What is this wood?

[TheGITM]

Hey there, friends...

I am eyeing a Taylor guitar that is labelled as a 214ce-K DLX, which should be Koa back & sides, but this is what the back looks like...

This doesn't look like typical Koa to me... kinda more like maple? Any thoughts on this?

[varve]

That is a particularly lovely piece of Koa veneer, from Taylor's longtime wood supplier. Congratulations! I love these 100 and 200 series guitars

Cheers, Dave Olson

[varve]

Also, I love that Ted Lasso quote at the bottom.....

[TheGITM]

Originally Posted by varve

That is a particularly lovely piece of Koa veneer, from Taylor's longtime wood supplier. Congratulations! I love these 100 and 200 series guitars

Cheers, Dave Olson

Interesting. When I look at other 214ce-K DLX guitars online they all, as in every last one I have seen, have the typical vertical Koa markings. I haven't seen a single example of this horizontal pattern... other than this one.

Now I just have to decide if I want to make an offer.

[67goat]

If you do a Google search for flamed Koa you will come across other guitars with a similar look. It looks like Taylor did make a flamed maple version of the 214ce DLX, but the maple looks like it was just cleared, rather than stained.

https://briansguitars.com/products/t...pecial-edition

[foxo]

Could tell it was koa by the colour. My now sold Atkin had some horizontal quilting similarly.

[Coler]

That's a really nice looking layer of koa.

[RussellHawaii]

It’s nice Koa.

[TheGITM]

Thanks, all. Consensus says it's Koa, so I'll go with it! Very cool horizontal striping on it, for sure...

[abn556]

This is the back of a J-45 Koa. Looks like the same wood.

IMG_3011.jpg

[TomB'sox]

Definitly Koa, could be Australian blackwood also, but that is great koa.

[TennesseeWalker]

- - Koa - -

[varve]

The quality and amount of Koa available to the guitar community has increased markedly in the last few years, thanks to Siglo Tonewoods, a unique partnership between Taylor Guitars and Pacific Rim Tonewoods, the longtime wood supplier to the major guitar companies.

It is an interesting and rewarding story of forest reclamation and afforestation, and it is told below, from a local news source that avoids the websites of the respective companies. Not every word is true (I'm not sure I would go so far as to say that this is a "company behind handcrafted guitars" , but it does a good job of introducing the story, which the Siglo website continues for those interested.

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/0...orests-hawaii/

Cheers,
Dave Olson

[Wade Hampton]

Thanks for posting the link, Dave.

The most important omission from that article, though, was how long it will take for those planted koa trees to grow big enough to use for musical instruments.

I suspect that’s years, perhaps decades, away.


Wade Hampton Miller