Acacia vs. Koa

straygator said:

Just a quick question...do you think the average ear can tell the difference between Acacia and Koa?

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ukeeku said:

this not just tricky, it is loaded.
wood selection is a part of the sound, and it can truly effect the sound, but build style and how well the builder understands how to work with it that can make all the difference. there are also other factors like how the wood was dried, density at that part of the tree it was taken from, or even what glue is used.
I could go on and one.
For the most part I can tell the difference between drastically different wood density. Mahagany/Koa/Acacia sound the same, but very different from Cedar and soft woods like Spruce.
This is all my opinion and not here to flame. Good question either way. it made me think

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Bill1 said:

Koa is acacia, it is wood from the tree called Acacia koa. Acacia is a large genus which includes thousands of shrubs and trees. Acacia melanoxylon (Blackwood) is another well known acacia that is used in making ukuleles. I am sure there are other species from the genus Acacia which can make good musical instruments.
What we need to know is what type of acacia you want to compare with Acacia koa. If you don't know, ask the maker of the ukes you are looking at. If it seems to be hard to get an answer you have to ask yourself why a maker would want to hide the name of the wood which is being used to make the uke, what are they afraid of?
I don't know of any Australian makers who are afraid to hide the fact that they use Acacia melanoxylon or blackwood to make ukes. They call it blackwood, not Acacia. I have two blackwood ukes made in Australia and three koa ukes made in Hawaii and one made in NZ. They all have a different tone which comes from the way they have been put together. They are all well made and will last 100 years. I would say that just as Hawaiian makers have figured out how to use koa, Australian makers have figured out how to use blackwood, and have been doing so for a long time. Many Non-Hawaiian and Non-Australian makers don't all seem to have worked out how to get the best of these woods yet.
If you are trying to compare a low cost uke made in the far East with a higher cost uke made in Hawaii, good luck with that. Its like trying to compare a medium cost Hawaiian Uke with a high cost uke made in Texas. Why bother, just get the uke you can access now and enjoy it. If you actually cam afford choice, listen to the ukes yourself and pick the one you like. If you can't pick between them on sound work on the resale, ask yourself which would be easier to sell if you need to sell? Is it easier to find a buyer for a uke that is well made out of Acacia koa, or is it easier to find a buyer for a uke made out of an unknown wood for a low purchase price?

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PhilUSAFRet said:

As with many things, you have to factor quality into the mix. A really hard, tight grained peice of Acacia (one variety or another) can sound much better than a softer, more pourous peice of Koa Acacia. Can say the same of other closely related woods as well, such as the many varities of Mahogany... etc.

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ukeeku said:

this not just tricky, it is loaded.
wood selection is a part of the sound, and it can truly effect the sound, but build style and how well the builder understands how to work with it that can make all the difference. there are also other factors like how the wood was dried, density at that part of the tree it was taken from, or even what glue is used.
I could go on and one.
For the most part I can tell the difference between drastically different wood density. Mahagany/Koa/Acacia sound the same, but very different from Cedar and soft woods like Spruce.
This is all my opinion and not here to flame. Good question either way. it made me think

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wendellfiddler said:

What are the same thing? Mahogany, koa and acacia? Or do you mean that Koa is type of Acacia?

From what I hear and read in previous threads, what we call Koa is a type of Acacia but that doesn't mean they are the same thing. It's a bit more complicated than that. Sitka spruce isn't the same as the spruce I have growing outside my house in Massachusetts, but they are related and are both spruce trees.

dt

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kissing said:

^ I think haolejohn was being sarcastic




I think Acacia, Koa and Mahogany are all different woods.
But it's hardly worth discussing the matter into huge detail, because as stated already, wood is only one factor out of many.. possibly millions of factors.
And not only that, different batches, trees, logs of the same wood can have drastically different properties.

So I think it's best to treat each uke model differently, since each uke is a combination of unique craftsmanship, technique, design, etc.
Even same model ukes made of the same wood by the same maker shows variance.

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liam_fnq said:

I want everybody to stop what they're doing and repeat after me:

Koa is a species of Acacia. There are many species of Acacia. Some are as soft as cedar, some are as hard as ebony, some are inbetween.

Repeat three times.

It feels good that we've all cleared that up doesn't it.

Ok, next issue. Why does Acacia have to vs. Koa? Are they battling to the death or something?

Next issue, You can't campare Acacia and Koa generally. They vary in their property's at least as much as the ukes built from them. You can compare a [insert uke brand here] koa uke with a [insert uke brand here] [insert another species of acacia such as Australian Blackwood] ukulele.

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