What type of wood native to Hawaii is commonly used in making ukuleles?
Acacia koa is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, where it is the second most common tree. The highest populations are on Hawaiʻi, Maui and Oʻahu. Its name in the Hawaiian language, koa, also means brave, bold, fearless, or warrior.
The koa's trunk was used by ancient Hawaiians to build dugout outrigger canoes and surfboards. The reddish wood is very similar in strength and weight to that of Black Walnut (Juglans nigra), with a specific gravity of 0.55, and is sought for use in wood carving and furniture. Koa is also a tonewood, often used in the construction of ukuleles, acoustic guitars, and Weissenborn-style Hawaiian steel guitars.
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What are your thoughts on this subject?
26 Comments
dmarkc
Tiptoe thru the wood-types.
tbear
Darlene Davidson, 👍😊
tbear
Todd Cates, 👍😊
Richard G Schwartz
Koa sounded Hawaiian.
skullfire
They were traditionally made from Koa and/or Mahogany wood. This question should be corrected or removed.
Chrissy Krainock Luders
Btw, it’s eww ka le le, not you- ka laylay.
Chrissy Krainock Luders
And it’s expensive! But, beautiful, especially curly koa.
Suraya Choudhury
Got it !
Keith Mauldin
During WWII my father used to give the Japanese prisoner a carton of cigarettes and they would make Ukilalis for Pops ,he sent them to the family stateside
dlh
Oops🙀
ninakamwene
Lucky guess
vitalsignss
Had one years ago. Koa
Christopher J Voce
The best Ukuleles are unequivocally Hawaiian and made from Koa. Martins best Ukes were also made from Koa. The mainland really got it wrong - they made miniature guitars instead of studying the origin of the species, overbuilt essentially.
Kitty White
They are also made of mahogany. The best ukulele are made by Martin Ukuleles and they make them from mahogany.
Al Cole
Read that about the ukuleles.