Taylor Acoustic Guitar Koa

If an acoustic electric guitar is made of Koa wood is it guaranteed to be an amazing guitar?

I know Taylor makes amazing koa wood guitars but they’re majorly expensive. I didn’t know if I could base whether or not a guitar is superb just based on the fact it’s made of koa. I’m looking for a koa acoustic electric guitar for under $1000 [thus the question] thanks!

Using beautiful wood doesn’t guarantee that a guitar will be great, since there are more factors than materials that matter in determining an instrument’s sound and playability. I’d recommend going to a well-stocked guitar store and trying the koa guitars that interest you, since hands-on experience will provide you with more information than manufacturer blurbs. But if you buy one online without ever having played it, there’s a good chance the guitar will have issues that make it challenging to play. Lots of sub-par guitar companies have begun making instruments with gorgeous woods to lend an air of respectability to their products, but the guitars are still plagued with tuning and intonation problems, as well as high action that makes them nearly unplayable.

Dean has a koa guitar that’s very nicely priced and has great reviews. I’ve never played one, so I can’t give an opinion, but it’s worth a trip to Guitar Center if there’s one close to you. Here’s a link:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Dean-Exotica-Koa-Acoustic-Guitar-516013-i1276285.gc?source=4AGGWXX2

And Ibanez makes a guitar from zebrawood, which is similar to koa. It’s an acoustic-electric and has one of the thinnest, most comfortable necks of any acoustic guitar. I own the figured ash guitar from the same series and am consistently blown away both by the way the guitar sounds and the way it feels in my hands (I’ve got small hands, so lots of guitar necks are challenging for me). If you’re not familiar with Ibanez guitars, they’re built like rocks, sound incredible and are often nicer than guitars costing twice as much. I’ve had one of mine (purchased second hand) for more than 25 years and it’s still my primary guitar for both recording and playing live. Here are a couple links to Ibanez guitars that are similar to koa ones:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez-Exotic-Wood-Series-EW50MPSE-Acoustic-Electric-Guitar-520146-i1460856.gc

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez-Exotic-Wood-Series-EW20SGE-Acoustic-Electric-Guitar-520145-i1442086.gc

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez-EW20ZWE-EXOTIC-WOOD-SERIES-Zebrawood-Acoustic-Electric-Guitar-104302476-i1172985.gc

Taylor K20CE KOA Series Acoustic Guitar