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Old 07-01-2016, 02:01 PM
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Mbroady Mbroady is offline
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Default How many did you try before you decided to buy

And, which ones did you try, and......which one did you wind up with and why

I like my Rainsong Hybrid but after tying a Composite Acoustics GX i am gassing for a change
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Old 07-01-2016, 05:19 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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I was fortunate enough to have several Rainsong's to try at my local store in Anchorage years ago. In the land of 10-20% RH indoors in the winter - with room humidifiers running all the time - carbon fiber was the only guitar that could live outside of a case and survive. Some RS in that store were original Maui models with unidirectional tops and were $3500+. While I was interested and impressed, that was more than I was willing to spend in the early 1990's, despite it being a great guitar. (That particular guitar sat in that shop for 7-8 years). I also got to play a couple of Ovation Adamas models there.

Ultimately we made a trip to visit family in Michigan and that included the obligatory side trip to Elderly Instruments in Lansing. There I tried a couple of OM-1000's and in the final round chose between the four WS-1000's on hand to get ours. The choice between the OM and the WS was fairly easy - the WS had a bigger and bolder sound, as expected from a deeper body. The OM was more balanced and not quite as loud. The tonal parallels were pretty close to my Martin J-40 jumbo (0000 size, dreadnought depth) and the 000-28 in terms of differential tone.

Choosing among the four WS-1000 examples was hard. They were all stellar, sounding fine and playing very well (like butter as the saying goes). One was rejected due to a minor visual flaw in the CF cloth lay-up in the cutaway. Then it was random blind testing of the other three to choose which one to buy. But any of the four would have been wonderful. They all sounded consistently great and had similar action and playing feel. I would not hesitate to buy a Rainsong sight-unseen, and I don't say that about many guitars.

I've also have had the opportunity to try several CA guitars, both the originals and Peavey versions. They are quite nice too. The necks are a thin Taylor-like profile, which I like. And their tone is very much like my Rainsong.

Recently I was able to test drive all of the Blackbird guitars and ukulele at a festival in Reno. Without question, the next guitar to come into the house will be a Lucky 13. The El Capitan was quite Taylor-like in tone and looks very much like wood, but is still a composite material so impervious to humidity. It is a fine, fine guitar but I already have several Taylor's so it would duplicate things in my collection. Lucky 13 will add a small body to the herd, something I don't have now. I have a minor goal of gradually transitioning to all-CF guitars, to avoid having to be so careful about humidity and temperature concerns.

Hope my long-winded essay helps you.
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Old 07-01-2016, 05:31 PM
SpruceTop SpruceTop is offline
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Back in 2006, the first RainSong I ever auditioned, I bought it!
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Old 07-01-2016, 05:41 PM
AZLiberty AZLiberty is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mbroady View Post
And, which ones did you try, and......which one did you wind up with and why
Zero. I bought blind. In spite of the fact that Phoenix ought to be a veritable Mecca for CF instruments, nobody actually seems to carry any.
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  #5  
Old 07-01-2016, 05:47 PM
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Acousticado Acousticado is offline
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I didn't try any before buying.

I have owned three CF guitars...an '08 CA Cargo bought new sight unseen, still have it and enjoy it. An '08 CA GXi bought new sight unseen. I quite liked it, but sold it to help fund my '14 Emerald Chimaera 6/12 Doubleneck, bought sight unseen. I love this guitar. Very fun, where despite two necks it is very low-profile, light weight for what it is. I have closely followed CF discussions since about '07, so based on user reviews of the various builders and models, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another without having tried one if I have a want/need. It's been a good experience for me.
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'21 Martin D-18 Standard | '02 Taylor 814c | '18 Taylor 214ceDLX | '18 Taylor 150e-12 | '78 Ibanez Dread (First acoustic) | '08 CA Cargo | '02 Fender Strat American '57 RI
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Old 07-01-2016, 06:05 PM
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CA Cargo
CA Ox
Emerald X10N
Blackbird nylon Rider
Blackbird Super OMN
Blackbird Uke
Peavey Cargo, white, K&N, great instrument!
Rainsong nylon parlor--kept
Emerald X10-OSN--kept
waiting for Journey to get to the foldable nylon strung guitar.

This is so fun! I generally buy high and sell low, but I've found with the CF guitars that I can resell at a level that leaves me with the cost of rent. As you can see, I've rented quite a few CF guitars.
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Old 07-01-2016, 09:55 PM
JerryM JerryM is offline
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Went in dumb and blind on faith....after worry about RV travel and my expensive guitars.
Watched a bunch of YouTube reviews and forums etc. and settled on the Blackbird Lucky 13, got it from LA Guitar Sales.
Took me aback a bit how easy it was to play and how much bass booms out of this thing,,more Martin D sounding in dome ways, also love the pickup.
Went back and forth for a couple weeks as to keep it or not because I have been playing wood guitars for forty plus years. Almost in a way,( this will sound weird) made me mad that this 2k guitar was outperforming my 4k Martin for playability and volume. But it is not as pretty to be sure.
Now I've sold the Martin and this guitar has grown on me in many ways, but still not as pretty as wood........
I would describe the neck as Taylor like, one HUGE plus is the 13 fret neck with NO HEEL!!! Don't need a cut with this puppy..
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Old 07-02-2016, 03:35 AM
Fixedgear60 Fixedgear60 is offline
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Hard to keep track given the road trips that Micheal used to sponsor. But here is a list of what I remember:

Emerald Guitars
* 2 X5os (k&K & b-band)
* x7os woody (b-band)
* Amicus (K&K)

Peavey
* Cargo Raw with elec (the guitar that started it all for me)
* OX (elec)

Blackbird
* Steel Ryder(elec)
* L13 (K&K)
* BTU (K&K) Kept
* Clara (K&K)

Rainsong
* Steel p12 (elec)
* Nylon p12 (elec) Kept
* Shorty (elec) Kept

McPhearson
* 2KM(elec)

After all these years I have paired it down to just two keepers Shorty & p12 nylon (named Evan)... thought I had it down to just one until nylon string entered my world through my BTU uke...
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Old 07-02-2016, 03:54 AM
Kalani Kalani is offline
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As soon as I tried the CA Cargo (5/6 years ago) I bought it (and still have it and doubt I'll ever sell it). Friend just bought a used CA GX and can't stop raving about it. May have to check it out!
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Old 07-02-2016, 08:52 AM
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Fixed:

Wow! You have had a lot of rentals. Given your naming of the Parlor, I think I'll name my Parlor "Fixed."
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Old 07-02-2016, 09:05 AM
Ted @ LA Guitar Sales Ted @ LA Guitar Sales is offline
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After one of Martins suffered a crack in out vacation home in the local mountains due to the low humidity, I went to GC to try a Rainsong. Loved the guitar, so I bought it. That was almost 20 years ago, and although I have tried everything out there since, I still think the Rainsong OM would be an outstanding choice for anyone looking for a go anywhere, leave anywhere, play anywhere acoustic.

BTW, the second CF I bought for myself was the Blackbird Rider, bought it without trying one first, and it turned out to be a very good decision.
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Old 07-02-2016, 09:44 AM
steelvibe steelvibe is offline
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After extensively researching different CF guitars online and the benefits of owning a CF guitar my interest was piqued. It was harder than I anticipated to find one though, and I never got around to participating in any of Macnichol's Road Shows. None of the local GCs had CF of any make or model in stock and there were really no independent/ authorized dealers nearby. Had the opportunity arisen to try different guitars it would have certainly made my buying decision harder.

However, based upon the specs and the Acoustic Guitar Magazine video on the Rainsong Shorty I knew I had to try one. Even though the video quality is only 360p (it is a 4 year old video now), the tone Teja Gerkin was getting out of that guitar literally captivated me. Then I saw Jarvis of Gutiar Spa's video and that was it- I had to get my hands on the Shorty. I've only ever tried a Classic Rainsong JM-1000, and while impressive I was still attracted to the tone and body size of the Shorty. I bought the Shorty.
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Old 07-02-2016, 10:10 AM
6L6 6L6 is offline
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Back in '97 I had just sold off some of my Lionel Train collection and had the cash to buy something really nice. I went looking for a D-45 Martin.

My job at the time had me traveling all over the USA and I always had time to burn. SO... I'd find the local guitar shops and must have played at least a dozen D-45's and D-45V's before finding this '97 D-45V right in my back yard at Gryphon.



Until my 2014 Collings D2HA came along, this was my #1.

I actually prefer the block inlays of a D-45 over the snowflakes of the D-45V. Yep, I'd wanted one ever since the early days of CSN&Y. However, the FSSB on the D-45V gave a tone advantage over the D-45 that my ears could not deny.

My D-45V is K&K Pure Mini-equipped and, like all of my guitars, gets played out regularly.
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Old 07-02-2016, 10:19 AM
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Acousticado Acousticado is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 6L6 View Post
Back in '97 I had just sold off some of my Lionel Train collection and had the cash to buy something really nice. I went looking for a D-45 Martin.

My job at the time had me traveling all over the USA and I always had time to burn. SO... I'd find the local guitar shops and must have played at least a dozen D-45's and D-45V's before finding this '97 D-45V right in my back yard at Gryphon.

Until my 2014 Collings D2HA came along, this was my #1.

I actually prefer the block inlays of a D-45 over the snowflakes of the D-45V. Yep, I'd wanted one ever since the early days of CSN&Y. However, the FSSB on the D-45V gave a tone advantage over the D-45 that my ears could not deny.

My D-45V is K&K Pure Mini-equipped and, like all of my guitars, gets played out regularly.
Very nice Martin. I'm sure the Collings is too. I'm trying to find the CF content though...coming up empty. Perhaps you're in the wrong sub-forum? I bet you stumbled in here from the "Today on the AGF" link. It happens. Stick around...you'll be lured into CF GAS.
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'21 Martin D-18 Standard | '02 Taylor 814c | '18 Taylor 214ceDLX | '18 Taylor 150e-12 | '78 Ibanez Dread (First acoustic) | '08 CA Cargo | '02 Fender Strat American '57 RI
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  #15  
Old 07-02-2016, 12:55 PM
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Kupuna50 Kupuna50 is offline
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Just bought my 4th Cargo. to go with my wine red GXi.
Only have one Cargo left as I offered the other three to my kids.
When tonally compared to an upscale wood guitar, they are a bit harsh, but not enough to keep one away.
They are excellent travel, beach and camp fire guitars. Good for recording too!
I'm sold!
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