Koa looks wonderful. Koa sounds great. Koa develops cracks very well in winter with the dry air and the heater going. If it's humid in Laguna Hills California USA, then I would say go for it. It is a wonderful wood. I won't use it because I live in the middle of the country where the winter is cold and dry. I keep all my Koa ukuleles in cases until early May when the humidity comes back and the heater gets shut off.

Fortunately we're around 45% humidity and 75 degrees around here most of the time. In the past we only had two seasons: Somewhat Warmer, and Somewhat Cooler. This year's a little different with the big El Nino.

Apparently Tim Scheerhorn thought it was a good idea.

https://reverb.com/item/25410712-scheerhorn-l-body-resonator-beatiful-koa

I’ve got an all koa Weissenborn. Dry climate, never humidified it. No cracks, no problems, sounds great.

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Originally posted by SamCy

Apparently Tim Scheerhorn thought it was a good idea.

https://reverb.com/item/25410712-scheerhorn-l-body-resonator-beatiful-koa

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That was the one that sold for a ridiculously cheap price that we missed out on after we heard about it. 

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Originally posted by Mooooo

Koa looks wonderful. Koa sounds great. Koa develops cracks very well in winter with the dry air and the heater going. If it's humid in Laguna Hills California USA, then I would say go for it. It is a wonderful wood. I won't use it because I live in the middle of the country where the winter is cold and dry. I keep all my Koa ukuleles in cases until early May when the humidity comes back and the heater gets shut off.

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I've read a number of different things about which tonewood is the most "crack prone." I don't know that I would put koa at the top. I've heard that mahogany and rosewood are worse. Then you get on some other guitar related forum and it might be something else at the top. 

As far as koa, some of the nicest reso guitars I have ever played and heard were made of this wood, from the likes of Tim Scheerhorn and Todd Clinesmith. A bunch of years ago we were at a Jerry Douglas Band concert here in Sonoma County, and the following day my wife and I were flying to Hawaii on vacation. Todd Clinesmith was at the show and he told me, and he was only half joking - "if you come across any nice koa over there let me know."

I can't speak to ukes and how they survive Chicago winters, I'll leave that  to Mooooo, but  major flattop builders like Martin and Taylor make a lot of guitars out of koa. Spider bridge reso guitars typically use a slightly thicker cut of timber than what is used for flattops so I would think they they are less prone to cracking. .  

As we've already determined, a koa guitar living in Laguna Beach (one of my favorite  towns in California!) is a non factor. If I had the talent and patience to build a spider bridge resonator guitar, Hawaiian koa would be near the top of my list. 

Nothing I can think of, plenty of 100+ year old Koa instruments out there in fine, playing condition, heck, I own a few. Only thing I would consider is a laminate if I could find a nice one, solid Koa guitar sets are incredibly expensive and for a resonator IMO not necessary, I'd leave it for a Weissenborn or Martin K build.

I have a lifetime supply of musical instrument grade koa, so I'll be OK there. Got some of it from Mats Fogelvik (Maui - 1996), some of it in Santa Barbara (2010 - a furniture set), and some of it from a giant old bookcase in Claremont, CA (2005). Just have to hunt around in my garage for the right pieces. I've used it for a couple of projects; it's just about my favorite wood.

I have a Koa Fishook that survived the Arizona humidity and heat with no issues. It is a great sounding ,balanced and , if you dig in, loud instrument.
JD built this with repurposed wood. The Koa was from an old Hotel in Hilo,Hawaii built in 1920 , that was torn down.

resohangout.com/forum/attachme...eID=40994

Barry...I also have a Fishook. It would be nice if JD would resume building. I think there's a place for his work. He had a couple guitars in the works many months ago, but I don't know if they were ever finished....Back to the subject, Brad. I also have a KOA guitar and it's one of my favorites.  That's based upon the sound and not the fantastic appearance. Many resonator guitars as well as non-resonator such as the Weissenborns have been built from KOA. I think it's appropriate.