Are Koa guitar sets in short supply?

[PTL]

Recently, I got into a conversation with someone about Koa sets for acoustic guitars. So I did a search on LMI (Luthier's Merchantile), Ebay, and a few other koa suppliers and was surprised by two things. 1. The price. 2. The relatively low amount of flame for the price.

Has Koa become much harder to source? It seemed just a few years ago, I could still find highly flamed sets relatively easily and for a few hundred dollars. These seem to be almost impossible to find now? LMI has a couple of sets at over $1K and they don't look highly flamed.

Curious.

Thanks!

[Bill Kraus]

Curly koa sets will be in a somewhat limited supply for the foreseeable future. Luckily it is a relatively fast growing tree with a decent percentage of the trees having curl. Due to a history of cattle grazing, koa sapplings for the last 100 or more years have been grazed over. Luckily, koa seeds in the ground stay viable for many years. With the value of this wood rising, more emphasis is being placed on cultivation. Demand is high and supply is low.

[Jim Comeaux]

Contributing factors to this are that Koa only grows in a very small area (Hawaii) and Koa trees do not always grow large enough to render back and side sets for larger guitars.

[Tannin]

Broaden your horizons a bit. There are more than 1000 Acacia species. They grow over vast areas. Many of them make good tonewoods, and of those, the vast majority are not at all threatened.