Ukulele Online

The price of vintage koa ukuleles seems to be going up and up in recent years. Not long ago, there was very little price difference between a Martin ukulele made of mahogany and made of koa. Those days are long gone. A 2K will fetch hundreds of dollars more than a 2M.

Part of this increase in price is due to the availability of koa. True koa is only available on Hawaii and is getting increasingly hard to find.

There’s little doubt that koa is more beautiful than mahogany and this is probably the biggest factor in the price difference between koa and mahogany ukuleles. There is a difference in sound between them, but I wouldn’t say one is better than the other.

If you want the look and sound of koa wood without the price tag, you do have options. There are an increasing number of ukuleles being made of woods in the same family as koa, Acacia wood, such as Australian blackwood. These include brands such as the Koa Pili Koko Kelii and Lehua ukuleles. It would take a more eagle eyed and eared connoisseur than me to tell the difference.

photo credit: uketeecee