CF electrics

CF guitars are generally acoustic or acoustic/electric. You don't see many electric/acoustics. In various forum discussions the consensus seems to be that wooden electric guitars are durable and cheaper than would be possible with CF. I disagree.

Electric guitars are indeed durable, but they are generally heavy--CF would make for a lighter instrument. Carbon fiber is an expensive medium--but good wooden electrics are not cheap.

I think there is a market for CF electric guitars. I particularly like the notion of an electric/acoustic--thin hollow body, fast neck, light weight instrument. Something like my Emerald X7 electric/acoustic.

Everyone who sees and plays my X7 wants it. I regularly gets offers to buy the guitar. Which I will probably one day sell. After I get Alistair to make me an X10 thin-bodied, electric/acoustic guitar. He's pretty resistant to the idea, But I suspect that I might eventually wear him down--as I did with the seven.

I know that a number people on this forum have and like electric guitars. The question is, have you attempted to commission one from Alistair?

Just asking.

[Speirsy11]

If someone made a CF version of my ES-339 I’d buy it in a heartbeat assuming they were able to make it sound like a semi-hollow should....... It would be durable, look great, stable... All the great things my acoustic CFs are.

Love the idea.

[TjthePhD]

There is an electric CF guitar and company discussed in this thread:

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...light=electric

[GuitarLuva]

I have been on and off searching for a carbon fiber electric guitar. The only ones that are available right now are outside the price range that I personally would be willing to pay. I'm constantly looking for a used CA Blade.

There certainly wouldn't be quite as large a market as acoustic guitars but I believe they would do ok as long as they're quality builds and not priced too high. I did a test just this winter, I took my least valued electric guitar and put it on the wall hanger all winter long and vowed not to touch it until the spring. Just the other day I took it down and gave it a test run. Of course it needed a truss rod adjustment. The fret ends were pointy as the fretboard shrunk a little, other than that there was no other damage. I took a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and gently went along the edges and killed 2 birds with 1 stone. By doing this it removed the sharp fret edges and also rolled the fretboard ends and now it plays like butter.

Will it shrink more in the future, I dunno. Maybe, maybe not. It would be nice to have an electric guitar that you could just leave out all year long and not worry about it getting damaged or having to set it up again.

To answer your question did I discuss an electric guitar with Alistair? No I have not. Would I be interested to purchase an Emerald electric guitar...hell yeah!

The electric nylon string X7electric that Alistair made for me is as good as it gets. I want it with slightly wider bouts in the form of an X10 thin-bodied instrument, but Alistair has been busy and, so far, has been resisting my request.

[Res Ipsa]

Evan, what is the pickup system in your nylon electric, and how is the tonal versatility plugged in? Does it sound more like an electric guitar or an amplified nylon acoustic? What amp are you using?

I still love my Blade. Always at the ready, hanging on the wall year-round. Super stable, and wonderful to play. I run it through a Blues Cube Hot these days when I want to excite the cats. Out on the porch, I often use headphones through a Boss GT1 multiprocessor so I don’t bother my neighbors. Such a versatile guitar with its Seymour Duncan pickups.

I too would love a carbon fiber ES-339.

Res;

The 7 has an active Barbera pickup. For song writing and practice, the guitar has a very nice acoustic voice. For play in the park with a number of acoustic instruments I use a small Roland. For stage work I use a Boise. The tonal characteristics are up to me. If I want to get down and nasty I run the guitar though a distortion petal. For most of my electric play the guitar sounds like a very clear acoustic instrument.

As far as which U.S. company would be most likely to produce an electric guitar--I would think Peavey would be all over it. Unfortunately, while Peavey has improved the CA line the company has not made anything new. A CF electric would a be a nice addition to the Peavey line.

[Strumalot]

There was a time when I thought I wanted a carbon fiber electric.

So I bought a Blade.

It plays well, sounds great, and nice that makes some usable sound unplugged.

The downside is, the guitar is a little unbalanced and the edge digs in if you're playing sitting down.

I guess that's why it's called the "Blade."

Also, no real weight advantage over my other electrics.

I still prefer my 1980s Strat.

As for durability, my Strat has been hanging on the wall in a room with no heat or air conditioning for over 10 years.

Still plays perfect with no additional set ups or adjustments. Just a little Gorogmyte on the fretboard twice a year.

It has fared a lot better than my CF X10N ~ kept in the same room ~ that broke.

So to answer the question, no, I haven't talked to Alistair about an electric.

The new X10, however, did inspire me to get another electric.

It's called the "Stealth," and in many ways, it is the opposite of the X10 (best explained in a separate post/thread) although it is designed to accomplish the same objectives ...



...but the short story is... it's wood, but has a neck reinforced with CF rods, it outputs class compliant 5 pin MIDI, rocks out with Seymour Duncan humbuckers, and has Graph Tech Ghost Saddles, so it can sound like an acoustic, too.

And sure, it would be nicer in all carbon fiber, but unlike a a fragile acoustic, it's really not needed.

[raysachs]

I considered and bought a CF acoustic after being well and fully sick if taking care of wooden acoustics through long dry indoor winters. I love my X7, but I’d have probably never developed any interest in it if not for the humidity issues with wooden acoustics. I’ve never had an issue with my wooden electrics leaving them out in the winter beyond a bit of fret sprout, which is easily remedied after its first winter. Maybe if I had a fully hollow electric, I’d be interested, but the semi-hollows I’ve owned have done fine.

I have a strat, a tele, and an ES 339 with P90s that I have less than a total of $3000 invested in. I love every one of them. Each plays and sounds completely unique. None of them has any problems that I’d look to carbon fiber to solve. I’ve owned $2000 - $4000 electric guitars briefly and never liked them more than marginally more than a $1000 electric that’s been pleked and well set up.

So, to me at least, having Alustair build me an expensive custom electric, while I know it would be a great instrument, is a solution to a problem I don’t have and am not looking for...

[ceciltguitar]

My 2018 X 10 nylon string guitar was originally supposed to have a thin body and the Barbera pickup. Two dozen emails and 1 year after placing the order (in May, 2017), I ended up with the new un-modified X 10 body.

Evan, have you tried the Parker Nylon Fly? It might not cost much more than what Alistair would charge for the custom job that you want. The only downside (for me) to the Fly is that the Fishman pickups were AWFUL. The RMC pickups that I had installed are MUCH better!

I still consider asking Alistair for a thin body custom X10 with Barbera pickups, but it's not on my radar for any time soon.

Cecil;

I did try a nylon fly. Oddly enough, I found it to be too light, not enough body.

I got Alistair to make a thin bodied 7, but when it came to making a thin bodied 10 we had a difference of definition. He thought "slim" and I thought "thin" and there turned out to be a significant difference. The 10 slim was more acoustic/electric than electric/acoustic. It is a sweet guitar but I already have a nylon string acoustic/electric 10.

I've approached Alistair with another try for a thin bodied electric 10 but he resists. I suppose that part of the problem is that he is really busy filling his acoustic orders.

In the meantime, I find myself playing the electric 7 over my Rainsong parlor and Emerald 10 acoustic. You can't always get what you want, but...............

[ceciltguitar]

"You can't always get what you want, but............."

Especially when what we want is a moving target..........

Cecil;

As two of his strong, long-time supporters, wanting essentially the same thing, you'd think Alistair would give us what we want. There are a few others on this forum who might also like what we like. Maybe, together, we could help Alistair move to an E-line of instruments? Or, maybe not.

[mountainmaster]

And of course there is this...