Developing New Hawaiian Koa Stain Colors & Finishes

In a previous post, I discussed our Sustainability Mission around Hawaiian Koa. One of the ways that we plan to expand the proliferation of Hawaiian Koa across our product portfolio is with the introduction of color.  Koa is an amazing wood and Koa guitars can be found in almost every color in the spectrum.

So this week I thought I would share some of the experiments that we are currently doing with regards to Hawaiian Koa staining & finishing.  Here are some of the colors that we are currently playing with... 

We have been doing sunbursts, tobaccobursts & tri-burst paint finishes since the beginning but I have always hated the way that paint can cover the woodgrain on the darkest colors.  So I am working on creating alternate versions of these finishes with stain only.  Here are some of the very early tests.  Expect to see some new Hawaiian Koa products coming soon in a wider range of colors.  

We have also been working on the durability of the finishes on our phone cases.  Our first cases went out with nitrocellulose lacquer finishes similar to what we are using on our capos.  These are fine for most users, however, we discovered that for some users, especially one teenage girl named Thalia, that these finishes were simply not robust enough for constant abuse 18hrs a day. 

So we did research and experimented with over a dozen different more durable finishes, performing accelerated life testing to find a new Thalia phone case finish.  We finally settled on a super-durable, two-part epoxy based commercial hardwood flooring finish that is totally bomber and gorgeous. 

We rolled this finish out a few months ago and it is working very well.  For anyone, who does have one of our early phone cases, please know that all of our products come with a Lifetime Warranty, so if your phone case finish shows signs of wear, simply contact us with a photo for a replacement.

What color finishes do your wish we had?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.  And if you have an amazing Koa guitar in a great color, include a photo so I can match it!