The best ukulele wood?

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maxthekind1234

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Hi guys, i am new to this community, i used to read here a lot but only now i have opened an account Haha ;)

I am a guitar player for many years and recently i started to be interested in ukuleles.. i have a lame soprano ukulele i got from a friend. That ukulele doesn't ever have a brand lol.

I want to purchase a high-quality concert ukulele, and i was wondering what is the best wood i should be looking for in a ukulele. Koa seems nice for a ukulele... What do you think? any recommendations?

Thanks a lot! :)
 
Welcome, Max! I suspect you'll get a lot of answers, but few of them in agreement! Koa is the traditional wood for ukuleles (it's only native to Hawaii), but it's gotten quite expensive. There are dozens of other types of wood that have been used to make ukes, and most of them perform well. My recommendation would be to get a uke with a solid wood body (or at least a solid wood top), regardless of the wood type. Many of the laminate ukes are exotic and flashy, but the bling doesn't make it sing! The best possible way, or course, is to find a shop with a good inventory of high-quality instruments and play them all until you find the one that speaks to you. Barring that, some of the better online merchants (Hawaii Music Supply, Uke Republic, Mim's Ukes, etc.) are your best bet and will give you an instrument that is properly set up.
 
How deep is your pocket...... :)

More info will be needed to get a decent reply. ;)

What type of sound do you like?

Koa is the most expensive, mahogany one of the cheaper options, then there is spruce........:rolleyes:

Edit: Likely your best bet is to listen to samples online to get an idea of what you like.
 
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Before this thread goes to 20 pages, I offer what may be the best "material" in terms of quality, sound, and unlimited durability... Ekoa.

Check out a Blackbird Clara. I have a number of ukuleles with different types of wood, spruce, cedar, koa, etc. and all of them have good points as you will hear over the next 20 pages, but for a concert I am leaning towards getting a Clara.

John
 
I'd say no wood is best, but that they have different tonal qualities.
A member posted this link a while back which can be very useful for you:
http://tonewooddatasource.weebly.com/species--attributes.html

Some woods are cheaper, others more expensive - but as I wrote, they produce different tonal qualities, and thats largely unrelated to price. Price is more determined by scarcity of the material, beauty of the wood etc. At least that's my understanding.
 
I would say that 'whatever sounds the best to YOU' is the best wood!
Any other viewpoint would be sunjective at best?
 
The very best wood is the one you like the sound of best. Traditional woods for ukuleles are all koa and all mahogany. The are a lot of great sounding ukes with spruce or cedar top and back and side of rosewood or mahogany to name just two.

Google the Ukulelesite also called Hawaii Music Supply (HMS) they have the best recordings of hundreds of ukuleles that they sell.

After three or four days of straight listening you will figure out which you like best. Then that one is the best......for you. Just like guitars
 
DownUpDave said:
Google the Ukulelesite also called Hawaii Music Supply (HMS) they have the best recordings of hundreds of ukuleles that they sell.
Click to expand...

What he said! :agree:
 
Welcome aboard! Your question is like asking a guy if he likes redheads/ blondes/ brunettes /etc.
 
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Since everyone is saying whichever sounds best for you, I'll go against the "grain" here. KOA IS THE GREATEST WOOD IN THE HISTORY OF WOODS. There, I said it.
 
spruce top and african blackwood on side, back, and neck. ebony fretboard.. that would be neat..
 
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