"Korina" is not the term for Hawaiian wood. The correct term is "Koa". The wood is definitely harder and denser than mahogany, and definitely more scarce (=$), as it comes from the Hawaiian Islands. It is the wood of choice for Hawaiian ukuleles because of it's resonance. A very few commercial guitars are made from this wood. Martin comes to mind. However it is not in their top of the line models. Choice koa guitars, as well as top of the lie ukuleles, are usually made in the islands by master luthiers for their particular sound and applications. Check out some of the master slack-key players such as Keola Beamer, as well as Brother Iz for his signature uke sound for this particular sound wood. As far as looks, choice koa is comparable to what we call fiddle-back here on the mainland. The main difference is that is definitely more red in color. Don't mean to step on any body's feet in this discussion... Just want to share and open up some possibilities...