Koa on Mahogany Jazz

[drewfx]

OK, finished this guy today. Saw the body in the Showcase and had uncontrollable GAS:

Warmoth Flamed Koa on Mahogany Body
Warmoth Flamed Teak neck (raw) with Ebony FB. It was a Showcase neck, so the blocks are stickers.
SD Lightnin' Rods AJJ-2 Active pickups
EMG BQC 3-band preamp
EMG active balance control
Push/pull volume - pulling up puts a .047 cap to ground on the neck PU (for a passive treble cut), and a .0047 cap in series with the bridge PU (for a passive bass cut), resulting in a "scooped" tone when both PU's are used (at the expense of some volume loss).
Hipshot D-Tuner

I didn't screw in the clear pickguard, as (so far) it stays in place very well, and there's no sense in drilling in case I change my mind about it...

 

[JamesL]

Beautiful! love the pickguard, where'd you get it?

 

[drewfx]

Beautiful! love the pickguard, where'd you get it?

Thanks.

I can't remember where I ordered it from, but it's an Allparts pickguard. I was real happy with how transparent it is - once I realized it had protective plastic on both sides.  :glasses10:

 

[NonsenseTele]

Oh Lord that flamed Koa! Jesus I ***LOVE*** IT!!!!

 

[drewfx]

Oh Lord that flamed Koa! Jesus I ***LOVE*** IT!!!!

Yeah, when I saw the RSS feed on that body...  :icon_thumright:

But I was able to hold out for at least a few days before it made its way into my shopping cart.

 

[crash]

Wow, that's beautiful!!!

 

[Corey P.]

Gorgeous!  I hadn't heard of Teak as a neck wood before - how do you like it?

 

[drewfx]

Gorgeous!  I hadn't heard of Teak as a neck wood before - how do you like it?

I haven't really played it enough to form a full opinion, but it's my first raw neck and it has an unusual waxy feel I'm still getting used to. At some point I'll compare this one (unplugged) to my more "conventional wood" basses to get a better idea what it really sounds like. My initial impression is it's acoustically smooth sounding and less aggressive than, say, an ash body/maple necked bass.

I really bought the teak for the looks (I can be shallow that way  :glasses9. I researched it beforehand, and got descriptions all over the place - but basically all were somewhere between maple and mahogany. But I wasn't really going for any specific sound, and I guess you can't really use an unusual wood like this if you are. I just knew I didn't want it to sound like a vintage jazz - hence the active PU's and electronics.

 

[line6man]

it has an unusual waxy feel I'm still getting used to.

Have you oiled it up yet? My Padouk neck felt kind of dry when I first got it. Some Howard Feed N' Wax took care of it.

Incredible neck, btw! This is the first Flamed Teak neck I've ever seen. :blob7:

 

[drewfx]

Have you oiled it up yet? My Padouk neck felt kind of dry when I first got it. Some Howard Feed N' Wax took care of it.

Haven't done anything to it, as I don't really know what it needs. What will oiling do for me? Teak is supposed to be a super-oily wood already. It doesn't feel bad in any way, just a little weird and different than any of the zillions of other necks I've played, so I suspect it's just a matter of my getting used to it.

Incredible neck, btw! This is the first Flamed Teak neck I've ever seen. :blob7:

Thanks.

Yeah, I wanted a Flamed Teak neck as soon as I saw a few of them pop up in the Showcase late last year. But I couldn't find an excuse to pull the trigger - until I saw this body.

 

[line6man]

Have you oiled it up yet? My Padouk neck felt kind of dry when I first got it. Some Howard Feed N' Wax took care of it.

Haven't done anything to it, as I don't really know what it needs. What will oiling do for me? Teak is supposed to be a super-oily wood already. It doesn't feel bad in any way, just a little weird and different than any of the zillions of other necks I've played, so I suspect it's just a matter of my getting used to it.

Incredible neck, btw! This is the first Flamed Teak neck I've ever seen. :blob7:

Thanks.

Yeah, I wanted a Flamed Teak neck as soon as I saw a few of them pop up in the Showcase late last year. But I couldn't find an excuse to pull the trigger - until I saw this body.

You may be right that Teak won't take any oil, but try it and see.
It made my neck feel less dry, and a bit slicker.

 

[drewfx]

You may be right that Teak won't take any oil, but try it and see.
It made my neck feel less dry, and a bit slicker.

OK, thanks. I'll look into it.

 

[Jack Michaelson]

Great looking bass.

 

[Corey P.]

For what it's worth, this got my vote for Bass of the Month...

 

[drewfx]

Thanks, guys.

 

[Steve_Karl]

Wow. Great top on that one.