Mahogany of Koa?

Mahogany or Koa?

  • Koa

    Votes: 36 66.7%
  • Mahogany

    Votes: 18 33.3%

  • Total voters
    54

Uk3player78

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I know the results already i just want to see on what scale. I love mahogany! Give us your reasons and the name of the ukulele('s).
 
Reasons? It's KOA!

Ukes in my sig - KoAloha's, Gstring, & Kamaka ... got a few Mahogany's in there too, but the Koa just always turns my head & ears.
 
Koa just seems to have more of that ukey sound.
 
hi uke3player78

it's koa for me all the way. I have a Mya Moe koa soprano which has the sweetest tone. A perfect balance of warmth and brightness. I also have a Kamaka concert which is just as lovely. I like the mellower tones of this wood.
 
I know nothing about owning a Koa uke, but I voted Mahogany because it seems to have more presence and versatility than most of the Koa ukes I've heard. Plus, when some of the world's most prominent musicians pick up uke, they seem to gravitate towards mahogany (see Joe Brown's Type 2M).

I will still buy a Koa, though. Gotta have em all!
 
I know nothing about owning a Koa uke, but I voted Mahogany because it seems to have more presence and versatility than most of the Koa ukes I've heard. Plus, when some of the world's most prominent musicians pick up uke, they seem to gravitate towards mahogany (see Joe Brown's Type 2M).

I will still buy a Koa, though. Gotta have em all!


Who are all these prominent musicians you are talking about?
 
I didn't make the comment about prominent musicians, but Ohta San comes to mind right off. . .
Also, Peter Moon, and IZ. I would consider them some heavy hitters. . . I see that they favor vintage Martins. Ohta San now plays Loprinzi mahogany concerts.
 
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Ohta-san, Joe Brown, George Harrison played more than a few 0, 1M and 2Ms...not to mention the Roy Smecks and the Johnny Marvins who played mahogany ukes almost exclusively during the 20's, 30's and 40's...

I'm not slamming Koa, I think they're both great and they've got great tone. I think for what I do, mahogany seems to fit the bill a little better than Koa, but I don't own a Koa uke so I don't really know. I do know that most solid mahogany ukes sound fantastic to me and a lot of Koa ukes don't. Just my personal experience.
 
My nicest ukulele happens to be koa, so I voted koa. If I had a classic Martin instead of a Kamaka, I would've voted for mahagony.
 
Ohta-san, Joe Brown, George Harrison played more than a few 0, 1M and 2Ms...not to mention the Roy Smecks and the Johnny Marvins who played mahogany ukes almost exclusively during the 20's, 30's and 40's...

I'm not slamming Koa, I think they're both great and they've got great tone. I think for what I do, mahogany seems to fit the bill a little better than Koa, but I don't own a Koa uke so I don't really know. I do know that most solid mahogany ukes sound fantastic to me and a lot of Koa ukes don't. Just my personal experience.

Cool...just curious as it seems like more contemporary players play koa. With that being said...I have a koa uke and in the process of having mahogany built as well. What nice now adays is that other woods are being used.

We just had a mahogany / koa thread but never hurts to discuss again. There will always be what's the best uke at $$ price range thread starting every few weeks and it's great that there will always be people who respond.
 
So, I enter the fray saying koa. I just recently received a Koaloha custom tenor that is all koa. Body and neck. Koaloha normally goes with koa body and sapele neck. Not only does the all koa combo add considerably more weight, but it does something funky with the tone--in a good way. The closest I can describe it, is that the all koa has a more mellow tone with tons more sustain. Even though you sacrifice a little of the brightness, it's still a very loud instrument if you want it to be. It can also be strummed as hard as you want without worrying about the vibration. And trust me, I've hit it pretty hard testing that out to my amazement.

I've played an all mohogany Martin soprano and wasn't impressed. To me it seemed muffled and closed in. Of course, I don't think it was one of their quality ones since it only about $400. But, I picked it up at the store, put it in tune, and strummed on it for about 15 minutes. Just couldn't get into it. And just so happened, I had the only uke I owned with me at the time, a Koaloha soprano, koa body/sapele neck combo. The sound, feel, looks, and playability went to my Koaloha soprano hands down. Even the store owner agreed. I live in Kentucky, so there's not much too many people know about ukes anyway. I get a lot of strange looks when I pronounce the name of my instrument oo-koo-lay-lee, as opposed to yoo-koo-lay-lee. Most people think I have a speech problem of something! Oh, well, the vote is still koa.
 
Koa as well. The sound is just more for me. I mean, more balanced, a bit more mellow, but also a bit more bright. Overall, more ukey (as others said), and definitely more traditional and less, well, mahogany-ish.

That isn't a slam on Mahogany. It's a big hug for koa.
 
Both!

Have several of both in fact
 
I go with mahogany. I like the quality of the sound for jazz and swing and it's not as bright. I play my mahogany Pono a lot and right now I'm waiting on a solid rosewood.
 
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