Korina vs. Mahogany

[black cherry]

Hello all!

Newbie posting but I have been following the JCF for a long time now and I have learnt much..

Now, my plan is to have a Custom Shop KV made. I see that there is the option of having a Korina body. Anyone with any experience of this? Is there much of a difference in tone between Korina and Mahogany? The Warmoth site says they sound quite similar.

Also, all the of the Korina bodies I have ever seen are finished natural? Any particular reason for this besides cosmetic?

Thanks in advance

[Bengal65]

Re: Korina vs. Mahogany

Both are very close in weight and density with the Korina being slightly lighter on average. Korina looks great au natural! In my opinion the tone of Korina is slightly brighter than Mahogany, but by a tiny bit. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[SeventhSon]

Re: Korina vs. Mahogany

Never owned Korina, but people here rave about it. Also this site gets mentioned a lot: tonewoods

As an interesting footnote, I have a copy of an interview with EVH where he talks about his Ibanez Destroyer ("You Really Got Me"). He said it was one of the early Korina ones and sounded awesome before he ruined it. And that the new (at the time) Destroyers that were made out ash were "turkeys". Now, on the Ibanez forum, they've concluded that the early Destroyers were never made out of Korina...that they were just ash painted to look like Korina...and that EVH smoked one too many fatties. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[SeventhSon]

Re: Korina vs. Mahogany

More info: jemsite info on tonewoods

[nix]

Re: Korina vs. Mahogany

I'm no tone expert but i own guitars made of both (1.korina body and neck w/ maple top ebony fb and 2. mahogany body and neck with maple top and rw fb, same pickups in each)IMHO the mahogany sounds much better to my ears with both clean and distorted tones. The korina is not bad but it's just...blah. Not as defined, doesn't have the nice overtones. It gets Flabby (serious lack of a better term) when playing clean jazz/walking bass lines through my Clarke Tyger. These terms usually mean nothing b/c of the personal nature of it but that is my impression.
The korina looks nicer but I don't think I would buy another korina guitar.
Oh, FWIW one difference btwn the guitars is that the korina is finished in poly and the mahogany is finished in nitro. I don't place much weight in this as far as tone but alot of others do.

[HolyWars]

Re: Korina vs. Mahogany

What were Dave Mustaine KVs made of? Mahogany right. [img]/images/graemlins/fart.gif[/img]

[dinkyjacksonman]

Re: Korina vs. Mahogany

Dave's KV was made of Alder or Korina.
Y2KV was made of Mahogany.

I have a Y2KV and also in 3-4days, I will have a KV Korina custom shop coming.
So I will compare these guitars.

[HolyWars]

Re: Korina vs. Mahogany

[ QUOTE ]
Dave's KV was made of Alder or Korina.
Y2KV was made of Mahogany.

I have a Y2KV and also in 3-4days, I will have a KV Korina custom shop coming.
So I will compare these guitars.

[/ QUOTE ]
[img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]
You! You! You little whore you! Give me some money.

[black cherry]

Re: Korina vs. Mahogany

Thanks for the quick replies!

SeventhSon- cool links, some good info there.

dinkyjacksonman- look forward to your tone report on the Korina V- that's pretty much what I had in mind as well.

[peedenmark7]

Re: Korina vs. Mahogany

go korina, in 10 years you'll thank yourself for doing so...with semi and exotic woods becoming scarce, down the road you likely wont be able to get it, plus it does sound awesome....korina V hamers made not so long ago are fetching big money.
if you can live with natural or a gibson V style finish go for it...its hard to prove a solid color guitar is any kind of wood unless you remove paint somewhere.

[Firebird V]

Re: Korina vs. Mahogany

I would go for the Korina too. I own several Mahagony and a few Korina. I like the tone of Korina better.

It is not that Korina is rare as in become an "extinct species of wood".... It is just not that widely imported which makes it rare. Most wood importers just get plain old mahagony because most people use it for furniture... SO the story about Korina being extinct is BS. It is rare because it is not that widely used. In otherwords.... Nobody buys korina to build a desk or an end table because they dont care how it sounds... lol. [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

[Bringer of Chaos]

Re: Korina vs. Mahogany

I have a Korina KV2 and I love it. It is very light compared to a "normal" guitar like my RR1 etc. It also has a very clear sound. Individual notes stay distinct and don’t get a muddied

[No Use]

Re: Korina vs. Mahogany

korina's becoming rare here? eh, jeez, i bet those new Hamer Specials and the Korina Vector's will cost a kidney or five...

[dinkyjacksonman]

Re: Korina vs. Mahogany

I got my KV korina couple days ago and compared it to my Y2KV(mahogany).
I love them both and both sound great.
It seems that Korina sounds huge and I actually liek it better than Mahogany.
You can really hear the sound coming out of the wood.
It responds to your playing so well.
Also it looks amazing with natural finish.
I'd say if you are thinkig of Korina, go for it while you can order one.
Not too many brands offer Korina as option and they are always expensive.
When I buy a new digital camera(hopefully soon) I will post some pics.

[black cherry]

Re: Korina vs. Mahogany

Thanks for the review dinkyjacksonman. I look forward to the photos soon.