Epi LP Custom KOA and Wildcat KOA

[MarkB]

If you put a $1000 dress on a 50 yr old whore, it's still a 50 yr old whore.
I don't agree with this. From a marketing standpoint, it sure does sell, but at some point,
the consumer is gonna get wise (I hope).
This is the problem today. Uneducated people, buying anything that manufacturers throw out on the market, with a spin.
At this point, they (the manufacturers) can say KOA, Flamed Maple, Tiger Maple, Cedar, Mahogany.... ,& basically drive up the price of guitars, even though they (the guitars) are basically shvt.
Too much hype is put on the wood that electric guitars are made of.
The original Les Paul (or, I should say, the most sought after/famous) was made of Honduran Mahogany, & a maple cap.
After a point, sales weren't good, so they stopped making them. Now because of the overplayed hype, if you want a Les Paul, it better have a flamed maple cap, & a mahogany back.

A bad set of pickups will make a '59 Les Paul sound like shvt.
A good set of pickups will make a basswood strat sound like heaven.

Wake up people, it's an ELECTRIC guitar......


It may not sound GREAT, but it's made of STONE

Really, REALLY

You make some very good points! I've no idea wether there is such a thing as "tone wood" - I do know my Lester sounds very different to my SG (the SG is much woodier - no pun intended - but that could be down to many differences) - but, for Epi to use the phrase to sell these when all that's on these guitars is a veneer is pretty blatant "marketing"!

 

[Biddlin]

They look pretty tasty!

http://www.epiphone.com/News/Features/2016/koa-lp-and-wildkat.aspx?platform=hootsuite

That Kat does look tasty!

 

[BGood]

Koa looks rich, like chocalat milk, I like that. But the binding on the LP makes it look cheap IMO. The back of the Wildcat is so sensual.

 

[Bradley D. Lyons]

If you put a $1000 dress on a 50 yr old whore, it's still a 50 yr old whore.
I don't agree with this. From a marketing standpoint, it sure does sell, but at some point,
the consumer is gonna get wise (I hope).
This is the problem today. Uneducated people, buying anything that manufacturers throw out on the market, with a spin.
At this point, they (the manufacturers) can say KOA, Flamed Maple, Tiger Maple, Cedar, Mahogany.... ,& basically drive up the price of guitars, even though they (the guitars) are basically shvt.
Too much hype is put on the wood that electric guitars are made of.
The original Les Paul (or, I should say, the most sought after/famous) was made of Honduran Mahogany, & a maple cap.
After a point, sales weren't good, so they stopped making them. Now because of the overplayed hype, if you want a Les Paul, it better have a flamed maple cap, & a mahogany back.

A bad set of pickups will make a '59 Les Paul sound like shvt.
A good set of pickups will make a basswood strat sound like heaven.

Wake up people, it's an ELECTRIC guitar......


It may not sound GREAT, but it's made of STONE

Really, REALLY

Sorry, but as some one who has been building electric guitars for a decade, I can say, unequivocally, that the woods used in the construction of electric guitars do make a difference. While figured tops don't make a noticeable (if any) difference the species and density (weight) do. The resonant frequencies emphasized or de-emphasized by the materials used are very apparent in the final output as expressed at the amplifier. Using the same pickups, a Strat with a sepele body and a one piece maple neck does not sound the same as a Strat with a swamp ash body and a rose wood fret board. A swamp ash Tele Thinline does not sound the same as a composite Thinline. An all mahogany SG does not sound the same as a Walnut SG with a 5 piece Walnut/Maple neck. The differences can be subtle, but they are noticeable. The pickups are transmitting the primary frequency and the overtones produced by the vibrating string, those frequencies and overtones are most definitely affected by the construction materials and methods.

All that said, I think these are very attractive guitars. My only negative comment would be that I am not much of a fan of gold hardware. It can look really good on the right guitar, but it tarnishes and pits easily and quickly.

 

[BGood]

 

[ChoKo]

They look great. I'm sure they'll sound fine. I agree with Bradley about the gold hardware though; I've never been a fan and, like he said, it tarnishes very badly. Black hardware on these would look much better, in my opinion.

If these sell well, I wonder if we'll get an SG, Flying V, Explorer, Casino, or Dot in Koa? I personally would love an SG done up like this. I'd imagine that the V and Explorer are less likely since the pickguard covers up a good portion of the bodies on those. They could back-mount them like the 84 Explorers or Jeff Waters/Robb Flynn V's. The 335 style models would look amazing done up like this too. I'd even like to see what an Emperor would look like in this finish.

Anything is possible I guess.