Question Tone difference between Petrucci Koa and Petrucci Koa with Rosewood neck

[laimon]

Hi guys,

I need an opinion from more experienced people that might have tried several JPs.
I bought some time ago a JP6 BFR (alder body, maple top, mahogany trem block, mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard) and I love it. It's balanced, no scoop on the mids so it really "sings", bass is tight, highs are never piercing. And soooo comfortable to play!
I like it so much I decided to get the 7 string version. After reading here and there, I am very interested in a koa, and I have two I could go for:
1) "standard" Koa, that is: Koa top, mahogany body, mahogany trem block and mahogany neck, ebony fretboard
2) "rosewood neck" Koa, that is: Koa top, alder body, mahogany trem block, full rosewood neck and fretboard
Just to be thorough, 1 mounts Bareknuckle juggernauts, 2 mounts Bareknuckle black hawks. But I care more about tonewood as pickups can be swapped.
So, it would seem as if 2) is what I should go for, having the closest combination of woods. On the other hand, it costs me a good 33% more than 1), which at this price levels is a lot. Also, I hear that, unlike what is to be expected from an almost fully mahogany guitar, 2) is not dark sounding at all and instead quite bright sounding.
Can anyone comment on the tonal differences between 1 and 2?
Thanks a lot!

 

[Axis-of-Evil]

Hey laimon, I can't tell you an exact tone difference between both, but I have your #1 example. To me that was JP's attempt at getting one of his guitars as close to a les paul as he could. I always liked the les paul and its that same set up. Mahogany body, mahogany neck, ebony fretboard. So to my ears that is the closest sound to a les paul of any music man guitars I have. I have a regular JP6 and I can hear a difference between the 2. Mahogany is definitely a darker sound. I've played an axis and a AL with an all rosewood neck. I didn't notice anything special about it to my ears. So all I can tell you is your #1 is the closet thing to the les paul sound. Heavy and a bit dark. If your looking to play strat style single coil stuff, or bright poppy stuff, I wouldn't get a guitar with a mahogany body and neck. Now some MM guitars have a mahogany tone block, but I have only played a JP BFR with it and can't give a honest opinion about it. Might be worth checking out though. Good luck!

 

[laimon]

Hey Axis of evil, thanks a lot for your answer!
Mah, I am still undecided. Vids on the web are not clear, all those with #1 (when recorded decently, which is rare) sound either a bit "closed", somewhat scooped, e.g.:

or otherwise a bit spongy on the low notes:

whereas the rosewood version seems to breathe much more:

(yes, I understand that the base sound is much less distorted and compressed here, and no, I am not biased by the name of the song )
So I don't know :\

 

[Kenji20022]

Rosewood Koa has a Mahogany Body as well unless the body was swapped for a custom artist body or something. Every Koa has a Mahogany Body with the Koa Top as far as I'm concerned. The only difference should be the neck materials.

 

[Stratty316]

I found that Rosweood softens the highs a little bit. I always thought of it as if you were to roll your tone control back a quarter or a 3rd. The HHAL gets a great chiming clean and a nice "sg" tone that works great for Sabbath and Zeppelin when the gain is cranked. I know there is no Koa different pickups and mass of the guitar isn't the same, but the tone woods work very well together. The hard part in the comparison is I have 2 identical Axis guitars (except for color) and the tone is very different.

 

[laimon]

Rosewood Koa has a Mahogany Body as well unless the body was swapped for a custom artist body or something. Every Koa has a Mahogany Body with the Koa Top as far as I'm concerned. The only difference should be the neck materials.

Well, this was made for an artist, and I know for sure the body is alder with mahogany trem block.