Is Koa Suitable For A Neck?

[fyb]

I've never seen it used this way so I was wondering how well it'd work. What do you think?

[Prostheta]

I haven't seen it myself. I get the impression of it being quite soft from the pieces i've worked with.

[Rick500]

As long as it's a suitable piece otherwise, koa is fine for a neck. I have a Carvin DC135 ('92 I believe) with a koa body and neck and it's been just fine.

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[fryovanni]

Yes, as a neck wood it is absolutely suitable. All the same rules would apply as with any other suitable neck wood in terms of grain structure, stability(dryness) etc...

Peace,Rich

[Prostheta]

Wow, that's crazy. It's been easier to dent than mahogany in the pieces i've used....Rick, you have a beauty there!

[Rick500]

Thanks; I really love that guitar.

I guess I should also point out that Carvin makes their necks with two graphite rods in addition to the truss rod. But I don't think the graphite rods would be any more necessary in koa than anything else commonly used for necks.

[Myka Guitars]

I have made a couple guitars with koa necks before. It is very suitable (and looks great). This was before I used CF in the necks too.

A good rule of thumb (for me at least) is that if you need to use CF to make a piece of wood suitable for a neck then you probably shouldn't use it.

~David

[fryovanni]

Wow, that's crazy. It's been easier to dent than mahogany in the pieces i've used....Rick, you have a beauty there!

I have not really found that to be the case(of course there are always acceptions, as holds true with any wood). Koa generally is about the same hardness if not slightly harder in many cases than Genuine Mahogany. In terms of strength and stiffness I would put them in the same class.

Peace,Rich

[WezV]

as always the question to ask is 'is this piece of koa i have suitable for a neck?'. If you cannot answer that question through your experience then the answer is probably no!!