Got this idea from a couple of threads in the General section and thought it might be interesting to hear about your first CF guitar, and the story behind it.
For me, looking to CF came out of necessity. In 2000, Helene and I bought a cabin in Big Bear, a mountain resort about 100 miles east of LA, not wanting to drag one of my guitars up with me every few weeks, I decide to leave one of my less expensive Martins up there. For a while everything was going great, but one weekend I forgot to put the guitar back in it's case with a freshly humidified Dampit, and left the guitar on it's stand. Two weeks later, my Martin had a nice crack in the top. Given that in LA I can leave my guitars out for years at a time, I was quite surprised by the damage, so I bought a digital humidity gauge, and discovered that the humidity was at 12 percent. Bad news, I had a crack in my Martin, good news, I need a new guitar.
Once back in the city, I went down to the Hollywood GC, took the Rainsong OM1000 off the wall that I have been eyeing for a while, and bought it. Funny thing, the kid checking me out actually reminded me that for that kind of money I could buy a Martin, or a Taylor. I gave him a short lesson on why this guitar costs what it does, and why I need it, and he seemed to understand.
Once I got my new OM1000 home, I discovered what an amazing guitar it really was. I mean this guitar could do it all! From the studio to the beach, the guitar performed flawlessly. One spring, I got tired of the 20 degree temps up in Big Bear, so Helene and I dropped off the mountain, and spent the rest of the weekend in Palms Springs, where the temps were in the 90's. My Rainsong went from being played in the snow, to being played pool side in the same 24 hours without missing a beat.
A few years later, Joe came out with the Blackbird Rider, arguably the finest travel guitar on the planet, and I had my second CF guitar.
So, let's hear the story of your first CF guitar.