Koll

[Mastervolume]

What a great guitar!

I purchased the black Duo Glide that Saul had in the emporium and I am very happy!

I was planning to purchase a Gretsch Elliot Easton because I wanted the filtrons/fixed bridge combo. I was planning to gut the PUs in the EE and put tv jones in but then came this bad boy.

I am so glad that I didn't buy the gretsch!

the Koll is flawless. The guitar looks stunning and is unlike all of the other cookie cutter guitars I have owned. The neck feels like an old friend and the action is really smooth. So smooth that I need to pay attention to my finger pressure when bending because I am hardly having to grip the fretboard to make it sing. Not a dead spot on the neck. the finish is incredible. This is the only guitar I have owned where my wife and teenage daughters both think that it is cool.

Sounds - huge piano like with a good amount of extra bite. I find that I am using MUCH less overdrive to get a lead tone that I like. The guitar is exactly what I needed.

I have a new Suhr coming some time this month to compliment my Suhr tele and my Tyler Landau Classic. I am looking forward to that guitar but I can honestly say that I would rather have another Koll.

Great stuff Saul!

 

[studio8000]

yea saul makes killer stuff. i ordered mine the end of last year and got it last month... been taking it everywhere with me. sounds pretty killer with the 65 London. actually.. it sounds killer with everything. which tv jones you got in yours? i got the powertrons and they rock!

 

[Mastervolume]

Classics

I had these in a 6120JR and loved them. In the Koll they are the perfect combo for me.

 

[guitarcrazy2004]

hEY joe..thanks for your post ,i was about to call saul yesterday so maybe i will in a minute.....anyway thanks for your help on the 13 ....

 

[Ericsson]

He has a very impressive sense of design and lines. I think he has succeeded in placing a unique stamp on familiar concepts, and definitely stands out compared to other guitar makers.

 

[cocheese]

That's great Joe. Congrats again on the kool Koll. I still think that's the coolest guitar I've seen in a long time. It "out Gretsches" a Gretsch!

 

[Blunder]

Congrats on the new Duo!
That one is a beauty. I think that's the same one he had at his shop the last time I was there. I just recently ordered another Duo Glide. His guitars are Fantastic. Flawless workmanship and they practically play themselves. I've got an old Jr. Glide and a silverburst Duo. I was thinking about getting a Superior, but decided the Duo is my favorite. My new one is going to be a korina body with maple top and an f hole. I was thinking about going with TV Jones Filtertrons but I had never played those pickups before. Saul loaned me one of his Duos with filtertrons and a lipstick. Way cool thing for him to do. After checking out that guitar I fell in love with the lipstick pickup and decided to go with a lipstick in the neck and a TV Jones Electroflux in the bridge. I've never heard the electroflux, but decided to take a chance with that one. It's going to be a smokin' combo though.
His designs are truly unique and his craftmanship is amazing.

 

[WahmBoomAh]

Hey Mastervolume ....this makes us related . Saul made me the one that`s on his site now . He said(as he remembered) mine was the one that inspired yours ..It`s the same except it`s maple/korina ..It`s 1 year old
this month and it only gets better ...enjoy a great instrument and at 2k
you could have had your choice of a lot of fancy mediocre stuff out there .....come to think of it ..even at 3k!!!! The only new guitar I`ve personally played that had the magic of Saul`s work would be John Monteleone`s ....
(about 20/30k more ).....Ah ....someone said it "out gretsched gretsch" ...
don`t they mean :"out fendered gretsch"?SO ....my point is ...don`t let Saul Koll sleep!!!!order more , order more !!!!!

 

[Blunder]

Hey MooWahmBah,
How's the korina/maple combo working out for you? I'm sure it sounds amazing. That's the same combo I just ordered on my next Duo. I have never played a korina guitar, but figured I might as well give it a shot. I've got the mahogony and alder areas covered with my other guitars so I was looking for something different.

 

[cocheese]

don`t let Saul Koll sleep!!!!order more , order more !!!!!

I'm doing my best! I've got a Tornado with Bigsby coming soon as well as a 2-humbucker guitar in the planning stage. I simply love dealing with Saul. He is the definition of "good people".

 

[WahmBoomAh]

Hey Cocheese..Sounds like a nice collection(Koll-ection)going there. Saul hooked me up with my first and only for now .Got to resolve some amp issues next and shamelessly spent good money on the evil ProTools (ouch).
BUT ..I`m dreaming of a jazz guitar from Saul one day ...Something like that 7 string on the small luthiers(NOT!)page ...But with 6 strings and a Lollar Charlie Christian ..and to Blunder..about the korina/maple Duo Glide ...hold on for something NICE! First ,I`ve never played any semi hollow with such an even balanced acoustic tone. Most 330/335 types I`ve played have either a spiked mid freq. or a really thin tinny top end .Of course a 10k or more humbucker will knock all the subtlety out of the wood and deal more with the string and the magnet...My Koll (yours too?) has a 4k tv jones filtertron neck pup and it spits out what goes into it without mercy.The Koll
korina/maple sounds like a Martin 000 with less volume .It knocks me out so much acoustically and the long scale is great to lean into ..I found it to be
more versatile than I expected ..Since I fly around alot I`ll use it for a pop
singer gig that covers lots of styles . I have the tv classis plus in the bridge
(@6.5k)...I`m getting beautiful rock solo sounds with a KOT and analogman modded sd-9. It helps to boost it a little to get into the hard slice territory ...sometimes I`ll kick in my Barber Launch Pad AFTER the pedal chain and watch out !...you can still hear air around the note from the acoustic resonance but it gets nasty .ALSO .I`ve never played ANY guitar in my life(47!)that felt SO good with no effects on the bridge pickup only ..no harshness but a sweet CRISP organic tone that you can dig into without
flinching .All in all I`d say the korina/maple is a little darker than I expected on a maple top guitar.suppposed to be brighter than mahogany with some of the same characteristics .sounds accurate enough of a description ..That "DARK" sounds translates to warmth and a perfect marraige to the Filtertron bright bridge pickup ...the guitar will RING off the hook as soon as you strum it . BIG guitar sound ...BiGSBY ,no GIGANTICSBY tone . later cats ......

 

[Blunder]

Hey MooWahmBah,
Thanks for the info on the korina/maple combo. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on my new guitar. The waiting is so hard, but well worth it. My Duo currently has a Seth Lover in the neck and a Duncan Phatcat(humbucker shaped p-90) in the bridge. I like the P-90's better,but am getting some real cool tones when using both pickups. Although I am thinking about switching out both pickups with Harmanic Design Z-90's.
I agree with you on the tonal balance his chambered guitars have. I have never played a better guitar than my Duo. Although my Jr Glide is great too. I've sold all my other guitars except for my Koll's.

 

[WahmBoomAh]

AHHHH ...another one with Multiple Kolls .you guys are conspiring .....
anyway .I had the Z-90`s in a Les PAul Signature semi hollow and sold the guitar but kept the pups ..LOVED them . Alot brighter than the p90 I was familiar with ...kind of an extended freq response without sacrificing the thick vocal mid of a p90 . If you look at Saul`s site the black glide is mine . Look at the pup rings ...they`re just like Mastervolumes...the rings are larger than the filtertron because there`s a gibson sized route under there.
As soon as I get the gibson rings Saul made for me ,,,I`ll be flirting with the z90 in there . I`ll never go back on the marraige of filtertron to the glide with the bigsby though ...Just a hot solder gun kind of weekend fling with the z90 will straighten out my tone lust . IF I had your pickups in there
I `d definately go z90 ....make more of that rich Koll resonance . The Humbucker cuts down of the string/ finger textural expression thang (to me at least) .. BTW ....on the sucess of the z90 ,i tried the HD vintage plus strat set and thought it had NONE of the magic of the z90 .....go figure .

 

[Mastervolume]

me love my koll

I also dig the filtertrons.

Yeah the three harmonic designs pups that I thought killed were
his P90/Z90/and the tele bridge.

Sandpiper from this board had a chance to play my Koll and is now waiting patiently for me to sell mine...keep waiting buddy it might be faster to order one from Saul.

 

[joek86]

You guy's have really inspired me to look into Koll for my next guitar! I play Classic Rock And Blues based Rock. I have had TCM's, Fenders, Gibsons, and Hamers. I want something with P90's(maybe Z90's, I am not familiar with Them). Having as much experience as you guy's do, which model and wood / PUP combo would you recommend?

I like all of them! I started out thinking Tornado, then Jr. with a neck PUP.................

PS - I don't really care about getting a TREM..........

Joe

 

[WahmBoomAh]

Hey Joe ......you`re a smart man ...there`ll always be fenders and gibsons out there BUT there`s only one Saul Koll and for Gibson to try to build something in his league ...they`ll charge you 3x as much and come up WAY short on the magic.....If you don`t like it , either Saul will make it work for you or you can sell it here in about 20 minutes ...Any question about preferences are best answered by Saul ..but . I ll tell you that a z90 is made by Scott at www.harmonicdesign.net ..a p90 concept with a humbucker footprint . Seems to have a little more spank,zing hifi like sound than a stock p90 .....some may differ on that . A z90 will give you the option of switching to a Humbucker if desired. My Koll has TV jones filtertrons which create an acoustic shimmer that takes the Gretsch idea all the way to heaven . Blues Rock might need a little more grunt than the Filtertrons .
www.kollguiitars.com Start your KOLL-ECTION NOW ....

 

[joek86]

MWB,
Thanks for the words of wisdom, Any suggestion on which model?

Joe

 

[Blunder]

Het Joe,
You gotta get yourself a Koll! I'd suggest a DuoGlide
I've got a Jr(mahogony) and a Duo(alder w/maple top). Both are amazing guitars. The Jr is a solid rock machine and the Duo sounds huge. Very resonant and balanced.
I'm (im)patiently waiting on my new korina Duo, which is probably going to be my favorite. I'm itching to try the HD Z90's. I'll probably put a set in my Duo(which has a HB in the neck and P90 in the bridge) based on what I've read and heard about them. I'll post my thoughts on the TV Jones Electroflux when I get my new axe.
There are so many good pickup options out there(Lollar,TV Jones,HD,etc), it's just figuring out what sound you want.
Drop Saul an email. He will answer all your questions and help you pick the right combo as he is much more knowledgable on this subject than I am.

Whatever wood/pickup combo you choose, if it's a Koll, it will smoke anything you've ever played.

Hope this helps,
Bryan

 

[TieDyedDevil]

Originally posted by splatt
whatever it is, if you have a pretty good idea of what-it-is you want & you communicate that w/saul, then:
dude, saul will totally & utterly rock it, oh yeah.

+1

 

[joek86]

QUOTE: I'd suggest a DuoGlide
I've got a Jr(mahogony) and a Duo(alder w/maple top). Both are amazing guitars. The Jr is a solid rock machine and the Duo sounds huge. Very resonant and balanced.

Blunder,
Why do you think the Duo sounds the best, is it the chambering?

Joe