Richard's Koa Adventure
Posted by LB

 

The lifeblood of a luthier's work is tonewood and Richard is always traveling the world looking for the best and most responsible sources. Here's his Koa find he'd like to share. The photos below show some of the amazing tonewoods Santa Cruz Guitar Company acquired for musical instruments.

Notes from Richard Hoover:
Koa expedition last winter. That would be me and a beautiful Koa Log over 5 meters long.These logs were harvested from dead standing trees. One of several ways that we acquire superior sounding wood and avoid contrbuting to deforestation. The lines on the endgrain of the log aren't saw marks.

Richard's Notes: (below) The stuff is so curly that it shows figure on 6 sides! If you wonder how to determine if the tree is figured before you cut it,


 

Richard's Notes: This peek under the bark (below) gives a subtle hint.


Richard's Notes: The rich color below isn't only from the locale or altitude it can be manipulated by careful control of moisture content and the timing with which the wood is brought to equilibrium.

Richard's Notes: This block o' Spruce below is from the "Gray Ghost" a standing tree, dead for decades, that we acquired in the North West. Over this amount of time the resins have crystallized making it stunningly resonant. Almost like cheating. This Spruce is the best sounding Sitka ever. Like having been stored in the barn over fifty years. I'll tell more of the story when the other pictures come in


Richard's Notes: Photos below show the results of the trek. Great color, deep flame, responsibly harvested and resonance usually only achieved by aging in the guitar.