The craze for koa instruments died in the 1930s, along with the Hawaiian music fad in general, and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor there wasn't much koa wood being shipped to the US for several years. Although Martin returned to selling lots of ukes after the war was over (during Arthur Godfrey's heyday), it didn't bother trying to get koa again as mahogany ukes sold just fine. Of course the ukulele makers in Hawaii, especially Kamaka, never stopped using koa for ukes. Shown here is a set of raw curly koa for a uke, and a current Kamaka tenor ukulele [31891]. But throughout the '50s and '60s there were no new guitars made of koa to be found, until that changed in the 1970s as independent guitarmakers like the Santa Cruz Guitar Co., and even the much larger Gurian Instruments on the opposite coast, offered guitars with koa backs and sides as an alternative to East Indian rosewood or mahogany.

The new model classical guitars have updated features that have been lacking in the past. Adjustable truss rods, shortened scale lengths and narrower nut widths along with woods other than Indian rosewood for the sides and back.

For years some folk have considered Hartke to be a one-trick pony. Recently they have applied new technology to their product line to become the "best of both worlds." Read what Brian has to say about it...