i am looking into buying a ukulele in the near future. I know that koa is the more "quintessential" body wood for ukes, but im also aware that its getting tougher to find and more expensive and that there are other woods in the same family that will produce a very similar sound to koa. if i can get a similar sound for less, im going to. so, my question is this: what ukulele body woods should i look for that will produce a similar sound to koa but would be a bit cheaper??
Body Woods
- Thread starter CalebMcC
- Start date
bunt
Hand-Crank Mixer
Many types of wood are used in the construction of ukuleles. Here are some of the most common woods used...
Each of these woods are unique in the beauty and tone they bring to the ukulele.
Koawoods... Koa is the best-known hardwood of the Hawaiian Islands. Acacia koa is a native forest tree, unique to Hawaii, and held in reverence. Koa means bold. When we think of Hawaiian ukuleles, we always know that many of the best sounding and most beautiful ukuleles are made of Koawood. Sweet warm voiced.
Hard rock maple: Clear, heavy and very resisant, trebly sound with strong attack, used on ukulele necks, bodies and tops.
Mahogany: Medium density, redish in color. has the tendencie to be bright and bassy, excellent to be used with maple. Used manly on bodies. Many of the vintage ukuleles are made of mahogany. Does not have the breath-taking grain patterns, but mahogany is one of my favorites in sound.
Rosewood: Exist in diffrent colors and textures, today used manly on fretboards. The sound of rosewood body ukes is sweet and round. Braziaian Rosewood is long gone, yet other varieties are still available.
Redwood: Very hard and resistant, some seems kind of bassy.
Imbuia: Very figured,hard and exotic. Beautiful grain patterns... used on tops and on back of instruments.
Ebony: Primarily used in Fretboards. Same black wood as used for the black keys on a piano. has a very distinguishing smell when you work ebony in the shop.
Maple: Good density and resistant, very trebly, there are many type of maple: flamed, curly, burl, quilted and spalted... Beautiful grain patterns
Spruce: A very close grained wood the produces a rich, vibrant tone. One of my favorite medium priced instrument types have spruce soundboards and mahogany sides and backs.
Cedar: Light to reddish wood used primarly for sound boards. One of the best sounding uke I every played was made by a local luthier from cedar wood slats from his mother's back yard fence that had been standing over 40 years.
Composite Woods:What is "composite" construction of ukuleles? Is it some plastic with wood grain printed on it.... or is it really wood?
Small stringed instruments have to have thin construction to sound like anything. The sound board is 0.0625" thick. And wood being that thin is apt to crack easily or have grain separations when it got too dry.
To avoid these difficulties, music instrument maker developed composite materials..... In one word, these composites are essentially "plywood".... but not the cheap plywood with junk stuffed in the middle that they use to cover houses.
These composites are made for musical instruments. With composites, soundboards can be thinner.... and louder..... and typical grain splits are cracks are a thing of the past.
Yes, fine custom-made instruments still use solid woods in construction. But the cost of such fine instruments are 4 times and more greater than the "composite" wood instruments. Well-made composite instruments, such as the Hohner Lanikai line have great sound are are a great value for the money. If you can afford the custom-made solid-wood instruments, go for it... but carefully care for them.
Nato: Roy, I see several ukes that say they use "NATO" wood.... what is that?
Nato wood, also known as Eastern Mahogany, is a relieble, strong wood used on guitar necks. It is a value-priced wood used more in the lower cost instruments. However, Nato still embodies all of the properties of more commonly used.... and more expensive mahogany. Not a bad wood at all for most ukes.... except the finest ones.
There is no "BEST".... as beauty is in the eye of the beholder.... so is the best wood for you ukulele. It is a matter of personal choice. Have Fun!
stolen from here: http://www.ukuleleworld.com/wood-types.html
Each of these woods are unique in the beauty and tone they bring to the ukulele.
Koawoods... Koa is the best-known hardwood of the Hawaiian Islands. Acacia koa is a native forest tree, unique to Hawaii, and held in reverence. Koa means bold. When we think of Hawaiian ukuleles, we always know that many of the best sounding and most beautiful ukuleles are made of Koawood. Sweet warm voiced.
Hard rock maple: Clear, heavy and very resisant, trebly sound with strong attack, used on ukulele necks, bodies and tops.
Mahogany: Medium density, redish in color. has the tendencie to be bright and bassy, excellent to be used with maple. Used manly on bodies. Many of the vintage ukuleles are made of mahogany. Does not have the breath-taking grain patterns, but mahogany is one of my favorites in sound.
Rosewood: Exist in diffrent colors and textures, today used manly on fretboards. The sound of rosewood body ukes is sweet and round. Braziaian Rosewood is long gone, yet other varieties are still available.
Redwood: Very hard and resistant, some seems kind of bassy.
Imbuia: Very figured,hard and exotic. Beautiful grain patterns... used on tops and on back of instruments.
Ebony: Primarily used in Fretboards. Same black wood as used for the black keys on a piano. has a very distinguishing smell when you work ebony in the shop.
Maple: Good density and resistant, very trebly, there are many type of maple: flamed, curly, burl, quilted and spalted... Beautiful grain patterns
Spruce: A very close grained wood the produces a rich, vibrant tone. One of my favorite medium priced instrument types have spruce soundboards and mahogany sides and backs.
Cedar: Light to reddish wood used primarly for sound boards. One of the best sounding uke I every played was made by a local luthier from cedar wood slats from his mother's back yard fence that had been standing over 40 years.
Composite Woods:What is "composite" construction of ukuleles? Is it some plastic with wood grain printed on it.... or is it really wood?
Small stringed instruments have to have thin construction to sound like anything. The sound board is 0.0625" thick. And wood being that thin is apt to crack easily or have grain separations when it got too dry.
To avoid these difficulties, music instrument maker developed composite materials..... In one word, these composites are essentially "plywood".... but not the cheap plywood with junk stuffed in the middle that they use to cover houses.
These composites are made for musical instruments. With composites, soundboards can be thinner.... and louder..... and typical grain splits are cracks are a thing of the past.
Yes, fine custom-made instruments still use solid woods in construction. But the cost of such fine instruments are 4 times and more greater than the "composite" wood instruments. Well-made composite instruments, such as the Hohner Lanikai line have great sound are are a great value for the money. If you can afford the custom-made solid-wood instruments, go for it... but carefully care for them.
Nato: Roy, I see several ukes that say they use "NATO" wood.... what is that?
Nato wood, also known as Eastern Mahogany, is a relieble, strong wood used on guitar necks. It is a value-priced wood used more in the lower cost instruments. However, Nato still embodies all of the properties of more commonly used.... and more expensive mahogany. Not a bad wood at all for most ukes.... except the finest ones.
There is no "BEST".... as beauty is in the eye of the beholder.... so is the best wood for you ukulele. It is a matter of personal choice. Have Fun!
stolen from here: http://www.ukuleleworld.com/wood-types.html
D
dintymoore
Guest
There's lots of people here (Hawaii) that would kill me for saying this but this is my true feeling:
All wood is musical, but koa doesn't really sound very good - it's a dead sounding wood. It's off the scale beautiful, and that combined with the fact that it only grows in Hawaii, where ukes were invented, has led uke makers to work with it and get great results despite the fact that it isn't naturally a very good sounding wood.
The best ukes I've heard are old Martins (worth a fortune) and they aren't koa.
All wood is musical, but koa doesn't really sound very good - it's a dead sounding wood. It's off the scale beautiful, and that combined with the fact that it only grows in Hawaii, where ukes were invented, has led uke makers to work with it and get great results despite the fact that it isn't naturally a very good sounding wood.
The best ukes I've heard are old Martins (worth a fortune) and they aren't koa.