Big question: Mango vs Mahogany

NaturalBornCamper

NaturalBornCamper

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Hi everyone, I recently bought a Kala KA-15S and I am not satisfied at all of the sound, it sounds more like a high pitched guitar than the real hawaiian ukulele, so I want to buy a new one, a really good one, so I narrowed my search to two types of woods:
Mango or Mahogany?

I searched on the forum and I know that it depends on the type of sound that we want, so here's a link to the song "I believe I can fly" from "me first and the gimme gimmes" (for wich I can't find the tabs haha!) try and listen to the beginning, this is EXACTLY the type of sound I am looking for, the one I hear everyone and that my two last ukes can't reproduce (probably because they are laminates):
http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/song/I_Believe_I_Can_Fly/5136712

So I am calling to you, who tried both mango and mahogany, I know that mahogany is supposed to be the best, but mango looks really good.

Oh, and I live in Canada, so in summer in 35 Celcius and in winter -35 celcius, so would it be dangerous for a hard wood ukulele in mango or mahogany? What if it's kept in a hard case?

THANKS!!

Marco
 
Welp, I've never played a Mahogany, but what I can say is that the Mango is a very warm, rich kinda sound. More even 'bass' if you will. As for the temperatures, I don't think you'll be leaving yur uke outside right? So I'm sure as long as the inside of yur place isn't ice cold, yur uke should be fine as long as its cased when not in use and humidified. :]
 
I wouldn't say that mahogany is the "best." In fact, it is not a very traditional wood for ukulele at all. Mahogony was really popularized by Martin, and is more closely associated with the mainland ukulele sound...Gibson, Martin, etc. The most traditional of ukulele woods in koa. You will probably find that koa ukulele by and large have the most quintessential Hawaiian sound. Mango is a new wood to ukulele making. I have owned a custom Kanile'a solid mango ukulele for about 18 months, and it does have a warmish sound, well rounded. It does brighten up well with brighter, higher tension strings. I would suggest you put some Worth brown strings on your existing ukulele and you may be surprised how much more mellow and "islands" it gets. These are very low tension string and help with the mellow warm sound. Do NOT use clear Worths...they are high tension and meant for the opposite. For classic Hawaiian strumming, my mango tenor with Worth browns sounded very traditionally ukey.

I woudl also suggest a soprano or concert for a more trad Hawaiian sound. No matter the material and strings, a tenor will always have a little more volume and projection and less of the quaint strummy islands sound. (although tenors seem to be the most popular size in Hawaii, judging by what my music shop friends say.)
 
Listening to that song, I think mahogany would be your better choice. Mango would be a bit brighter in tone, from what I've heard.

My Kiwaya KTS-4 (solid mahog soprano) sounds pretty similar to the uke featured in that song but it's also strung with some strings I don't like! It currently has strings with short sustain that give it a more punchy sound, good for strumming.
 
NatalieS said:
Listening to that song, I think mahogany would be your better choice. Mango would be a bit brighter in tone, from what I've heard.

My Kiwaya KTS-4 (solid mahog soprano) sounds pretty similar to the uke featured in that song but it's also strung with some strings I don't like! It currently has strings with short sustain that give it a more punchy sound, good for strumming.
Click to expand...

Natalie- mango is actually the opposite. It is softer wood and much mellower than even koa. Not at all naturally bright. Here is a quote from an objective analysis from another uke site:

I have three Pono sopranos in stock, all solid mahogany (satin finish), all solid koa (gloss) and all solid mango (gloss). (I am not trying to advertise anything here, but if you click on my web-link you can have a look at pictures and descriptions of the three various ukes). I have restrung all of these with Aquila strings, which I reckon suit these ukes very well.

The mahogany uke is by far the loudest - though the satin finish would play a part in that too.

The koa and mango to my ear sound similar, though the koa uke is louder and brighter. The mango is a bit 'sweeter' and mellower. Although, I am not sure, it seems like mango is a softer wood and not as resonant. It definitely has it place in the uke world as a tone wood, but the fact that it looks pretty too helps!
 
Wow, THANKS everyone, but now even with all these answers, I still don't know what to do, and now there's another type of wood, the koa... I heard about that type of wood, but I did not know that it was that much used for ukuleles.

Nuke-ulele, that person who wrote that post really looks like she/he knows a lot about those three types of wood. If that person could pop in the thread and explain everything in detail it would be awesome, but so far with what you and the others told me I am quite interested in the mango and kao ukuleles and I am more than confused about the mahogany ukulele, which I was sure was the best wood for a uke.


Ahhhhh!! I want to buy a new one but now I only have more and more doubts!!!
 
I got both, I like the look of Mango, curly Mango, checkered looking grain, different colors in the Mango wood. As stated above, many factors can effect the final sound.
 
NaturalBornCamper said:
Wow, THANKS everyone, but now even with all these answers, I still don't know what to do, and now there's another type of wood, the koa... I heard about that type of wood, but I did not know that it was that much used for ukuleles.

Nuke-ulele, that person who wrote that post really looks like she/he knows a lot about those three types of wood. If that person could pop in the thread and explain everything in detail it would be awesome, but so far with what you and the others told me I am quite interested in the mango and kao ukuleles and I am more than confused about the mahogany ukulele, which I was sure was the best wood for a uke.


Ahhhhh!! I want to buy a new one but now I only have more and more doubts!!!
Click to expand...

I do not think that person is a member here. It was a quote from another uke site. They are a shop owner.
 
krabbers said:
that was the song that inspired me to buy my first mahaloz
Click to expand...

Yeah me too, did you ever find the chords?


Nuke-ulele: I found the original post and the website, but the website is his ebay store and the descriptions are not.. precise enough.

I think I'm going to buy a koa or mango now. Probably a mango for now and a koa later in my life, so I will end up with both as deach said
 
I'll throw in my 10 cents here...

Not all Koa Ukes, Mango Ukes or Mahogany Ukes sound the same even if they are made by the same person/company.

Not only will the finish change the overall tone but so will the wood grain.
Then you add the different strings to the mix, or even concert strings on a Soprano and it is very hard to tell what a Ukulele will end up sounding like.

Good Luck on the search for that "Perfect Uke Sound" to me that has been half the fun.
 
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i believe i can fly

Great cover, first time I heard that band (love the name)! Reminds me of the Dickies.
 
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I own a solid koa uke, solid mahaghany uke, solid koa top with solid mahaghany back and sides and a mango laminate, as well as a solid spruce top.

IMO the solid mahaghany sounds the best. It is by far the loudest uke i own and i enjoy it's volume since I play with guitar players mainly. The koa is by far the prettiest but since you live in canada I think Koa might not be your best choice if you don't take care of your instruments. Are you looking at buying a solid wood or a lmainate wood uke? Strings do make a difference but not asa much as solid vs. laminate. My mango uke sounds good and I am trying to sale it right now but that is because I have to let one go since I got a new one.

What is your price range?

Also if you continue to play a uke the sound will grow on you.
 
haolejohn said:
I own a solid koa uke, solid mahaghany uke, solid koa top with solid mahaghany back and sides and a mango laminate, as well as a solid spruce top.

IMO the solid mahaghany sounds the best. It is by far the loudest uke i own and i enjoy it's volume since I play with guitar players mainly. The koa is by far the prettiest but since you live in canada I think Koa might not be your best choice if you don't take care of your instruments. Are you looking at buying a solid wood or a lmainate wood uke? Strings do make a difference but not asa much as solid vs. laminate. My mango uke sounds good and I am trying to sale it right now but that is because I have to let one go since I got a new one.

What is your price range?

Also if you continue to play a uke the sound will grow on you.
Click to expand...

Hey thanks, your post was really helpful!
I'm looking for a solid ukulele since I already own a laminate mahogany and I want to hear the "real" sound a ukulele should have. Mine sounds more like a high pitched guitar and I don't like that.

But I would definitely buy your mango ukulele if I was looking for one. But.. I guy I know is looking for a ukulele under 100$. I don't know how good is yours, but is it in that price range?

Also, I got the opinions of several people about the song I sent in my first post, so can I have yours as well? wich ukulele would sound more like the beginning of the song (mahogany, mango or koa)? And the strings don't matter as the guy I am buying from can switch to either Fremont or Aquila strings.

Thanks again!
Marco
 
I've had experience with mango and mahogany (both solid). Overall, mango seems to have more "boom"--or at least the one I own does--compared to mahogany (a friend's); although, it might be the construction. I played Kamakas before, but I had nothing to compare it to. Despite the minority who think koa is overrated, the general consensus on koa is that you can't really go wrong with it... or almost any common ukulele wood for that matter now that I think about it.
 
NaturalBornCamper said:
The Dickies? Don't think I ever heard a song from them, are they good?
Click to expand...
They were one of the first punk bands out of L.A. in the late '70s and did several covers. Their version of "Nights in White Satin" is a classic, as is the "Banana Splits" theme song (anyone else here old enough to remember that show?):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTxdZEB7agA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flMS2gHFOH0

Also search YouTube for their version of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" (the way it should be played!) and Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction."
 
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Nuke-ulele said:
Natalie- mango is actually the opposite. It is softer wood and much mellower than even koa. Not at all naturally bright. Here is a quote from an objective analysis from another uke site:

I have three Pono sopranos in stock, all solid mahogany (satin finish), all solid koa (gloss) and all solid mango (gloss). (I am not trying to advertise anything here, but if you click on my web-link you can have a look at pictures and descriptions of the three various ukes). I have restrung all of these with Aquila strings, which I reckon suit these ukes very well.

The mahogany uke is by far the loudest - though the satin finish would play a part in that too.

The koa and mango to my ear sound similar, though the koa uke is louder and brighter. The mango is a bit 'sweeter' and mellower. Although, I am not sure, it seems like mango is a softer wood and not as resonant. It definitely has it place in the uke world as a tone wood, but the fact that it looks pretty too helps!
Click to expand...


Oops my bad! From what I read on UU, I thought mango was between koa and mahogany in the brightness factor... In other words, koa is brightest, then mango, then mahogany as mellowest. I hope I didn't spread false info.
 
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