What's the point of koa?

[Eric]

Does it have some special tonal properties, or is it just there as eye candy? Seems opinions vary on this quite a bit, so I'm curious if there's anything resembling a consensus on here.

 

[Tig]

My understanding is that it makes a more noticeable difference when used on an acoustic than with an electric. I built a few hand carved mantels with it, and it is truly beautiful.

Here's a good explanation I found related to acoustic guitars:

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Highly figured Koa is a prized tonewood for both its beauty and influence on sound. Koa produces a warm rich sound – somewhere between the darker sounds that Rosewood guitars produce and the clean bright sound of a Maple guitar. Increasingly, Koa is becoming difficult and very expensive to obtain in master-grade sets. This wood is likely to see a dramatic rise in price over the next several years. The wood is native to, and only grows on the islands of Hawaii. [/FONT]

 

[wingsdad]

Tig's hit it on the head.

The quote he found describing the tonal character as an acoustic guitar body wood sums it up. I had a primo Tacoma Jumbo, JK28C, that was positively knee-buckling in tone and volume, not to mention looks.

Bar none, the finest acoustic guitar I've ever owned; but personal priorities and finances forced me to let her go and she found a new home with a fellow fretter a couple of years ago.

These shots show her off; notice the difference in how the koa's figuring plays in outdoor natural light (left) vs. indoors w/ flash:

Sitka spruce top, mahogany neck. Ebony fretboard & bridge.

 

[laocmo]

The most beautiful guitar I ever saw was a 100% Koa Guild Jumbo about ten years ago, hanging in a music store. It was there for weeks. Absolutely a knockout looks wise, abalone inlay, gold tuners, etc. But sound wise, worse than any 1960's plywood guitar I ever played. Made me want to cry. So much beauty and so little sound. Perfect guitar to hang around the neck of a good looking female singer with a tremendous voice who needs some neck candy to match her looks.

 

[pakhan]

Koa not only looks great, but it has a tone all of it's own. Plus, it is one of the few hardwoods which can be used as a top.

I did a bit of a profile of koa complete with a lot of technical info and a lot of photos of great looking koa here:

http://guitarbench.com/index.php/2009/12/09/koa-tonewood-profile/

 

[Spudman]

I played a Koa Epiphone Les Paul that was being clearanced out and it sounded awesome. It looked really sweet and wasn't too heavy either. That is without a doubt the best sounding Epi LP I've ever heard and I kick myself for not buying it. To this day I still judge a lot of LPs by the sound of that guitar. Someone got a sweet guitar, I just hope they don't appreciate it and sell it because it was local and I might actually have a chance at it again someday.

 

[kidsmoke]

My buddy plays Koa Martin Dreadnought that is a great guitar with a very unique sound. "tighter" than an Rosewood Dread. Better? I dunno. Is a Paul "better" than a Strat? Different sound. And yeah, Koa is always amazing to look at, which is a nice perk in an instrument.