mango VS koa

bellgamin

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I am considering the online purchase of an 8-string baritone. I have 2 candidates. 1 is solid mango. The other is solid koa.

I want the wood which is likelier to produce the brighter sound coupled with good sustain. Please help me decide.

As a GENERAL rule:
Which wood is likely to have a brighter sound?
Which wood is likely to offer the greater sustain?
 
Speaking from my own limited experience, I would say Mango tends to be brighter, whereas sustain might be longer with Koa. But like you said, this is meant as a general rule only, and more important than the wood might be the individual build, etc.
 
Speaking from my own limited experience, I would say Mango tends to be brighter, whereas sustain might be longer with Koa. But like you said, this is meant as a general rule only, and more important than the wood might be the individual build, etc.

I 100% agree with this assessment.
 
All of us have limited experience. I have owned a few koa ukuleles and one mango. But, rather than give you my thoughts, I recommend you go to myamoe.com. Gordon has a wealth of experience and shares it.
 
All of us have limited experience. I have owned a few koa ukuleles and one mango. But, rather than give you my thoughts, I recommend you go to myamoe.com. Gordon has a wealth of experience and shares it.

I always liked the Mango Ukes I have played. The Mango ukes never seemed as bright as Maple (a good thing!), and seemingly provided a nice middle range tone with good clarity somewhere between the solid-top Spuce and Cedar Ukes I have owned which is where I felt Mango excelled at.


Here is the Mya Moe description of Mango from their website:

Mango:
Mango wood is not only aesthetically very interesting and variable, but we love building ukuleles from it because of the consistency and balance tone it delivers. It’s varieties offer incredible curl, colors in bright oranges and yellows and deep veins of chocolate.

Mango is considered a sustainable hardwood as it grows quickly and is farmed for it’s delicious fruits in several places around the globe. Because of it’s fast growth, harvesting the fruit becomes difficult so farmers replace them every 7-15 years.




https://www.myamoeukuleles.com/woodDetails.php?woodName=Mango
 
I am considering the online purchase of an 8-string baritone. I have 2 candidates. 1 is solid mango. The other is solid koa.

I want the wood which is likelier to produce the brighter sound coupled with good sustain. Please help me decide.

As a GENERAL rule:
Which wood is likely to have a brighter sound?
Which wood is likely to offer the greater sustain?

Which did you wind up getting? I'm in the market for an 8 string baritone and deciding between the two as well. Looking to keep the GCEA sound but would like the added range and volume of an 8 string baritone to keep competitive with guitar players I jam with. ATM mango seems more available at better pricing, but wondering of I should wait/save for koa. Not in any rush. Mahalo!
 
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