Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Faulkner
ken, can you give us a little insight into the discontinuation of koa as a wood option? Just curious..
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Well, I bought some Koa in the '80s and early '90s. The wood was anywhere from plain for nicely figured with a few high figured pieces. Koa to my ear is no better sounding than Maple. In fact, I think Maple sounds better. Somewhere along the line, the people that have Koa or sell it decided it was as good as gold.
This is where I get off that train. Koa is nice and a flavor that sits on the shelf along with Maple and Walnut which are of similar densities.
Imagine having an Ice Cream Shoppe and suddenly the makers of 'Butter Pecan' decides it's worth 10x the price of Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry. Don't you think it would slide off that menu as fast as it went on it?
I get tons of requests for figured Maple and Walnut but even when I had Koa it was a hard sell or at least for me it was. The little I had left I used as requested and now the last few pieces which are mainly only long enough for the BT models have been ordered. Cut for BTs you ask? Yes, because this stock predates not only the BSR (1996) but even the BMT (1992/3). The BT was the only shape we made then in all of our models that we offered.
Koa is pretty wood. Nothing to get bent out of shape about. I will not miss it at all.