Koa

[GGJaguar]

I had no idea Martin made so many koa models (some time ago). I wonder why Guild never got on the bandwagon.
Ad from 1981.

 

[chazmo]

I looked at the pictures before reading the copy, and I realized that the O-28K really appealed to me. The others, not so much. And then I read that that guitar was actually vintage (made in 1928). So, what's really interesting to me is that a flattop 6-string was made out of koa from that era.

 

[AcornHouse]

I had no idea Martin made so many koa models (some time ago). I wonder why Guild never got on the bandwagon.
Ad from 1981.

I think in the 50s and 60s, when Guild was codifying their offerings, koa wasn't that prevalent, even at Martin. It wasn't what people looked for, as it had been earlier in the century.
So Guild never had that tradition to look back on and draw from.
Even in the 80s, just how common were those Martin koa guitars, and how much in demand were they? (Or was that ad an effort to revitalize them, reminding people of what they used to do.)

 

[bobouz]

I had no idea Martin made so many koa models (some time ago). I wonder why Guild never got on the bandwagon.
Ad from 1981.

I remember that photo from a catalog & might still have it. Every model category featured one vintage piece along with it‘s brethren from the current lineup. I was particularly interested in the 00-25k, because my main guitar at the time was a 00-18.

Indeed, koa had historically been a part of Martin’s tonewood offerings, fueled by the Hawaiian music craze in the early 1900s. Along with guitars, Martin also made koa mandolins & ukuleles in the 1920s & ‘30s. The emerging vintage-guitar market of the ‘70s brought this wood sharply back into focus, to the point where Martins made of koa were again gaining in popularity. Other makers have occasionally dabbled with koa, but Martin has some serious history with it. Beautiful stuff for sure & geez, that 00-25k still makes me swoon a bit!

 

[SFIV1967]

I wonder why Guild never got on the bandwagon.

I remember 8 different Koa models from Guild:

1) DK70 Peacock (Westerly made, 50 pcs.)
2) F-30 Avalon Ballroom Custom (Nashville made)
3) F-40K (Tacoma made in 2007, not like a NH GSR yet, TK121014)
4) F-47K (Tacoma made in 2007, looked like a NH GSR model, TK291xxx)
5) F-50K (Tacoma made in 2007, looked like a NH GSR model, TK295xxx)
6) GSR F-50 Koa (NH made in 2010, max. 20 pcs.)
7) GSR F-47KC (NH made in 2012, max. 20 pcs.)
8) Custom Shop 60th Anniversary F-30 Koa (NH made in 2012/2013, 60 pcs.)

Ralf

 

[GGJaguar]

Interesting that most of those models were made in NH.

 

[SFIV1967]

Interesting that most of those models were made in NH.

Big pieces of Koa are expensive. Westerly had the wood for the 50 guitars, but I wonder where NH got the wood from. Obviously Tacoma had some, but NH made 100 in total, so that required some good Koa. Maybe Tacoma had sourced some (via Donnie Wade maybe?) just before they got shut down?
Ralf

 

[Rocky]

Koa sure is pretty, but I've never heard a flattop guitar made of it that I was overly impressed with it's sound.