I just got back from Hawaii tonight, and I say it's koa. The hotels where we stayed had shops featuring everything from koa rings to koa rocking chairs. That bass looks just like a koa rocking chair.
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Mahogany or Koa?
- Thread starter Dluxe
- Start date
Having owned a Koa Peavey Unity bass and having worked in a woodshop where I saw an awful lot of Mahogany, my vote goes to Koa.
That's very clearly mahogany.
Have a look at some koa here:
http://www.thekoashop.com/koagallery.html
Have a look at some koa here:
http://www.thekoashop.com/koagallery.html
It's koa. Really. Honestly.
Having seen lots of older koa Carvins, I agree. The stuff they used was generally not figured at all.
I'd go with the Carvin experts...I'm not one, and just made my best guess from the first picture.
I could be wrong, but I worked at Taylor for five years. I saw literally thousands of pieces of mahogany and hundreds of pieces of Koa. Especially the close up shots of the grain look like mahogany. I don't recall seeing Koa that porous.
Hard to say but it look like Koa to me. I have a Carvin Koa neck I used in a build and it looks like your more than any of the Mahogany I have used.
I think you could order all mahogany as an option back in the late 1990's. The headstock overlay is different than the rest of the bass. Almost looks lighter than the rest of the bass.
And here is one more closeup of the wood. These were taken from the auction photo's where I bought the bass. It is definitely in the 10 to 11 pound range.
And here is one more closeup of the wood. These were taken from the auction photo's where I bought the bass. It is definitely in the 10 to 11 pound range.
Koa was AN option, but so was mahogany.
Here's a good link to use when identifying Carvins: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Note: Link fixed 7/27
The gold sheen in the flash pics are a quality of almost all the koa I've seen, and the grain looks like koa to me as well. I've seen lighter colored mahogany that looked similar, but I'd still say this looks like koa to me.
I would not, however, bet my house on it.
It looks just like my late 80s Carvin koa. I'm the original owner, so, I know mine is koa. I'm about 98% sure that when I ordered mine, mahogany was not an option. I'm not even sure it was an option in the late 90s.
Ben
Ben
I think you better check your eyesight!
I have yet to see a bass that looked like a rocking chair! 
And here is one more closeup of the wood. These were taken from the auction photo's where I bought the bass. It is definitely in the 10 to 11 pound range.
See, now in those pics it looks to me like Mahogany!
I'm a flip-flopper!
I think you better check your eyesight!
Well, you could sit on it, anyway.
