANT tree in our back yard that needs to be trimmed every couple years. The guys removing the limbs said it was an Acacia. Living in Chicago, I found that difficult to believe...but possibly there is some northern variety. It has tiny leaves and is a major PIA to rake up around in fall. If anyone needs wood for several thousands of ukes, bring a saw to my home.

He might be talking about what is commonly called a locust tree. http://www.2020site.org/trees/acacia.html
 
Just an FYI the Biblical Ark of the Covenant was made from Acacia wood covered in gold leaf. (Who hasn't seen "Raiders of the Lost Ark"?)

“And they must make an Ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits its length and a cubit and a half its width and a cubit and a half its height. *And you must overlay it with pure gold. Inside and outside you are to overlay it, and you must make a border of gold round about upon it. *And you must cast four rings of gold for it and put them above its four feet, with two rings upon the one side of it and two rings upon its other side. *And you must make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Exodus 25:10-13
 
You missed out the next part, where it says:

"The stuff that's left over might make a good 'ukulele. Why not give it a go?"
 
Again, what puts it in perspective is a reference I found about Taiwanese acacia (the kind used in that Kala uke) also used in the beams in coalmines.

Aside from somewhat muted overall, especially while strumming in the concert size or even just partial chording it, trying to get some definition, there was a not bad melodic capactity, you could get lines to pop, but it felt like a back and forth with a kind of drop off in between. The tenor did sound good in that vid, but the wood I had looked very different than the one in that vid. In short, no thanks.

BTW, I actually preferred what I could get out of my Kala 15-S, a kind of light one I found. My only mod to that one was removing the sound hole decal (greater resonance, LOL).
 
Here in the islands we have besides the endemic Koa (Acacia koa) and Koai'a (Acacia koaia) the introduced Formosan Acacia (Acacia confusa), and Australian Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon). The mature trees are relatively easy to tell apart but the wood is more difficult.
I beleive Cordoba, and Lehua both use the Australian Blackwood in their construction. The Biblical Acacias are Acacia seyal and Acacia tortilis. What's not to like about Acacia.
 
Video is the wrong medium for comparisons. It's very low quality, and streamed to boot. It does show you what the instrument looks like, but tells you nothing about what it sounds like. Someone should do short high quality, not streaming audio comparisons. Same player, strings, mic, preamp, converters etc.... This is done all the time for audio equipment tests online. Some of the equipment being compared lead to extremely subtle differences. Like the difference between brands of cables. I could do something here in Toronto as I have decent audio gear. I don't have a lot of ukes though and I play left handed. But maybe i'll propose something at the Corktown Uke Jam. There's still not a great variety of ukes there, but there are a few k's, and lots of Kala's and Ohana's. My own ukes are all old: Martin soprano, Kumalae soprano, Harmony soprano and Baritone. I'll start with these, all of which have Aquila strings.
 


So.. this is an interesting insight into koa, notably, the quote from 1:40

"For those of you who ah, who don't know, uh, koa when it grows in higher elevation, you know, its uh, that.. the quality actually goes up."

Anyone know exactly what that means?
Like.. if you had mountain koa, coastal koa, and coastal "unidentified acacia", which 2 would sound the most similar?
 
i can only say that Tasmanian Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) and Koa (Acacia koa) work, look and sound very similar.

Other Acacias im not sure about.

Stats on 7 Acacias are listed here- http://www.wood-database.com/wood-identification/by-scientific-name/

That's kinda what I'm wondering.
Academically, acacia's should be similar.
But from a real world standpoint, some koa, and some acacia sounds dull and muted, while others can be vibrant.
Granted, not all ukes are made the same, and until that statement, that's the rationale I had in my head.
But it's got me wondering about the climate.

Like... Tea. All tea is the same species. But even on the same mountain, the stuff that grows at the bottom of the mountain tastes very different from the stuff that grows at the top of the mountain. High mountain tea consistently tastes better than lower mountain tea. Low mountain tea leaves grow larger than high mountain, even from the same size bush/tree. Same species, different morphology, and different chemistry.
 
I saw that too but I don't necessarily agree. What I'm about to say is a generalization as there are exceptions to every rule. Based on my experience...........
The higher elevation grown koa tends to be stiffer, denser and darker and more colorful in appearance. The curl or figure is often more dramatic. In my experience the "prettier" koa comes from the higher elevations. So if appearance equals quality, in that sense he is probably correct. The koa that grows at the lower elevations (1500' to 3500') grows much faster and tends to be more open, lighter in weight and less dense. The colors can often be blonde or brownish but as a rule it's more subdued in color and with much less figure, if any. This koa is actually my favorite to build with as it tends to be light and stiff and very responsive. A good sounding uke can be made of either (as is the case with most luthier woods) but it's easier to do with the lower elevation koa. BTW, I have stacks of this koa gathering dust. Unfortunately, many people hear with the eyes rather than their ears and when a customer is paying more than a few hundred dollars for an uke they demand both looks and sound. I try to provide a balance.
 
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So, Chuck, what you'e saying is, Koa and tea have absolutely nothing to do with each other? :shaka:
 
So, Chuck, what you'e saying is, Koa and tea have absolutely nothing to do with each other? :shaka:

I think I heard two things from Mr Moore.
1) like tea, koa is physically affected by elevation.
2) that when spookelele can afford a Moore Bettah tenor, he'll cut me a great deal on a less figured, but bettah sounding uke. :drool:
 
The only thing elevation has to do with anything (that I know) is that, apart from different soil makeup etc, it is (usually) associated with a drop in temperature (as you get higher) which makes the tree grow slower, giving it more of the dark, hard grain lines of the winter growth.

Having said that, Tasmania is alot colder then Hawaii......
 
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The "quality" of koa will be affected by elevation, rainfall, wind, sunlight, soil and mineral content, fires, even where it's grown in relationship to the volcano (whether it's been affected by ash or vog.) It seems the harsher the environment, the more dramatic the figure is. These trees grow much slower than their siblings at lower elevations, accounting for their denseness. I've run across a lot of gorgeous koa that I've rejected because it's been to dense and stiff to bend, having a specific gravity in the 70s. Faster growing koa, with an SG in the low 50s is much easier to work with. Koa grows best in a moderate climate with plenty of rainfall.
Given the natural habitation of koa forests growing between 1,000' and 7,000' if I had my choice I'd build with koa growing at elevations somewhere in between. Unfortunately these days we can't be too picky about where our koa comes from and what the growing conditions were. It's a builders job to make the best sounding instrument from whatever wood is made available to him.
 


So.. this is an interesting insight into koa, notably, the quote from 1:40

"For those of you who ah, who don't know, uh, koa when it grows in higher elevation, you know, its uh, that.. the quality actually goes up."

Anyone know exactly what that means?
Like.. if you had mountain koa, coastal koa, and coastal "unidentified acacia", which 2 would sound the most similar?



Hey Keli'i is that you?...:)
did Andrew see your ukes?...I want to see um....

good luck with the new ukes brother, I will be pulling for you....keep um coming....they look nice
 
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My best sounding ukes are acacia koa; the Kala cedar top with acacia body, the 2 hole Uku, then the black mandolin. I like my mahogany Gretsch next, then the spruce/quilted ash Lanikai. Still waiting for the curly maple/Indian rosewood gypsy to open up.
 
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