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  #1  
Old 04-15-2017, 04:31 PM
Ted @ LA Guitar Sales Ted @ LA Guitar Sales is offline
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Default Blast from the past - Touring the old Composite Acoustics Factory

This is part one posted by Mike owner of Mac Nichols guitars, recorded in the old plant before Peavey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QbH8_GnU5k




And here is part 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqEiDJvuC2w


Last edited by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales; 04-17-2017 at 10:32 AM.
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  #2  
Old 04-15-2017, 05:39 PM
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Ed-in-Ohio Ed-in-Ohio is offline
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Great stuff! Thanks for sharing, and here is part 3:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2piX_eVSYvQ

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  #3  
Old 04-15-2017, 06:14 PM
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Ted;

Thanks for bringing this back. Michael did great service for CF guitars and it's cool that he gets remembered once in a while.
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Old 04-16-2017, 06:06 AM
Doubleneck Doubleneck is offline
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I remember these very well, kind of sad to me, great innovators can be poor businessmen and it goes down the tubes. Would be fasinating to think of what would have come out of a Ellis CA company if they held it together.
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Old 04-16-2017, 07:23 AM
rmsstrider rmsstrider is offline
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Just received my new CA LEGACY, last week.
Great guitar. Fit and finish superb, sounds like a wood guitar to me. Very balanced, plenty of base. Action a tad high, but not by much, they are sending me a low saddle to try.I didn't know they offer a tall and a low saddle. Overall very pleased. Nice to see how they are made. Thanks for sharing.
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Old 04-16-2017, 05:56 PM
SteelPastor SteelPastor is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed-in-Ohio View Post
Great stuff! Thanks for sharing, and here is part 3:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2piX_eVSYvQ

.

Oh no! You HAD TO show THIS one? The Blade (Electric)... I really want one!

.
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Old 04-17-2017, 08:48 AM
Ted @ LA Guitar Sales Ted @ LA Guitar Sales is offline
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.

Oh no! You HAD TO show THIS one? The Blade (Electric)... I really want one!

.
They are cool, glad I kept one.
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Old 04-17-2017, 11:07 AM
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I don't recall having seen these videos. Pretty cool to see behind the scenes of the old factory. I was really into what Ellis/CA was doing...loved my '08 GXi and '08 Cargo (still have the Cargo). I was read sad when they folded. Glad Peavey picked them up.

Thanks for sharing, Ted.
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Old 04-17-2017, 12:43 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doubleneck View Post
....great innovators can be poor businessmen and it goes down the tubes.......
It is exceedingly rare that one person has the technical, entrepreneurial, and business skills all in one package. Many successful businesses start out fine but at some point in the growth curve, professional business management usually has to be brought in. That can be hard for the founder to admit (or accept). In no small measure the success of Taylor has been due to Bob Taylor doing the guitar design and manufacturing part, while Kurt Listug handles the CEO part.

I'm glad to see Peavey resurrection the CA brand.
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Old 04-17-2017, 12:47 PM
Res Ipsa Res Ipsa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SteelPastor View Post
.

Oh no! You HAD TO show THIS one? The Blade (Electric)... I really want one!

.
One sold in March over at Reverb. Keep an eye out over there! Looks like one comes up for sale every few months, on average, between eBay and Reverb.

The Blade shown in that video is an early one, when they were using a removable back, before CA switched to a one-piece body.
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Old 04-17-2017, 04:35 PM
Hobo_King Hobo_King is offline
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When I was there back in 2005 or 2006 it wasn't so much a plant as a few shipping containers being used to build in. Still, they were putting out some nice guitars. Ellis is involved with McPherson now.
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Old 04-18-2017, 08:37 AM
Doubleneck Doubleneck is offline
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When I was there back in 2005 or 2006 it wasn't so much a plant as a few shipping containers being used to build in. Still, they were putting out some nice guitars. Ellis is involved with McPherson now.
After that they got investors involved and moved into a really nice facility. Only bad thing, investors eventually wanted a profit.
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Old 04-18-2017, 09:07 AM
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After that they got investors involved and moved into a really nice facility. Only bad thing, investors eventually wanted a profit.
Whoa! You mean guitar manufacturers aren't just making guitars for the sheer love of it?

Great thread - interesting to see how these are made.
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Old 04-18-2017, 09:41 AM
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Whoa! You mean guitar manufacturers aren't just making guitars for the sheer love of it?

Great thread - interesting to see how these are made.
Yes it is. I wish all the manufacturers would do something similar, but I'm sure there are proprietary processes they don't want revealed...to competitors. It causes me to wonder about the variability among builders as to how, and at what cost, they each achieve their respective outputs. We can see how elaborate and expensive the CA undertaking was/likely still is. We've heard about the cost for Rainsong to produce their molds, and limits in flexibility, so their equipment and processes must also be pretty elaborate. Then we see how flexible and relatively reasonably priced Emerald guitars are in the scheme of things, which causes me to wonder if they have developed a more streamlined, efficient approach and processes. Of course, we'll never really know for sure. I find it interesting to ponder though.
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Old 04-19-2017, 11:02 AM
Ted @ LA Guitar Sales Ted @ LA Guitar Sales is offline
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Originally Posted by Acousticado View Post
Yes it is. I wish all the manufacturers would do something similar, but I'm sure there are proprietary processes they don't want revealed...to competitors. It causes me to wonder about the variability among builders as to how, and at what cost, they each achieve their respective outputs. We can see how elaborate and expensive the CA undertaking was/likely still is. We've heard about the cost for Rainsong to produce their molds, and limits in flexibility, so their equipment and processes must also be pretty elaborate. Then we see how flexible and relatively reasonably priced Emerald guitars are in the scheme of things, which causes me to wonder if they have developed a more streamlined, efficient approach and processes. Of course, we'll never really know for sure. I find it interesting to ponder though.
Tom, with all due respect, if Emerald has developed a "more streamlined, efficient approach and processes" it sure hasn't translated to lower prices, more variety, or any measurable success for Alistair. Sadly the conversation on this sub forum is being dominated by folks loyal to Emerald, so it no longer represents reality, which is that after 15 years, Emerald is still in last place in sales, and product demand, with only two six string models available. Even Journey, a company that started building CF guitars just a few years ago, and had only one model till this year is outselling them by a good margin.

Look, I've discussed the business of building CF guitars with all the builders, including Alistair, and the general consensus is that if a builder has enough demand, and can afford them, using expensive aluminum molds is the way to go. In addition to using them, Joe at Blackbird recently started making his own aluminum molds. If there was a more efficient processes, everyone would be using it.
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