$7,490

Exclusively native to the most isolated island archipelago in the world, Hawaiian koa has long remained some of the most coveted and beautiful wood on the planet. The Hawaiian word “koa” roughly translates to “warrior.”  The armies of King Kamehameha the Great, who united the Hawaiian Islands into a singular kingdom in 1810, built canoes and weapons from the vast forests of stout and powerful koa that grow on Hawaii’s Big Island. Koa’s light weight and tight grain result in a wood that is strong and durable without being heavy or bulky. The rich, golden hues and dramatic figuring offer a unique and visually striking body, unlike any other tonewood.

Figured Hawaiian koa’s distinctive tone is both clear and sweet. The voice grows over time; the more you play it, the more it opens up, evolving from sweet to sweeter. Despite the wood’s density, it offers a balance of projection and articulation. Koa has the stiffness and clarity of rosewood, but with the warm, light tones of mahogany.

Bedell’s deep parlor body style shapes this exquisite tonewood into an inviting and comfortable guitar that’s as sweet in tone as it is strikingly beautiful. Wrap your hands around a true, Honduran mahogany neck and a 12-fret ebony fretboard adorned with a true mother-of-pearl inlay, and begin your relationship with an instrument that will inspire joy and wonder for generations of players to come.