Thanks to its solid construction, the Fame Koa Deluxe produces a warm and powerful sound that unfolds quickly and comprehensively both acoustically and amplified. Thus, the Grand Auditorium Western guitar turns out to be a true all-rounder and is perfectly suited for expressive strumming and fine picking. High-quality hardware perfectly rounds off the overall package in its function and emphasizes the outstanding quality of the flagship from the Fame acoustic guitar family. A flat neck and an armrest in the frame ensure optimal playability, so that the Koa Deluxe obviously lacks nothing. The individual components of the body are refined by a high-gloss finish that tastefully highlights the contrasting texture of the grain. An extensive, filigree Island Vine inlay made of wood and the elaborately designed headstock also ensure an eye-catching appearance.
Excerpt: With the Koa Deluxe and the Santos Deluxe Fame present two acoustic guitars with an exotic look. Especially the Santos rosewood body of the Santos Deluxe gives the guitar an extravagant look with wow effect. However, since the appearance of both koa and santos rosewood is very individual, one cannot infer the entirety of a guitar from its appearance. Both guitar models come with deluxe features such as full solid woods of high quality, armrest, elaborate fingerboard inlay, fancy tuners and Fishman pickup system. That's way more than you'd expect at a sub-$1,000 price point. As different as they look, as different the two sisters sound. While the Koa has a warmer, fuller sound, the Santos sounds leaner and brighter. Amplified, both can be used in a band context as well as a solo instrument. The Koa Deluxe comes in a sturdy, chic case, as well as a soundhole humidifier, which makes the guitar's woods happy. A case can be ordered as an option with the Santos Deluxe. So, let's go to the guitar test in Cologne - or by delivery directly to your home!
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To produce warm bass, defined midrange and fine treble frequencies, the medium-sized body is made of eye-catching koa wood. Easily recognizable by its exciting grain, this high-quality material produces a very fast-responding tone that unfolds pleasantly and room-fillingly even with light touches. Decisive for this, besides a sophisticated bracing, is the wafer-thin high-gloss varnish, which allows the woods used an optimal vibration behaviour. Multi-layered maple bindings delimit the individual parts of the body and, with their light colour, create a very harmonious contrast that lends the overall appearance a noble touch.
To make the handling of the Koa Deluxe especially comfortable, a generous armrest made of fine curly maple has been incorporated into the frame. This makes the instrument extremely comfortable to play, whether sitting or standing. The flat mahogany neck with an ebony fingerboard can also be gripped with great ease, as a cutaway makes it easier for the player to access the higher registers. Golden Fame tuners guarantee precise tuning of the 6 steel strings, which, thanks to a compensated bridge inlay and a 43 mm wide bone nut, intonate cleanly over the entire scale length of 648 mm. To ensure that the acoustic sound is also amplified and reproduced naturally, the guitar is equipped with a Fishman Sonitone pickup system that can be conveniently adjusted via a volume and tone control in the sound hole.
With this being full solid Koa, at this price range it's only natural to get suspicious. But this from the outside view and after playing seems to be the real deal.
If I was to cut the guitar in half and do a proper inspection of the methods used then maybe a luthier would tut at something in the craftmanship, but there's no need to do that because after all, this is a stunning guitar that sounds great.
Only thing I would change would be the material of the inlays. They are quite flat in their appearance and don't pop like all the other features on the guitar. This is obviously purely subjective and many people would avoid this guitar because of the inlays altogether, but personally, I feel like with inlays as striking as this, having a finish similar to that of the rosette would have been the icing on the cake.