How does a solid Koa body affect tone?

[Trev57]

Does anyone have experience as to how a solid Koa body affects the tone of the guitar? Mine seems to be very bright. The sound guy told me he had the trebble rolled right off on the desk the other night when I played it, and it was still too bright, so I rolled it back on the amp too. On its own the guitar sounds fantastic (1991 Jackson with bolt on neck and Tom Anderson pickups) but at a gig I seem to be piercing everybody's ear drums.

[quiksilver]

I have 2 solid Koa-bodied guitars and have not noticed that (Charvel SD1 with DiMarzio Super 3 (I think) and Charvel MZ Naturals SD with Seymour Duncan Custom 5). Neither guitar has a tone, so there is no treble roll-off done there. I run both through a Vox ToneLab and have never had to back off on the treble, as compared to my other guitars. I have always thought of Koa as somewhat akin to Mahogany.

In fact, I also have a Koa acoustic, and that is much darker sounding than other acoustics I have played (spruce or cedar top, mahogany or rosewood back/sides).

So, in my experience, Koa is not trebly.

Now my Am Dlx Ash Strat, OTOH, that thing has treble like you wouldn't believe. I have had to back off the treble on that in a serious way.

[SEEGERMANY]

I won't begin to pretend that I'm an expert on koa, but when I built my one piece koa Strat, I did a lot of research and talked to numerous people concerning the tonal properties of koa. The majority of my sources told me that my one piece body along with the one piece koa neck/ebony fretboard combination was going to be extremely bright in tone. That's why I installed a Duncan JB and Jazz humbuckers to "warm it up" a little. That's my experience and I'm sure you'll get the opposite end of the spectrum. Oops, matter of fact, I just read the post above mine.

[Newc]

Isn't Koa related to mahogany and korina? So it would be darker in tone?

[SEEGERMANY]

Isn't Koa related to mahogany and korina? So it would be darker in tone?

Seems I read that somewhere. I also read that koa was the premier wood used for ukuleles because of it's brightness.

[toejam]

That's why I installed a Duncan JB and Jazz humbuckers to "warm it up" a little.

JB and Jazz to warm it up? Never heard that before. The Jazz is a great neck pup, but it's bright. And the JB is treble and high mids (and highly overrated, IMO). What pickups did you have in it before that were brighter?

[Newc]

You can cut the highs considerably with a Duncan Custom in the bridge and/or neck.

[Trev57]

Thanks for the replies. I will keep trying, as I want the Tom Anderson pickups to work on this guitar. I feel the guitar now has a presence that it did not have before with the Reflex system. Plus, it just looks, feels and plays so good!

[horns666]

My koa SD is the warmest geetar I ever owned..and there's custom Dimarzio distortions in it.

My SD III with the maple top is waaaaay brighter.

[SEEGERMANY]

JB and Jazz to warm it up?

I know, I know, but it's a fact jack!

[Cygnus X1]

I know, I know, but it's a fact jack!

Awesome.
May I perhaps purchase a fraction of your awesome wisdom to add to my own awesomeness?
You, are like, the smartest gear dude ever!

[mm2002]

I think you ALL are the smartest gear dudes I've ever known. I think you should do some kind of contest or something.

[j2379]

ive got a few koa guitars, its not bright. brighter than mahogany but not what i would consider bright, compared to alder & maple guitars ive got. yes its in the same family as mahogany but its usually heavier. IMO the heavier & denser the wood the brighter sounding the guitar.

[Da' Melta']

You could also try to tame the highs with a different volume pot. 1Meg=bright, 500ohm=a bit darker, 250=darker yet. The lower the value, means more of the highs are filtered out of the output signal going to the amp. Changing tone pot caps can also help shape the tone.