What is koa, and what is a parlor guitar?

[12FanMan]

2 questions:

1. What is koa?

2. What is a parlor guitar?

[gr81dorn]

A: a species of acacia that is native to the islands of Hawaii. It’s a unique and chaotic tropical hardwood. Historically used in ukuleles, guitars use it but it’s rare compared to many other species and expensive. Taylor controls a good share of the Koa supply in the industry

B: debatable as far as specs, but typically refers to smaller guitars 00 and smaller. Historically, the first guitars were small, played in parlor rooms, thus the name. My contention is a parlor is 12 fret neck joint and Martin size 0 and smaller. Again, debatable.

[12FanMan]

Originally Posted by gr81dorn

A: a species of acacia that is native to the islands of Hawaii. It’s a unique and chaotic tropical hardwood. Historically used in ukuleles, guitars use it but it’s rare compared to many other species and expensive. Taylor controls a good share of the Koa supply in the industry

B: debatable as far as specs, but typically refers to smaller guitars 00 and smaller. Historically, the first guitars were small, played in parlor rooms, thus the name. My contention is a parlor is 12 fret neck joint and Martin size 0 and smaller. Again, debatable.

------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks. What does the zero mean when referring to 00 guitars?

I had another question, but what's left of my
brain stuck it in a remote corner somewhere.

[egordon99]

Originally Posted by 12FanMan

------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks. What does the zero mean when referring to 00 guitars?

I had another question, but what's left of my
brain stuck it in a remote corner somewhere.

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=365143

[fpuhan]

Originally Posted by 12FanMan

------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks. What does the zero mean when referring to 00 guitars?

It's a mysterious code developed by guitar manufacturers designed to make would-be buyers scratch their head in wonderment. Believe it or not, the more zeros in the nomenclature, the larger the body of the guitar. Sometimes, not always. Some guitar makers just can't think of an original designation and just throw zeros at it. In the end, it's a ruse to get you to pick up a guitar, play it, and see if you feel comfortable with it.

[Wade Hampton]

The use of the zero in guitar nomenclature refers to the size of the instrument. It comes from the Martin guitar company’s system of designating guitar sizes, though Gibson has an L-00 model that’s a similar size as Martin’s 00 instruments.

Koa, as gr81dorn explained, is a species of acacia unique to the Hawaiian Islands. It’s a terrific tonewood, one of my favorites, and I own several instruments made out of it.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Skydog]

What is koa? A picture is worth a thousand words! But I’ve never figured out how to post pics here.

[NickTuneUp]

Below is a demo video of a parlor. The 00 body size people have mentioned I would say are a bit big to be considered parlors. An 00 guitar is about as small as a guitar can get before it sounds like parlor, which have distinct tone to them. If you're looking for a smaller guitar an 00 body size with a shorter scale length is an excellent option. But, parlors are one of my favorites.

[donlyn]

What is koa, and what is a parlor guitar?

Koa is a wood.

Parlor (or parlour) is another of those un-clearly defined terms within which guitar players, marketers, and manufacturers live discussing and stressing those undefined differences.

There are no real "standards" in the guitar business.

And maybe there shouldn't be.

Is A = 440 a standard or a suggestion?
Is 'standard' tuning a standard? is DADGAD?
What is a guitar's 'standard' scale length?
What is the importance / significance of the "Well Tempered Klavier" to music?


Be well and play well,

Don
.

[TheGITM]

Here's a nice example of a '30s Martin 0-18...

[mercy]

Parlor guitar is 13"+/- across the lower bout not 14". Weve had a lot of fun with this thread but there are standards. Today, standard scale is 25.5, a dreadnaught has a particular shape and size as does 000 or 00 despite what a few builders claim, they are in the minority.
I have to guitars, one is 14" across and the other is 15.5 short scale so it is not a 000 guitar. The builder had some kind of fancy name for it which I dont remember but he was informed enough not to call is a 000 guitar. Mini Jumbos seem to have become popular recent years so it is a less distinct appellation but mostly they are 16" across. Jumbos are 17". We must have standards so we can communicate, this is particularly true for this congress of addicts.

Koa can be beautiful if its curly or not if its not. Never buy one unless you can play it. Yes this is true for every guitar but especially Koa which can be disapointing. EIR is more dependable as is mahogany.

[Wade Hampton]

Ah, c’mon, discussing oft-discussed subjects is pretty much what we DO here on the AGF….


whm

[ALBD]

What is google?

I agree Wade. It’s what we do

[sinistral]

In the early nineteenth century, guitars were small instruments that were designed to be played in intimate gatherings, typically in parlors, which as noted is where the term “parlor” guitar comes from. Different manufacturers had different conventions for designating sizes. Martin used numbers, and the guitars got larger as the numbers decreased. Up until 1854, the most common “full” sizes were 3, 2-1/2, 2 and 1 (size 5 was considered a 3/4-sized guitar, even then). In Nigel Tufnel fashion (you’re at one on your guitar, where do you go from there?!?), when Martin made a guitar in 1854 that was “one louder” (and larger) than a size 1 guitar, it was designated the 0 (or single-aught). Martin referred to the 0 as a “concert” sized guitar, since it was designed for use in small concert halls. The next size up, first built in 1858, was the 00 (or double-aught), referred to as a “grand concert” sized guitar. Finally, at the turn of the century, Martin built its first 000 (triple-aught) guitar, and referred to it as an “auditorium” sized guitar.

Using Martin sizing as a reference, any guitar size 1 and smaller is technically a “parlor” guitar and any guitar size 0 and larger is technically a “concert” guitar. That division corresponds to mercy’s rule of thumb of 13” across the lower bout (and smaller). Here is a page from a 1924 catalog showing the dimensions of various sizes:



As with a lot of things, that dividing line has been lost over time. These days size 0 guitars are often referred to as parlor guitars, but shouldn’t be if one is being precise. It’s interesting to read here and elsewhere people refer to a 000 as a “small” guitar.

As an aside, when Martin started making guitars larger than the 000, it didn’t continue by adding another 0, perhaps because the contours were different? When Martin began offering the dreadnought under its own name in 1931, it referred to the guitar as the “Dreadnaught,” with a capitol “D” and an “a” in place of an “o.” The name was taken from the battleship, Dreadnought, with the “aught” perhaps a nod to Martin’s sizing conventions using 0s. Here is the page from Martin’s 1935 catalog:



Martin continued to use that alternate spelling into the 1960s, as this page from a catalog shows:



Ironically, Martin eventually added a 0000 size to its catalogue, but the original creator of that size guitar wasn’t Martin but rather the guitarist David Bromberg, who had various luthiers retop Martin archtops as flat-top guitars. The guitar that Martin used as a prototype to create the M-38 (eventually designating the M size as 0000) was an F-style archtop Martin guitar that Matt Umanov retopped for David Bromberg.

[donlyn]

What is koa, and what is a parlor guitar?

sinestral,

Thank you for posting that info on Martin guitar beginnings.

I think it's far more fun and enlightening to run a question up the flagpole and see who is saluting it now. And it gives everyone a new chance to chime in.

Like sinestral's post. I had never seen that material before.

Be well and play well,

Don
.