non koa Hawaiian ukes?

kalmario

kalmario

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does such a thing exist?

I'm over there come november, but I'm not sure I want a Koa uke (sounds silly but I'm beginning to think it should stay in Hawaii)

Cheers in advance (and no offense intended if you have taken a koa uke out of Hawaii)

Cliff
 
What do you call a Hawaiian ukulele? A ukulele made in Hawaii even by a hapa? A ukulele made in China sold by a person of Chinese birth who lives in Hawaii? There are beautiful mango, mahogany, monkey pod or maple ukuleles made on different islands
 
Koolau makes a lot of different ukes with different tone woods. I'm assuming when you day Hawaiian ukes you mean ukes made in Hawaii correct? Kanilea make make other wood ukes too but I think they are custom (someone correct me if i'm wrong). Kelli does make a mahogany uke.
 
You can have a uke custom made in Hawaii out of anything you want. Got a sneek peek at the Redwood ukulele Joe is making for Aldrine for studio work at Kanile'a. Very pretty.
 
I am awed by the sound of redwood tops
 
yep 'made in hawaii' was what i meant, thanks for the info

Cheers

Cliff
 
Last edited:
I have a mango uke that was hand-made in Hawaii - it sounds great.
 
I may be misunderstanding the question but as far as local woods go, milo, ulu (beadfruit), naio, toon, sugi pine, even monkeypod are all woods that have been used in instrument building in Hawaii. Kiawe and ohia can be used as fret boards and bindings. The problem is that few of these woods (with the exception of monkeypod) are milled commercially to any degree and can be hard to find, especially in any large workable form.
BTW, most of the Hawaiian koa is being shipped to China these days.
 
Last edited:
OP I'm assuming you don't want to take koa off the islands for whatever reasons, but why is another native wood any different?
 
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