Koa JP & the Les Paul.

[Dante]

i just got my old les paul back from the shop. after so much stalling i decided to fix the old nut which was botched from the factory. now that it plays decent, i realize there's something about it like more than my standard jp6 (hint: playability it ain't).

does anyone here happen to own both a koa and a good les paul or equivalent (not cheapos of course), and if so, how much body does the koa have compared to the LP?

(btw my LP isnt that old at all, it's one of the last made solid before they decided to chamber them in order to push custom shop sales).

 

[morsecode]

I have both. They are still very different guitars.

I don't think a Koa JP is going ever be a substitution for a Lester. They are two very different guitars.

Having said that a Koa JP is much warmer and thicker in tone than a standard JP. But the body design, floating trem, pickups and neck profice make it a much different guitar than a Les Paul.

 

[Dante]

thanks man. say if the standard JP was a on one end of a scale and the LP on the other, where does the Koa stand in terms of thickness and punch?

 

[morsecode]

I would say maybe an 8. If I was going to compare the Koa to a mahogany body guitar I would more apt to compare it to a SG. It's different type of thickness and punch than a LP.

 

[Dante]

well, that's kinda good. i'm kinda bummed my best tone comes from the guitar that plays worst. but it's absolutely not an option to order a koa without having tested on, as those things cost almost as much as a new heart.

methinks i'm about to bite the bullet and move to the BFR side of things...

 

[straycat113]

Dante obviously you have a good connection with that LP nothing to feel bad about. A keeper is a keeper, I have read so many interviews with top players who have gone through many a pre CBS Fender or 59 Lester before finding the right one. Mostly all say the same thing ,there are a lot of them that are dogs and just because they are vintage means nothing it is still about finding a good sounding one. You seem to love the way that ax sounds so you have that covered. Now work on getting the scratch for a BFR but dont sacrifice a good ax in doing so.

 

[Dante]

i won't, it's just that i want that extra something in a music man and i don't want to dump that kind of money on a guitar that's just one step short. i'm no gibson guy, but that axe has something powerful in it (which no single other gibson i've tried from or since has shown) and having so few bfrs around here makes matters difficult.

 

[Phazer]

Well, I honestly think that guitars are tools, you are luky to have found such a good tool
Since you have such a good gibson, I would not try to find an ebmm that sounds similar, because it could be similar, but not the same, and if you have the "original" you'll always want to go with that one.
Just look for another tone, one ment to come out from a jp or an axis or any other instrument

 

[RocketRalf]

Could a hardtail HH Al be closer to the LP than the Koa JP? Just wondering here, I haven't tried any of them three

But I agree that if you want "something special" from a MusicMan, you won't find it in the LP direction, because not one model is designed to sound like it. That being said, each model is special for something and excels at what it was designed for.

 

[whitestrat]

Instead of a JP Koa, can I suggest a BFR Axis Super Sport (Damn! I STILL want one of those!) with RW fretboard and hardtail? That would best be the closest thing we can ask for from EBMM that has any semblance to an LP (and definately better made too!)

 

[Dante]

your suggestion is not totally out of place. i do need to test one however, and there are about zero albert lees in stock in the whole country. but everyone is welcome to point me in the right direction.

i should add, regardless of how poorly (or not) my LP might have been built, it's one amazing piece of wood. the real issue is, at this price class, alot of options pop up that weren't there 1000 euros below. for what it costs, "kinda" is not enough.

i begin to wonder if tone isn't creeping up the priority ladder since playability stopped being an issue...

edit: you oughta check out the MSRP for a koa jp6/7 around these parts, it's a show stopper.