Real life experiance of a Koa top on a Bass?

[flpete1uw]

Hey Guys,
 I have a Series 1, short scale, slender taper neck, maple / walnut neck, maple core, The Zebrawood back and of coarse a Koa top.  
 
  My question is for anyone who has Koa in the recipe. How does it effect the tone of your instrument? Anyone with more than one Bass of different wood recipes would be especially helpful. (Hint hint  Pierre-Yves?  )  
 
  A call to the Mother ship on this question was not only a pleasant conversation but of course informative. Where else can you get personal care and attention for a 40 year Bass?!!!  
 
   So now I extend this question to the amazing experience of my Brothers and Sisters in the field.  
Thank you in advance!!
Pete

[FC Bass]

My Koa Spoiler (solid Koa body) is absolutely the best (imho) sounding in my herd (for now, Series will probably take over that position soon) :-)
It has a mellower sound compared to the long scale all Maple monsters. As (iirc) Jazzyvee mentioned: These lean more towards the Series sound, ?aggressive? and clear.
The ?88 Spoiler (Mahogony with Coco Bolo or Bocate top) sits soundwise between those, a bit more ?aggressive? then the Koa Spoiler.
 
There are more factors at play here, I think the scale length also has a huge impact on this.
 
My next custom will definitely get a lot of Koa in it (can you do a flamed Koa neck Mica?)  
Not only best sounding, but also best looking imho. :-)

[sonicus]

I noticed a distinct sound difference with my new to me , 73-32. That bass has an OAK core it appears with maple top and back and in addition it has PF-5 electronics. The tone is bright and aggressive, clear and very punchy and well defined , really cutting through a mix .

[adriaan]

I have both a Spoiler and an Epic with koa tops. I can't compare them to Alembic basses with other top woods (that particular predicament will soon change, though) but here's my 2?.
 
On the Spoiler, with the one filter, I find myself keeping the filter wide open because otherwise all the sparkle just disappears, even with a fresh set of DR HiBeams. Love the way it sounds, but koa is definitely not the brightest sounding wood.
 
On the Epic, defretted, with the bass and treble EQ, uh well, I actually cut most of the treble. Of course it's set-neck versus the Spoiler's neck-through, and a filter is not a treble control, but I think koa is especially nice for fretless.
 
And obviously it just looks amazing!

[musashi]

I love koa....
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL1oxAuot0A
 


 
 


 
 


 
 
I also had a koa Travis Bean for many years.  Koa puts the electric in electric bass....

[David Houck]

Cool video!!

[dannobasso]

I have an 83 koa Spoiler, a Custom 93 Spoiler 6 w/koa top/maple/mahog and my Custom 10 string w /koa top. The sounds of all 3 are the most pleasing to me of all my Alembics. My others have maple, walnut and cocobolo tops. I can completely recommend a koa.

[flpete1uw]

Interesting comments, everyone seams to agree that Koa is a Mellower sounding wood. I agree. My Bass on the low end has a (for a lack of a better phrase) a P-Bass kind of texture to it. A full blooming resonant sound. What I'm trying to achieve is a low end snap to compliment a kick drum along with the high end sparkle. If this makes sense?  My Coco bolo Distilate  can achieve this quite easily.  
 Its an apple to orange comparison because of the build differences. Hence the original question on the Koa effects on tone. don't get me wrong the bass sounds great especially on the highs, in fact it's gorgeous.
  I know it's there I just need to find it
Peace,
Pete

[musashi]

Thank you, Dave.

[musashi]

More koa.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GnVbGIubDE