RedB4Black
Well-known member
Anyone have a guitar with a Koa or Black Limba body? How is the tone relative to more common guitar bodies like mahogany?
thegame
Well-known member
Koa = brighter and tighter than mahogany but has a similar, full thick concentrated midrange tone
Limba = brighter but looser than mahogany. Very lively with relatively subdued midrange vs. mahogany. More open sounding.
Limba = brighter but looser than mahogany. Very lively with relatively subdued midrange vs. mahogany. More open sounding.
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Racerxrated
Well-known member
I had a 95 Charvel SDIV with a Koa body and a Maple cap, that guitar was slightly darker than my 08 USA SoCal. It had a Pau Ferro board. The SoCals are Alder I believe.thegame":114h3urp said:
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ClintN667
Well-known member
thegame":3ihpzt5j said:
I have a Koa Epi and I agree with this statement.
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braintheory
Well-known member
I would also add that I find limba to be less rich and complex sounding than mahogany and perhaps smoother sounding than mahoganythegame":wiyp6d58 said:
I find Koa to have this almost cocked wah nasally thing going on in the upper mids that I don’t like. I agree that it’s brighter than mahogany, but I think still darker sounding usually than ash or alder. I also find it more complex sounding than limba
I’m very into trying different woods for bodies. I’ve got guitar with bodies made entirely from the following: Indian rosewood (weighs 9.8lbs), Paulownia (5.5lbs), maple, Koa, red cedar (5.8lbs), Alaskan yellow cedar, sapele, aluminum (EGC), magnesium (Ogre guitar), and Padauk with a yellow heart top and standard stuff like mahogany, alder, ash and limba. They all have there own unique flavors to offer. Also my Zerberus with the marble top is one of my top 3 favorites
RedB4Black
Well-known member
Thanks for the replies. From the responses, I think I’d probably like the sound of Koa more.
FourT6and2
Well-known member
Is this for an electric guitar? If so, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you won't hear much of a difference.
I have 4 Mayones Duvells. All the same guitar model. All the same pickups. All different woods. All sound the same! One is sapele body, eye poplar top. two are sapele body with buckeye burl tops. And the fourth one is korina/black limba body and koa top. They all sound the same. I know this is going to open a can of worms and people argue about tone wood all the time. I've also had 3 LP Customs over the years with all the same body woods, yet they all sounded different! Why? THE NECKS. They had different neck woods. I think the neck matters more than the body when it comes to electric guitars. At least that's been my experience.
That said, if I had to choose I would choose korina/black limba because it looks cooler than koa for a body, IMO. But you do you.
Koa makes a nice top wood. But that korina tho!
I have 4 Mayones Duvells. All the same guitar model. All the same pickups. All different woods. All sound the same! One is sapele body, eye poplar top. two are sapele body with buckeye burl tops. And the fourth one is korina/black limba body and koa top. They all sound the same. I know this is going to open a can of worms and people argue about tone wood all the time. I've also had 3 LP Customs over the years with all the same body woods, yet they all sounded different! Why? THE NECKS. They had different neck woods. I think the neck matters more than the body when it comes to electric guitars. At least that's been my experience.
That said, if I had to choose I would choose korina/black limba because it looks cooler than koa for a body, IMO. But you do you.
Koa makes a nice top wood. But that korina tho!
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Whatamada
Member
I have a Skervesen with black limba body.
It sounds like a mix of mahogny and swamp ash to my ears. Airy but warm, tight but not hard and so on.
To me, koa would be a better choice for a top, first it's very pretty and secondly it's an expensive wood. More so than black limba.
It sounds like a mix of mahogny and swamp ash to my ears. Airy but warm, tight but not hard and so on.
To me, koa would be a better choice for a top, first it's very pretty and secondly it's an expensive wood. More so than black limba.
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PAULYC2
New member
I think Koa sounds like northern hard Ash, which is to say great. I have a Splawn guitar made of Koa and it sounds as good as my hard Ash GMW or Chubtone.
stratjacket
Well-known member
I agree with FourT6and2 about the neck wood making a huge difference. I think a mahogany neck vs a maple neck can make a pretty big difference. I’ve come to learn that I just love mahogany bodies with hot high mid spike pickups, if it’s got a mahogany neck all the better.
I’ve gone through at least 4 guitars of swamp ash and while I LOVE the look and feel of matte satin finish on ash, I cannot jive with the sound.
Sorry, late night rambling and doesn’t help the OP. I think the difference between Limba and Koa is going to be minimal and if you like mahogany, either would be a good branch out without straying too far.
I’ve gone through at least 4 guitars of swamp ash and while I LOVE the look and feel of matte satin finish on ash, I cannot jive with the sound.
Sorry, late night rambling and doesn’t help the OP. I think the difference between Limba and Koa is going to be minimal and if you like mahogany, either would be a good branch out without straying too far.
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robertkoa
Member
Koa was recommended to me long ago by Luthier Mike Tobias.
I have had 3 Koa Guitars - all have had more bottom end than Mahogany , 2 of them were heavier than Mahogany.
Ist was a BC Rich Mockingbird factory wired H -S -H passive with Duncan and Dimarzio PU's.
It was heavy very warm and long sustain. It did Carlton and Even a slightly 'stringier' Santana type tone and many others .
Next was a Carvin 25.5" Scale Solid neck thru LS 175 ...very warm 20 second sustain on low E - neck PU was slightly thicker Jazzier than 335 - it had a bit more snap than the BC Rich the fatness was in the Neck , but still warm - and sustain ..I tried the Mahogany Bolt on Fender Strats - I could not really hear the Mahogany . Remember the Carvin had Angled Headstock no trem hardtail for more sustain as did the BC Rich .
My current Koa is a bolt on with blocked trem ( the key to the extra Bottom end) .Very heavy Koa body 11 pounds or more .
Bolt Maple neck Ebony board heavy Koa body ...long sustain more like set neck snaps like Strat when picked hard. Trem thinned out the sound was loud unplugged when I got it but immediately blocked the trem and bottom end immediately there- your Grandma would hear the difference - from coupling the body by blocking trem.
If you get a Koa body on Electric - you do not need a 'top' it usually is clear on top end despite beefy bottom.
Like Tobias said great for single coils and Humbuckers on one Guitar.
Findthetone1
Well-known member
I had a pretty rare Hamer in the 90s that was a mahogany body with a Koa top and thought it was very well balanced. As for a cocked wah, well at the time it had a Duncan JB in the bridge so that mid thing was going on all the time. I have Koa bodied acoustic right now and also thing its very balanced in tone.
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Smash
Hack
I had a black limba body and neck, and in my opinion, it was dull compared to mahogany