Any difference here?

Is there a difference between acacia koa and curly koa? Is one better then the other?

They are the same wood. Curly is use to discribe the wood. It is hard, for me, to explain in words. Look at some of Moore bettah ukes here. Not so much the double tenor, but the others. These are curly koa. Now look at this. Not curly but still koa. I am pretty sure it is just for looks.

Other woods can be curly. Hope this helps some.

i havent played a acaia one but basically they look similar because they are from the same acacia family. tonal properties curly koa would probably be better.
talk to ryan i believe he has one made of acacia

the curls do matter for aesthetics and for tonal property. i believe the more curly wood is higher up in the tree it is. thats what i was told correct me if im wrong. its true that other woods can be curly. each wood has different properties for koa the tonal range is in the middle so its warm and bright sounding. acacia i have no clue ask ryan~!

hope that helped

Contrary to most i believe that some of the best sounding Koa has been plain looking Curly Koa is not a species just the stress and grain patterns natural in the wood Plain koa is more stable than curly....Acacia Koa is Hawaiian Koa Acacia species wood can be a variety of different woods. Only a certain strain of acacia found and GROWN in Hawaii can be called KOA. You could grow the same thing elsewhere but you cant call it Koa there is no such thing as mexican Koa Portugese Koa or Austrlian Koa in reality....................... "Most acacia species are used for valuable timber; such are Acacia melanoxylon (Blackwood) from Australia, which attains a great size; its wood is used for furniture, and takes a high polish; and Acacia omalophylla (Myall Wood, also Australian), which yields a fragrant timber, used as ornament. Acacia seyal is thought to be the Shittah-tree of the Bible, which supplied shittim-wood. According to the Book of Exodus, this was used in the construction of the Ark of the Covenant. Acacia koa from the Hawaiian Islands and Acacia heterophylla from Réunion island are both excellent timber trees." wikipedia

I've got a black wood/curly koa Tenor! woot
HAHA
Thanks for that Mike

nicely explaineed! made me sweat! thanks miike

Here's a General grade guideline (hopefully some of luthiers and knowledgeable members can confirm this)

• A - Little or no curl; off quarter cuts allowed
• AA - Medium curl, generally quarter sawn
• AAA - Full curl, generally quarter sawn
• Master* - Premium full curl, quarter sawn

*From time to time there is Master Grade koa wood which is "off-the-charts" because of its rare, exceptional color and curl. Instrument quality koa wood is found in, say, one of twenty logs, and the rarest master grade is found in one of a hundred instrument logs

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Actually, when Koa is bought and sold (once upon a time, and even now), it came in two grades, Select and Premium.

If the builder is buying logs/lumber, its up to the builder to sort through the pile to figure out which wood is used for lower end, and which they're going to markup based on figure.

Acacia Koa is Hawaiian Koa Acacia species wood can be a variety of different woods. Only a certain strain of acacia found and GROWN in Hawaii can be called KOA. You could grow the same thing elsewhere but you cant call it Koa

I've got to disagree with here Mike,If the species of tree is Acacia Koa,then it is Acacia Koa wherever you grow it.If I grow an Indiana persimmon tree in Hawaii,it's still a persimmon tree.

Kekani said:

Actually, when Koa is bought and sold (once upon a time, and even now), it came in two grades, Select and Premium.

If the builder is buying logs/lumber, its up to the builder to sort through the pile to figure out which wood is used for lower end, and which they're going to markup based on figure.

Click to expand...

Aaron,
You are right, when I use to work for Winkler back in the day, I had to stack piles of wood in either common, select, or full curl.

I've read some guitar articles that talked about curly wood being less stable which makes for challenging builds, especially during bending. I also read that the curly wood affects sound compared to wood with just straight grain. I know there is varying opinions, but it's just interesting to have some sort of understanding of the technical side of wood and sound. Perhaps this discussion can be brought up in the luthier section, but then again, I don't want to start a war.

uluapoundr said:

Perhaps this discussion can be brought up in the luthier section, but then again, I don't want to start a war.

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Actually, most builders worth their weight know about wood, grain, runout, cuts etc. Its already been discussed and talked out, and I don't think you'll start a war.

Very simple point is: There are generally two types of members here: players, and builders, of which the players make up the most members. If you KNOW this, then you know how to approach the comments on this forum (because a player and a builder may look at wood differently, as evidenced by this thread), but that's another thread (and would be a good one).

Just my $.02 - Aaron