Quote:
Originally Posted by PeteyPower16
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I just checked the description I linked a few months ago, and the reference to “not as bright as maple” was changed to “resembling that of koa.”
“An African relative of rosewood, ovangkol shares many of rosewood’s tonal properties, including a wide spectrum from lows and highs. Differences include a slightly fuller midrange and a bright treble response resembling that of koa.”
This seems like a marketing change to me. By calling maple bright (vs. balanced, as Chris McKee at Alamo Music has posited), the old description critiqued both the 600 series and the 400 series as possibly too bright. Or, if someone was seeking a bright tone, then Ovangkol was critiqued as “almost as good” as maple. By comparing it to Rosewood and Koa in the new description, readers interpret this as a wood that is very close to the gold and platinum standards according to many player preferences.
To my ears, Ovangkol is more like a blend of rosewood, mahogany, and maple, and does not sound much like Koa. I guess one could argue that it has a high end frequency and a dryness like Koa, but I do not hear Koa’s sweetness. Ovangkol’s chirpy bright EQ and note separation (despite some low end overtones) reminds me of a warmer overtoned version of maple more than Koa.
If if were to classify Ovangkol’s tone using frequency and other tonewoods, I would say it is like a diluted rosewood in the bass, subtler mahogany in the mids, and a milder maple in the treble frequency. That description won’t sell guitars, but the wood has merit, particularly for live settings where a wide frequency range, balanced bass, clear note separation, and audible presence is desired.