Koa double bass?

hawnbassplaya · #1 10-09-2009, 09:53 PM

Aloha,

I've been looking around for a fully Koa double bass and only came up with 2 on the Internet. Do any of u know of any out there? If not would u guys even recommend to use koa as the wood (top/back/sides). I'm very familiar with the wood living here in Hawaii, I know that it is a softer wood and warm sounding but sometimes is known to projest less as a top and less bassy as sides and back, but that's only my observations from guitars and ukes. Is there any excellent luthiers out there that would build a custom Koa double bass?

Mahalo, hwnbassplaya

**Matthew Tucker** · #2 10-10-2009, 07:24 AM

i'm sure a koa bass would sound fine. Probably woudn't use it for the top though. Now just send me down a nice bunch of koa and i'll build you one :-)

robobass · #3 10-10-2009, 03:57 PM

There are really full-koa double basses? They must be beautiful, but yes, it seems like a koa top wouldn't be ideal.

hawnbassplaya · #4 10-10-2009, 04:24 PM

Here's the link of the only fully koa double bass I found. http://www.hawaiiforest.org/brand/2007_woodshow.pdf

hawnbassplaya · #5 10-10-2009, 04:28 PM

Here's the link of the koa/spruce bass , I think?
http://www.kouchicreations.com/Claud...Creations.html

tonequixote · #6 10-11-2009, 07:48 AM

Wow, thanks for providing the link to some beautiful instruments. The dolphin shaped f holes are the first I've seen. And not just one koa bass but five. Very impressive.

Jimmy Bones · #7 10-11-2009, 04:54 PM

A full koa bass would be redonkulously expensive, I'd guess. Go to the Ward center, and there's a collectables shop that sells carved koa canes that run almost $300 apiece.

theavondon · #8 10-11-2009, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimmy Bones

A full koa bass would be redonkulously expensive, I'd guess. Go to the Ward center, and there's a collectables shop that sells carved koa canes that run almost $300 apiece.

That was my first thought.

bassie12 · #9 10-11-2009, 05:16 PM

I've seen two koa basses here in Hawaii. Both had spruce tops and. koa back, sides, & neck. While both were beautiful, neither had a sound worth a fraction of the asking/selling price. This may simply reflect the skills of the luthiers that made them

My experience with koa as an instrument wood** as used in basses, electric guitars, and acoustic guitars has been similarly disappointing: pretty to look at, "meh" in the tone dept. Koa has no advantages over maple other than looks. It also wants to crack & split over time, as evidenced by the many beautiful, repaired antique Koa calabashes to be found all over Hawaii

**A bit off topic:

The obvious exception here of course being the use of koa in ukuleles. Even here, the best recording instruments are usually all mahogany (IZ, Lyle Ritz, Moe Keale), or koa with a spruce top (Jake Shimakbukuro, Troy Fernandez). One notably incredible sounding all koa uke is Troy Fernandez' "On Fire" uke. This instrument if it still exists, is an insanely good sounding uke.

This is only my experience. Yours certainly may vary, and I could just be full of it.