So whats the difference between the bunch of em ? I see that Koa is one of the more expensive ones, but how drasticaly do they effect guitar sound ? What is the difference between Mahogany, Koa, Maple, etc...
Guitar body wood questions..
- Thread starter paddok
- Start date
Mahogany is a fairly dark wood, like Basswood, but Mahogany has more character. ..I think Koa is an abbreviation for the wood "Korina". ...Korina(African Limba) is similar to Mahogany, but less dense and a little brighter sounding. Also lighter, both in color and weight. ..And Maple is the brightest of the three, but is not as bright as Strat-type woods, such as Alder or Ash. ..Yet, Maple has much better resonance.Originally posted by paddok
So whats the difference between the bunch of em ? I see that Koa is one of the more expensive ones, but how drasticaly do they effect guitar sound ? What is the difference between Mahogany, Koa, Maple, etc...
Sunbane
Metalistic Madman
Originally posted by paddok
So whats the difference between the bunch of em ? I see that Koa is one of the more expensive ones, but how drasticaly do they effect guitar sound ? What is the difference between Mahogany, Koa, Maple, etc...
This webpage is what you're looking for:
http://www.warmoth.com/common/goodwood.htm
'bane
xenophobe
Active Member
Koa is not Korina. Koa is a endangered wood from Hawaii (only place it's found, really) and the reason it's so expensive is that it only comes from naturally felled trees.
I'm a big fan of Alder, as it's a mid point between the hardness of maple and the depth of mahogany..it's warm too. I also like Swamp Ash.
xenophobe
Active Member
Koa is a great tonewood... and until recently I never played Korina... though I just bought a Jackson Archtop with a Korina body and neck, with a 1" quilt maple top, and I got to say this thing is a tone monster!
i've come to the point of ignoring the guitar body's wood. as long as i like what i hear, i'll grab that guitar.
my 12yr old ibanez RG has a basswood body & it's more massive than my basswood RG 7620. this 7620 sustains as well as my mahagony bodied ibanez S540 & gibson Les Paul. although both my LP & PRS has a mahagony + maple cap formula, the PRS plays & sounds better than the Les Paul. then there're 2 cheapo Ibanezs lying around at my place which are resoncast & agathis- they both beat all my other guitars tone-wise on certain days
so i just give up trying to have inclinations on guitar body wood... although i agree that of all the body wood mentioned here, basswood is soft & dents easily
my 12yr old ibanez RG has a basswood body & it's more massive than my basswood RG 7620. this 7620 sustains as well as my mahagony bodied ibanez S540 & gibson Les Paul. although both my LP & PRS has a mahagony + maple cap formula, the PRS plays & sounds better than the Les Paul. then there're 2 cheapo Ibanezs lying around at my place which are resoncast & agathis- they both beat all my other guitars tone-wise on certain days
so i just give up trying to have inclinations on guitar body wood... although i agree that of all the body wood mentioned here, basswood is soft & dents easily
Thornmoon
Fuckin' Bass Player
Korina has been called by many "The Holy Grail of Tonewoods". I've never played a guitar built with it, but I'd really like to.
