Curly Koa?

The latest ghetto poll asked the question: "How curly do you like your koa?" (results moved to the bottom of the left side of the blog) This time we only got 17 votes, but hey, that's still a lot more than the 4-5 I thought we'd be getting when I started doing polls. The majority of the voters (10 or 58%) preferred more subtle curls in their koa. Only 4, or 23%, liked as much curl as possible. Of course, this is a very small sampling of opinions, but I'm still a little bit surprised that so many more people prefer less than master grade stuff. The picture on this post roughly shows curliness from no curl (right) to 5A curly koa (left).

My personal preference is definitely for the high grade stuff. I've always like the look of super curly koa in pictures, and when I got the William King tenor with the 5A stuff, I thought it looked even more stunning in person. But I think the 2A-3A stuff looks very good too. The 2nd (Kanile'a) and 3rd (Koa Works) ukes from the left on the picture are more or less 2A-3A koa. The curls on those sometimes require you to tilt the ukulele in different angles to see. That's kind of gives off a 3D quality which is pretty cool.

The Kamaka, which is the 2nd one from the right, has very very subtle curls in the wood. It is more dominated by the dark vertical steaks in the wood. I've read that those streaks don't really factor into wood grading, but I think they definitely add to the appearance of the piece of wood.

So in conclusion, there is no conclusion...Everyone has their preference. There are even people who don't like any curls in their koa, so it really is to each his/her own. Good thing there are plenty of choices out there right now for all the different preferences. One thing's for sure, koa looks great regardless of how much curl it's got! (well, except for the one voter who voted for no koa...)

Here are the results of this poll. Look for more ghetto poll questions whenever you visit this blog!

How curly do you like your koa??? (preferably on a ukulele)

1. If 6A koa exists, sign me up!: 4 votes (23%)

2. I like them, but prefer the more subtle looking stuff (2A-3A): 10 votes (58%)

3. Straight grain for me. Curls belong on french fries: 2 votes (11%)

4. Koa is not my style. Get me some mango! (or insert any other wood): 1 vote (5%)