Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: witeter on February 25, 2013, 11:23:17 AM

Title: korina vs wenge
Post by: witeter on February 25, 2013, 11:23:17 AM
Can anyone tell me what the differnce between korina and wenge is when it comes to tone? im talking when used as a guitar body, really interested to know what characteristics they each have-thanks!
Title: Re: korina vs wenge
Post by: WezV on February 25, 2013, 12:32:10 PM
very different woods there.

Korina is often though of as mahogany +.  so think mahogany but a bit less dark.   its a good all rounder

never done a solid body out of wenge but i would imagine quite bright and very heavy.   works nice as laminates in bodies and necks, adds a lot of stiffness but generally cheaper than ebony and rosewood
Title: Re: korina vs wenge
Post by: Philly Q on February 25, 2013, 01:13:25 PM
Ah good, Wez is on the case.  :D

I was thinking of wenge more as a fretboard/neck wood, used by the likes of Warwick.  Not only heavy but very open-grained, doesn't really strike me as suitable for bodies.

Korina is great, although I semi-unintenionally ended up selling both my korina guitars.....  :(  Like mahogany as Wez says, a little brighter but not in a piercing way, there's a nice sweetness about the tone.
Title: Re: korina vs wenge
Post by: TheyCallMeVolume on February 25, 2013, 02:17:24 PM
When I'm playing a nice, hefty mahogany LP it's certainly very nice to strap on the Korina PRS. Don't really have any experience with wenge.
Title: Re: korina vs wenge
Post by: witeter on February 25, 2013, 03:09:58 PM
Cheers guys its just that I attended the Birmingham Guitar show last weekend and tried out a guitar with a Korina body and Wenge top which was insane!! best guitar ive ever played. Just noticed that they also do another model where the body is 100% wenge-so just wondered what the difference may be. Thanks for the info though!
Title: Re: korina vs wenge
Post by: Nadz1lla on February 25, 2013, 07:00:26 PM
That sounds very interesting, who made the Korina / Wenge guitar? Sounds like the kind of timber mix I'd like the sound of.  :)
Title: Re: korina vs wenge
Post by: mongey on February 26, 2013, 12:37:03 AM
My 7 is wenge/swamp ash body and I'm liking it allot

I love the look of it for one . I'm into grainy guitars

weight wise I dont think its that heavy. I'd say it's  bright tone wise but not super bright . I'd say more defined than bright


Title: Re: korina vs wenge
Post by: witeter on February 26, 2013, 09:34:17 AM
Nadzilla-its Sabre guitars, they were just incredible! the particular model I played (Wraith) is the best guitar I have ever played-at this guitar show I played some high range Prs's and also one of the mythical Blackmachines-the Sabre was  just head and shoulders above the competition for my tastes-mindblown, so much so im thinking of selling all my guitars to be able to get one.

Mongey-that looks awesome, the Sabre was very similar in wood colour-wise, it just felt great and the sound seemed very resonant and refined!
Title: Re: korina vs wenge
Post by: Nadz1lla on February 27, 2013, 06:21:00 PM
Just had a gander, they do look rather nice! Good build options too. The only thing I'd say is on the site they don't offer a straight 27" scale on the Wraith, only 25.5 and 25 - 27 fanned. Other than that, awesome looking axes!
Title: Re: korina vs wenge
Post by: JJretroTONEGOD on February 28, 2013, 12:40:16 AM
I have to admit this: wenge sounds great in bass guitars but I've never heard it in a standard guitar.

A few years back I tried a Gibson Explorer that was a limited edition in Korina and it sounded amazing compared to the mahogony version, much sweeter and similar to 'the edge' tone, korina is really nice but for some styles it could be too sweet.
Title: Re: korina vs wenge
Post by: Philly Q on February 28, 2013, 11:09:19 AM
A few years back I tried a Gibson Explorer that was a limited edition in Korina and it sounded amazing compared to the mahogony version, much sweeter and similar to 'the edge' tone, korina is really nice but for some styles it could be too sweet.

The original 1958 korina Explorer and Flying V are such utterly awesome guitars (not that I've ever actually played one!).  I've always wondered if korina was a deliberate choice for a different tone, or just some kind of happy accident.

Shame they haven't continued to use korina, but I assume it's hard to get hold of good quality large pieces - even PRS had to resort to two and three piece bodies for their korina guitars (although Twinfan did have a one-piece McCarty Korina!).
Title: Re: korina vs wenge
Post by: Marco78 on February 28, 2013, 05:10:18 PM
A few years back I tried a Gibson Explorer that was a limited edition in Korina and it sounded amazing compared to the mahogony version, much sweeter and similar to 'the edge' tone, korina is really nice but for some styles it could be too sweet.

The original 1958 korina Explorer and Flying V are such utterly awesome guitars (not that I've ever actually played one!).  I've always wondered if korina was a deliberate choice for a different tone, or just some kind of happy accident.

Shame they haven't continued to use korina, but I assume it's hard to get hold of good quality large pieces - even PRS had to resort to two and three piece bodies for their korina guitars (although Twinfan did have a one-piece McCarty Korina!).

In my opinion there are no differences on tone if they use 1 or 2 piece body...
Title: Re: korina vs wenge
Post by: witeter on February 28, 2013, 08:34:19 PM
So what do you guys reckon: Korina with wenge cap? or korina with maple cap. I think i will certainly go with a maple/walnut neck and ebony fretboard
Title: Re: korina vs wenge
Post by: mongey on February 28, 2013, 08:41:36 PM
are you planning to paint /finish the guitar or just oil it ?
Title: Re: korina vs wenge
Post by: witeter on February 28, 2013, 09:45:40 PM
undecided lol its all quite new to me - what in your experience works best,etc?
Title: Re: korina vs wenge
Post by: mongey on March 01, 2013, 06:13:45 AM
undecided lol its all quite new to me - what in your experience works best,etc?

Whatever you like best works best Lol  . Every wenge  top I've ever seen is just oiled. so if you like the wood grain look its a good option. But for finishing /painting probably not the best choice.



Title: Re: korina vs wenge
Post by: witeter on March 01, 2013, 08:12:03 AM
Yes if i went wenge it wuold just be oiled, i wouldnt add anything else onto it-just wondered about maple burl as it looks stunning, but i imagine you can do more finishing options to it?
And how do you find the wenge top? does it need regular tlc when compared to other tops? i.e more oiling,etc
thanks! :-)