Played a Guitar Built With a Katalox Body

[zombywoof]

This was a first for me.  Not only had I never heard of Katalox I apparently could not even pronounce it correctly.  They told me the wood was known as Royal Ebony.  It was at Lay's Guitar Shop.  While mainly known since the 1960s as a repair shop (it is where Joe Walsh's Les Paul which went on to become Jimmy Page's No. 1 was modified) they now also have what they call the Loft where they sell guitars.  There is the "normal" room which has your assortment of mostly newish Taylors,  Martins, Gibsons (they had a '57 J50 and a more recent J35, Keb Mo Signature, and J200) and the "booteek" room with  small shop offerings like Santa Cruz, Bourgeois, Bedell, and Huss and Dalton.   Anyway the guitar was a Huss & Dalton Custom DM with a baked Sitka spruce top, Katalox body and maple binding which the shop owner had ordered in.  While I obviously cannot swear it was the body wood alone  this is thing had a sound you could immediately get lost in.  Sent every other guitar we tried running for cover.   So just curious if anyone else has gotten their hands on a guitar with a Katalox rim and back.

Edited October 15, 2021 by zombywoof

[Sgt. Pepper]

41 minutes ago, zombywoof said:

This was a first for me.  Not only had I never heard of Katalox I apparently could not even pronounce it correctly.  They told me the wood was known as Royal Ebony.  It was at Lay's Guitar Shop.  While mainly known since the 1960s as a repair shop (it is where Joe Walsh's Les Paul which went on to become Jimmy Page's No. 1 was modified) they now also have what they call the Loft where they sell guitars.  There is the "normal" room which has your assortment of mostly newish Taylors,  Martins, Gibsons (they had a '57 J50 and a more recent J35, Keb Mo Signature, and J200) and the "booteek" room with  small shop offerings like Santa Cruz, Bourgeois, Bedell, and Huss and Dalton.   Anyway the guitar was a Huss & Dalton Custom DM with a baked Sitka spruce top, Katalox body and maple binding which the shop owner had ordered in.  While I obviously cannot swear it was the body wood alone  this is thing had a sound you could immediately get lost in.  Sent every other guitar we tried running for cover.   So just curious if anyone else has gotten their hands on a guitar with a Katalox rim and back.

Katalox is an exotic wood that is native to Central America. It is far superior in strength to either Teak or Hard maple. Strength qualities in compression parallel to grain are exceptionally high. It is very hard - much harder than White oak, Hard maple, or Teak. ... The wood is very dense.

It also sounds like something the doctor would give you for a case of the clap or Gono-co-co-coccus.

Edited October 15, 2021 by Sgt. Pepper

[scriv58]

Did the guitar feel heavy in weight?

[zombywoof]

30 minutes ago, scriv58 said:

Did the guitar feel heavy in weight?

I would say it was a bit heavier than the Indian rosewood body guitars in the place but not enough so that I took particular note of it.  Certainly lighter than my wife's 1960 J200 which we had with us at the time for a "health check" as the bridge plate is starting to show some wear and tear (for which the solution apparently  is to go with unslotted bridge pins).