Thoughts on Koa as a tonewood?

[merlin666]

I have no experience with koa as tonewood for guitars but played many koa ukuleles. I find that it can be a tricky tonewood for ukes and really depends on the experience of the builder to make it sound good. Typically the small Hawaiian uke companies build great sounding koa ukes. That's just what they do! But the large ukulele companies usually take their regular models and build them in koa. The result more often than not is disappointing where koa ukes often sound more tubby than regular models but command a higher price. You really have to play before you buy.

[jaymarsch]

In general, I have not palyed many koa guitars that have the tone that I am looking to hear. My ears notice a bright edge to the tone that I do not care for. However, I did play both a German spruce/koa OM by Santa Cruz that was lovely and a Collings German spruce/koa that was clear and bright without the harshness. I think as with most guitars, it depends on the luthier and what tonal pallette you are seeking. Some folks love koa guitars.

Best,
Jayne

[Cardinal2B]

Somewhere between mahogany and rosewood. My Martin MC-37K may / may not be typical of Koa. However, my brother has a Dovetail D-16 with koa back & sides which I’ve also played and would characterize in the same way. Remember both have Sitka tops. My take is that Koa is less complex than rosewood, but where mahogany imparts a sort of dry, bluesy fundamental, koa seems more complex and with a chime or clarity. It’s bright, but still fat. Also many have said that it takes a long time to get played in. Not too much of a concern with mine which is now 30 years old, and pretty loose. YMMV and probably will.
I thought Wade Hampton’s description above was illuminating regarding the wide variance in tone being related to the “stripey-ness”

[stephenT]

I've owned two Koa guitars that should have been keepers, A Goodall GC, Sitka and Koa and a Merrill OM-18k, red spruce and Koa. Both long gone.

Something in the upper mid range bothered me. The Merrill stayed the longest. It was an extraordinary vintage Martin style guitar in every respect, but for (what I perceived as) odd overtones in the upper mids. Keep me from bonding. Mahogany and Maple work for me.

But Koa is so much fun to look at,..

[LakewoodM32Fan]

Admittedly my experience with Koa is a grand total of 3, so I'm by no means an expert.

I've played two Sitka-topped, Koa backed guitars. A Goodall AKGC and a Taylor K14c. They sounded fairly similar in that the Sitka was the overall determining factor of the tone, and the Koa just gave it a sparkle. I would not have classified the koa backing to "fall between Mahogany and Rosewood" which I often read. I would describe it has having a clarity and sparkle reminiscent of maple, but with more overtones than the ones I've demoed. I own the K14c and not the Goodall not because it was better, but because it was 55% of the price of the Goodall.

The only other Koa I've played was an all-Koa 12-fretter. It was much darker in tone than the AKGC and K14c...well darker may not be the right word. Deeper? Had more resonant bass, which I think may be more owing to the 12-fret construction, and maybe how it drove the koa top differently than the 14-fret models were driving their Sitkas.

Either way I'm a fan. I wouldn't consider any of them "best of the best" but I consider Koa to be a very viable tonewood based on my admittedly limited sample size.