The koa looks pretty good, very much Unlike any in their ads, but the left and right pieces don't really match -- the left (upper?) piece is almost flamed or figured, but the right one is more of a bird's-eye. It's light for a 6-string, but a tad neck-heavy (it's the only 6-string I've really played, so I can't say how it compares). I love the locking tuners, don't know why they don't use them anymore, and the Wilkinson bridge is great.

Sound: Well, not too amazing. Part of it might be that I use light strings (105, 85, 64, 45, 30, 22), and don't change them very often. But it just doesn't have real tone. It's clear, the bridge pickup is punchy but pretty thin, the neck p/u by itself is kind of dull and round. It really needs more pizazz, which their new J99s quite possibly have. I just ordered a 5-string with the HB2 MM-style bridge pickup and J99 neck pickup, review will be forthcoming.

Oh, and it doesn't have the midrange control, which I'm thinking would help things out a bit.

I don't think that Carvins can be beat for the price. I would seriously recommend buying one, with the expectation that you might want to replace the pickups with barts or EMGs. That being said, it'll still be cheaper than anything else of the same quality.

Construction	100%
Playability	85%
Appearance	95%
Sound	75%
Value	100%
Cust. Service	80%
Overall	95%