I've got a full custom Strat which has a black Korina core (back) & a quilted maple top. The tone is slightly different from ash or alder, I've had 2 luthiers state that the midrange is "sweeter" than either of the other woods mentioned
Good Test. Agree with your observation. In general the wood only contributes minimally to the tone. But in this case It has s greater contribution to the quality of the sound.
John, After playing many guitars over many years Ive found that the wood used in construction does make a difference. In your video for example, the Korina and the mahogany both sounded exactly as I expected they would. To me... the Korina almost had that Alnico 2 Peter Frampton sound... without the Alnico 2 magnets. Korina is my favorite wood for guitar construction, and Ive always dreamed of building a Korina Strat. I think it would sound badass. Thanks
Remembering Peter Frampton's "Phenix" many don't realize that in his prized original "black beauty" which he gigged with up through the time it was lost, had no maple cap. It was "solid" mahogany giving, to me, a richer tone than a maple capped model. I owned an original PRS "Standard" from the 80's which was solid mahogany & the tone was very sweet and full on the midrange
I own one of these korina models and it's very bright with a single-coil type chime. I called PRS to find out if these were the same SE pickups used in similar SE models. And PRS told me, "...The pickups in the Korina Single cut were modified for a better tone in the white limba wood...". That was all i could get from them. One thing the reviewer did not do was a sustain test. This little 5.75 lb guitar sustains better than any LP I've owned and is equal in sustain to a Washburn Falcon I have that weighs in just under 10 lbs.
I've put Gibson C57/57+ in mine, which I paid €250 2nd hand in 2012... I prefer the Gibson alnico-2 PUs to any PRS ones, in fact, I even prefer handwound PAF'57 replicas but I didn't wanted to spend too much and I got the Gibson ones for €65 the pair... Might be less polyvalent but freaking more rootsy
from my experience in millwork/cabinet shop- korina is lighter, less oils in wood to crystalize/oxidize. Much easier to work and alot easier on the tools than Honduras mahogany (which is very hard to source since '99). African mahogany is very brown in color, younger growth than Hounduras Which is quite red. Korina is a great compromise in color between them, easily sourced. We build alot w/ it.
I own two guitars made of a ca. 1905 (!!!) cut Honduran mahogany, one is a PRS-like but with a LP volumes of wood/weight, the other is similar to a Charvel San Dimas, both have alnico2 "PAFs", well, didn't gave a try to a 1959 burst, just a 1960 one, as well as a '63 SG... I'm not jealous about these pricey Gibsons'... The little PRS korina is great on its own, and I love it especially since I added PAFs too... Well, it's not the price that makes a good guitar, the SC-Korina is different but absolutely great, especially at the price I got mine... And having an accident with irreplaceable guitars made of a century+ old wood is a no go, while I can go out with the PRS SE
A guitar teacher gave me a demo about guitar woods he had a tuning fork which he struck and placed the base on a slab of plywood he did the same and held it on his les paul .the guitar was alot louder and clearer
Hi John, thanks for demo. While subtle, I hear a tone difference, the Korina being warmer to my ears. Did you say the Korina has a Korina neck while the other has a Mapple neck ? I think on a solid guitar, the neck is the main thing to react to strings vibrations, mapple being harder wood than korina or mahogany. What do you think ?
Flitting between the two over and over, the korina-based PRS just sounds louder and that giving the effects in your ToneLab more to work with. Keeping in mind what you've said, and without having quite a few more PRS SE made out of korina guitars (which no doubt would mean having been made at different times) to test, I'd have said that perhaps the pick-ups have a tad more in the copper windings department. Then again it could also be a different capacitor, but regardless of what the difference(s) is/are? They sound the same, just the korina one sounds louder. My tuppence worth anyway! :)
This guitar's sound blew me away in comparison with the other one! I have a theory, the wood fiber orientation may have more impact in the resonance than the specific wood, if it works like acoustic guitars, a horizontal grain would favour the bass, and a vertical would favour treble, longer and shorter fibers respectively. That said, I have no idea how woods as dense as that behave...
Hmmmm… maybe something to do with the phase of the moon, the humidity in the room, the gravitational pull of a passing asteroid ? Interesting video John and whatever ‘it’ is, I prefer the korina which is what the original Explorers were made of.
While the wood can make a difference in tone, as has been pointed out, there are so many other variables (amp, pedal board, etc). One thing that makes a difference, however, is weight, and korina is a good choice for older players who are tired of heavy guitars. I long was under the belief that heavier guitars have better sustain; that myth has been blown. Some of the most resonant guitars I've played have also been the lightest; no reason to break one's back there!
Hey, I think there's a song in here. 'I Dream of Korina.' The Korina did sound like it had hotter pups, at least to me, but I think the most likely difference was, you had your ROCK 'n ROLL face on while playing the Korina.
Yeah, the Korina was louder, but (to my ears) had more clarity on the clean sound. My "rock n roll" face? My missus says I look like a bulldog chewing a wasp 😖
Hello John, great demo, I’ve been a Fender guy so far, but if I ever wanted a Les Paul style guitar I would choose the PRS single cut no matter the wood used. With what I’ve seen in the guitar stores lately, I’ve been a bit disappointed with Gibson’s quality. I mean compared to LP’s built in the 70’s, which is what a lot of my friends own and play, seems the acceptable level of quality has dropped drastically since then. I don’t know, Maybe it’s just that the cost of materials has sky rocketed, and in order to turn out a guitar that is affordable, this is what it has come to. But if I’m going to pay $4000.00 or more for a guitar it better be flawless.
I agree 100% mate. If I had that kind of budget, I'd rather support a small local luthier & get something custom built. Why buy "off the peg" when you can afford "tailor made"?
@@JRobsonGuitar Maybe this suggests that any PRS SE model over a period of say a year or more will sound a bit different because they are a sum of the parts and they will vary creating a cumulative effect. Or not.
I think the Japanese schecter and ibanez brands really have mastered guitar making and value . I gave up on strats and telecaster because the ibanez range was so very much better
Limba is NOT related to "mahogany" in any way, other than being used as a substitute wood making guitars. It's lighter in color and weight, and more upper-mids while mahogany might have more lower-miss. Mahogany is one of my favorite guitar woods, but I love korina too, and believe it does sound different and has more resonance acoustically, which translates to amplified even more so. Korina has become my favorite guitar wood because of its light weight (bad back) and tone-sound-timbre-musicality-? My first two were Epiphone X and Y last year for $599-new shipped, thought I'd never play either - much less own them! I love them both, very light weight (6lb. 6oz. Y and 6lb. 7oz. X). Recently acquired PRS korina singlecut (edit: 6.6), and a One (edit: 6.3), both all korina body and neck, rosewood fretboards. Now I want a korina telecaster and stratocaster, may have to make them using Warmouth parts? Cheers!
I think the Korina is "fuller" sounding, I hear the highs, mids and lows clearly, and to my ear it has a bit more beef than the other PRS. I'd have this one for sure, plus, the Korina is a beautiful finish! Nice work John!
Playing live, I doubt it would make any difference at all as too many other variables would be introduced. Recording, on the other hand, would make any differences more pronounced - or at least before the signal has been buggered about with by Pro Tools.... I've long since abandoned the view that construction materials matter too much and believe most modern guitars can bang out a half-decent sound. For me it's all about feel and playability - and the skills of the guitarist of course!
curious, what string gauge do you use on the semi-hollow? I've heard to use heavier, 11's - I consistent use d'adario 10-46 on everything for many years. Have a HB semi coming, thoughts, opinions?
Come on John, no two pickups are identical in sound/tone plus other hardware will all have an effect. And yes I'm firmly in the "tonewood is smoke and mirrors" camp ;)
I'd agree that hand wound pickups are going to be inconsistent - something made by hand is going to be less uniform than something made by a machine. These pickups aren't hand wound though - they're mass produced. "Other hardware"? As in the bridge & nut? Identical on both guitars. The only significant difference between both guitars is the timber they're made from... and both guitars sound different. Coincidence? Maybe. I'm open to persuasion - I've had strats & teles made of all kinds of different timbers which always seem to sound like strats & teles to me, but then again, I've had LP style guitars made from different timbers (especially the necks) which are night & day compared to each other. The obvious example is the difference between a 335 & a Les Paul - identical scale length & mass produced pickups/hardware, but different timbers & (in the case of the 335) a big lump of fresh air in the construction of the body. Both guitars sound consistently different - not just one 335 sounding different to one Les Paul: they both have an identifiable sound which is immediately obvious. It does seem to point to the DENSITY of the wood having an impact on the amplified tone. Would I fork out for a guitar made from 100yr old "special" tonewood? Would I heck! But do I think that, in certain cases, the density of the timber & it's moisture content is ONE of the factors that influences the sound? I think I probably do... but as I said, I'm open to persuasion.
@@JRobsonGuitar Wow, didnt expect such an in depth reply John and youve given me food for thought with your reference to Lp's and 335's, not sure I have a come back for that one or indeed the knowledge to answer you and I do have an epiphone LP and an epiphone dot and yes they do sound very different, however on the subject of pickups i have measured machine wound p/ups with a multimeter and found small differences in the readings I got, I did this after watching a video talking about just this subject and was amazed at some of the differences shown in the video. I was more amazed when testing the p/ups in my Peavey Generation S3 to find that the neck p/up had a higher output than both the middle and the bridge p/ups! it was like they had been fitted in reverse, but that as they say is another story. Thanks again for the reply, appreciate it and just maybe Im not as sure as I was about the whole t/wood debarcle.
@@SidBonkers51 No worries, mate. I know it's not fashionable these days, but I remember a time when people with different opinions could talk about their views without having to chuck milkshakes over each other or shout abuse. It was called "civilised debate". Nice to find someone else who values it. Wonder what happened to it, sometimes 😀
Wood species has 0 to do with how any guitar sounds. Each piece of wood is different depending on which part of the tree the wood was sourced from so it could be a dense piece of ash or a more opened grain piece coming from the outer part of the tree. For the wood to make a difference it would have to have a peak resonant frequency that overrides the pickups, electronics, strings, metal hardware, cables, amplifiers, and whatever pedals you are using. If you really think about it it's simple science. That being said if you believe it makes a difference and it's what you like then that's the guitar for you.
Finally got round to watching this :) PRS No2 did feel 'Very' light, and for what it's worth I much preferred it to the first one, in looks and sound. Perhaps 'Less poncey shit' is the way forward! Perhaps I'd better rewatch the Indie video again and calculate the poncey shit to greatness ratio?
Which is exactly what I said in the video... Does the timber make any difference? Does a guitar made from mahogany & maple sound different to one made from korina? Which is why I used one guitar made from korina & another made from mahogany/maple.
For side by side comparison:
Mahogany Neck Clean: 2:57
Mahogany Bridge Crunch: 3:19
Mahogany Bridge Full Throttle: 3:28
Korina Neck Clean: 3:36
Korina Bridge Crunch: 3:59
Korina Bridge Full Throttle: 4:09
I've got a full custom Strat which has a black Korina core (back) & a quilted maple top. The tone is slightly different from ash or alder, I've had 2 luthiers state that the midrange is "sweeter" than either of the other woods mentioned
Good Test. Agree with your observation. In general the wood only contributes minimally to the tone. But in this case It has s greater contribution to the quality of the sound.
Just got one today. Love it
John,
After playing many guitars over many years Ive found that the wood used in construction does make a difference. In your video for example, the Korina and the mahogany both sounded exactly as I expected they would. To me... the Korina almost had that Alnico 2 Peter Frampton sound... without the Alnico 2 magnets.
Korina is my favorite wood for guitar construction, and Ive always dreamed of building a Korina Strat. I think it would sound badass.
Thanks
Remembering Peter Frampton's "Phenix" many don't realize that in his prized original "black beauty" which he gigged with up through the time it was lost, had no maple cap. It was "solid" mahogany giving, to me, a richer tone than a maple capped model. I owned an original PRS "Standard" from the 80's which was solid mahogany & the tone was very sweet and full on the midrange
Shiver me timbers! I like Korina a whole lot.
I own one of these korina models and it's very bright with a single-coil type chime. I called PRS to find out if these were the same SE pickups used in similar SE models. And PRS told me, "...The pickups in the Korina Single cut were modified for a better tone in the white limba wood...". That was all i could get from them. One thing the reviewer did not do was a sustain test. This little 5.75 lb guitar sustains better than any LP I've owned and is equal in sustain to a Washburn Falcon I have that weighs in just under 10 lbs.
I've put Gibson C57/57+ in mine, which I paid €250 2nd hand in 2012... I prefer the Gibson alnico-2 PUs to any PRS ones, in fact, I even prefer handwound PAF'57 replicas but I didn't wanted to spend too much and I got the Gibson ones for €65 the pair... Might be less polyvalent but freaking more rootsy
Recently got a PRS SE Bernie Marsden, also single cut and I love it...didn't realise that I'd love big fat chunky necks so much
from my experience in millwork/cabinet shop- korina is lighter, less oils in wood to crystalize/oxidize. Much easier to work and alot easier on the tools than Honduras mahogany (which is very hard to source since '99). African mahogany is very brown in color, younger growth than Hounduras Which is quite red. Korina is a great compromise in color between them, easily sourced. We build alot w/ it.
I own two guitars made of a ca. 1905 (!!!) cut Honduran mahogany, one is a PRS-like but with a LP volumes of wood/weight, the other is similar to a Charvel San Dimas, both have alnico2 "PAFs", well, didn't gave a try to a 1959 burst, just a 1960 one, as well as a '63 SG...
I'm not jealous about these pricey Gibsons'...
The little PRS korina is great on its own, and I love it especially since I added PAFs too... Well, it's not the price that makes a good guitar, the SC-Korina is different but absolutely great, especially at the price I got mine... And having an accident with irreplaceable guitars made of a century+ old wood is a no go, while I can go out with the PRS SE
A guitar teacher gave me a demo about guitar woods he had a tuning fork which he struck and placed the base on a slab of plywood he did the same and held it on his les paul .the guitar was alot louder and clearer
Hi John, thanks for demo. While subtle, I hear a tone difference, the Korina being warmer to my ears. Did you say the Korina has a Korina neck while the other has a Mapple neck ? I think on a solid guitar, the neck is the main thing to react to strings vibrations, mapple being harder wood than korina or mahogany. What do you think ?
I was wondering if nut material might make a difference?
Same stock PRS nut on both guitars, but not sure the nut affects fretted notes anyway. Good point though 😀
@@JRobsonGuitar : not sure what I was thinking, but of course, you are right. Nut material should not impact fretted note.
Flitting between the two over and over, the korina-based PRS just sounds louder and that giving the effects in your ToneLab more to work with. Keeping in mind what you've said, and without having quite a few more PRS SE made out of korina guitars (which no doubt would mean having been made at different times) to test, I'd have said that perhaps the pick-ups have a tad more in the copper windings department. Then again it could also be a different capacitor, but regardless of what the difference(s) is/are? They sound the same, just the korina one sounds louder. My tuppence worth anyway! :)
This guitar's sound blew me away in comparison with the other one!
I have a theory, the wood fiber orientation may have more impact in the resonance than the specific wood, if it works like acoustic guitars, a horizontal grain would favour the bass, and a vertical would favour treble, longer and shorter fibers respectively.
That said, I have no idea how woods as dense as that behave...
Hmmmm… maybe something to do with the phase of the moon, the humidity in the room, the gravitational pull of a passing asteroid ? Interesting video John and whatever ‘it’ is, I prefer the korina which is what the original Explorers were made of.
While the wood can make a difference in tone, as has been pointed out, there are so many other variables (amp, pedal board, etc). One thing that makes a difference, however, is weight, and korina is a good choice for older players who are tired of heavy guitars. I long was under the belief that heavier guitars have better sustain; that myth has been blown. Some of the most resonant guitars I've played have also been the lightest; no reason to break one's back there!
Hey, I think there's a song in here. 'I Dream of Korina.' The Korina did sound like it had hotter pups, at least to me, but I think the most likely difference was, you had your ROCK 'n ROLL face on while playing the Korina.
Yeah, the Korina was louder, but (to my ears) had more clarity on the clean sound. My "rock n roll" face? My missus says I look like a bulldog chewing a wasp 😖
Hello John, great demo, I’ve been a Fender guy so far, but if I ever wanted a Les Paul style guitar I would choose the PRS single cut no matter the wood used.
With what I’ve seen in the guitar stores lately, I’ve been a bit disappointed with Gibson’s quality. I mean compared to LP’s built in the
70’s, which is what a lot of my friends own and play, seems the acceptable level of quality has dropped drastically since then.
I don’t know, Maybe it’s just that the cost of materials has sky rocketed, and in order to turn out a guitar that is affordable, this is what it has come to. But if I’m going to pay $4000.00 or more for a guitar it better be flawless.
I agree 100% mate. If I had that kind of budget, I'd rather support a small local luthier & get something custom built. Why buy "off the peg" when you can afford "tailor made"?
Was the neck profile different ?
Exactly the same, mate 😀
@@JRobsonGuitar Maybe this suggests that any PRS SE model over a period of say a year or more will sound a bit different because they are a sum of the parts and they will vary creating a cumulative effect. Or not.
I think the Japanese schecter and ibanez brands really have mastered guitar making and value . I gave up on strats and telecaster because the ibanez range was so very much better
Limba is NOT related to "mahogany" in any way, other than being used as a substitute wood making guitars. It's lighter in color and weight, and more upper-mids while mahogany might have more lower-miss. Mahogany is one of my favorite guitar woods, but I love korina too, and believe it does sound different and has more resonance acoustically, which translates to amplified even more so. Korina has become my favorite guitar wood because of its light weight (bad back) and tone-sound-timbre-musicality-? My first two were Epiphone X and Y last year for $599-new shipped, thought I'd never play either - much less own them! I love them both, very light weight (6lb. 6oz. Y and 6lb. 7oz. X). Recently acquired PRS korina singlecut (edit: 6.6), and a One (edit: 6.3), both all korina body and neck, rosewood fretboards. Now I want a korina telecaster and stratocaster, may have to make them using Warmouth parts? Cheers!
I think the Korina is "fuller" sounding, I hear the highs, mids and lows clearly, and to my ear it has a bit more beef than the other PRS.
I'd have this one for sure, plus, the Korina is a beautiful finish!
Nice work John!
Playing live, I doubt it would make any difference at all as too many other variables would be introduced. Recording, on the other hand, would make any differences more pronounced - or at least before the signal has been buggered about with by Pro Tools.... I've long since abandoned the view that construction materials matter too much and believe most modern guitars can bang out a half-decent sound. For me it's all about feel and playability - and the skills of the guitarist of course!
curious, what string gauge do you use on the semi-hollow? I've heard to use heavier, 11's - I consistent use d'adario 10-46 on everything for many years. Have a HB semi coming, thoughts, opinions?
I put 10-46 on everything 😀
Come on John, no two pickups are identical in sound/tone plus other hardware will all have an effect. And yes I'm firmly in the "tonewood is smoke and mirrors" camp ;)
I'd agree that hand wound pickups are going to be inconsistent - something made by hand is going to be less uniform than something made by a machine. These pickups aren't hand wound though - they're mass produced. "Other hardware"? As in the bridge & nut? Identical on both guitars. The only significant difference between both guitars is the timber they're made from... and both guitars sound different. Coincidence? Maybe. I'm open to persuasion - I've had strats & teles made of all kinds of different timbers which always seem to sound like strats & teles to me, but then again, I've had LP style guitars made from different timbers (especially the necks) which are night & day compared to each other. The obvious example is the difference between a 335 & a Les Paul - identical scale length & mass produced pickups/hardware, but different timbers & (in the case of the 335) a big lump of fresh air in the construction of the body. Both guitars sound consistently different - not just one 335 sounding different to one Les Paul: they both have an identifiable sound which is immediately obvious. It does seem to point to the DENSITY of the wood having an impact on the amplified tone. Would I fork out for a guitar made from 100yr old "special" tonewood? Would I heck! But do I think that, in certain cases, the density of the timber & it's moisture content is ONE of the factors that influences the sound? I think I probably do... but as I said, I'm open to persuasion.
@@JRobsonGuitar Wow, didnt expect such an in depth reply John and youve given me food for thought with your reference to Lp's and 335's, not sure I have a come back for that one or indeed the knowledge to answer you and I do have an epiphone LP and an epiphone dot and yes they do sound very different, however on the subject of pickups i have measured machine wound p/ups with a multimeter and found small differences in the readings I got, I did this after watching a video talking about just this subject and was amazed at some of the differences shown in the video. I was more amazed when testing the p/ups in my Peavey Generation S3 to find that the neck p/up had a higher output than both the middle and the bridge p/ups! it was like they had been fitted in reverse, but that as they say is another story. Thanks again for the reply, appreciate it and just maybe Im not as sure as I was about the whole t/wood debarcle.
@@SidBonkers51 No worries, mate. I know it's not fashionable these days, but I remember a time when people with different opinions could talk about their views without having to chuck milkshakes over each other or shout abuse. It was called "civilised debate". Nice to find someone else who values it. Wonder what happened to it, sometimes 😀
I must say I prefer the Korina.
Wood species has 0 to do with how any guitar sounds. Each piece of wood is different depending on which part of the tree the wood was sourced from so it could be a dense piece of ash or a more opened grain piece coming from the outer part of the tree. For the wood to make a difference it would have to have a peak resonant frequency that overrides the pickups, electronics, strings, metal hardware, cables, amplifiers, and whatever pedals you are using. If you really think about it it's simple science. That being said if you believe it makes a difference and it's what you like then that's the guitar for you.
Finally got round to watching this :) PRS No2 did feel 'Very' light, and for what it's worth I much preferred it to the first one, in looks and sound. Perhaps 'Less poncey shit' is the way forward! Perhaps I'd better rewatch the Indie video again and calculate the poncey shit to greatness ratio?
Ha, yeah... Some of the more elaborate ones do look a bit "Liberace" to me 😀
Strings? I mean, the concept of "tone strings" is a far more defensible than "tone wood."
Ernie Ball 10-46 on both guitars.
@@JRobsonGuitar Ok, but are they around the same age?
The karina guitar is lowder.
If karina sounds that much better than every guitar would be made out of karina.
Sorry , this isn't really a great comparison . The mahogany body has a maple cap , the other is solid Korina . Just sayin ✌️😊
Which is exactly what I said in the video... Does the timber make any difference? Does a guitar made from mahogany & maple sound different to one made from korina? Which is why I used one guitar made from korina & another made from mahogany/maple.
show the guitar fully when you talk