Help Me Choose a Good CF Guitar

[Merry Gentlemen]

Hi CF guitar players.

Been loitering here for a while now This is my first post.
I’m giving up on wood and crossing over to CF.
I have a few questions and hope to get some pointers from you good people.

I’m look at CF guitars that provides the following.
1. Good bass (not like Mahogany but Eastman E10D is an exception)
2. Loud
3. Separation/clarity (if I got it right)
4. Any body size but cargo, thin body or scale <24.0”
5. If anyone had replace NS or SS frets on their CF guitar, is it difficult? & do SS frets really last longer?
6. Is truss rod a must if I use .012 & .013 but sometimes down tune to as low as dropping 3 semitone?
7. Rainsong & CA seems to be using the same Fishman® Prefix Plus T. Is it that good or due to some corporate ties?
8. Rainsong’s neck are too thick? CA got it right? The tip of my middle finger to base of my palm is ~7.5”

Rainsong seems to have the most type of series from introductory to higher level: Studio/Hybrid/Classic/Concert/Black ice. If I’m looking at Dreads or WS, how do these series differs from each other in terms of acoustic in these 2 models?

I’m also contemplating on CA Legacy & GXi’s Raw or HG but don’t know the diff. Others makes and model are welcome.

I had only tried a Rainsong Classic DR1000 (not sure w or w/o N2). Well made, clean clear tone from PB strings but softer than some all solid wood guitars, say a smaller HnD CM.

Thank you all for your coming inputs so that it will help me to buy a CF guitar closer to my needs. Cheers.

[J.R. Rogers]

Hello and welcome!

I'll take stab at answering... If you're okay with short scale (24.875), I'd suggest looking at the Rainsong Shorty. The short scale makes for great playability, it's comfortable to hold, has good bass yet crystal clear highs, etc. It's plenty loud. The position of the bridge and the type of carbon top give it a full sound that is (to my ear) one of the cleanest and most pleasing CF tones. I wouldn't worry about the truss rod but it does have one. It uses NS frets, not SS frets. I have a lot of miles on my RS Shorty and the frets are holding up fine. No signs of wear. The Rainsong can be had with or without electronics if you'd like to add your own. The Fishman is ugly and grabs my hair all the time but it works fine and sounds great run through a Neve K4 (Taylor) preamp.

[Doubleneck]

Originally Posted by J.R. Rogers

The Fishman is ugly and grabs my hair all the time but it works fine and sounds great run through a Neve K4 (Taylor) preamp.

Being 63 and balding I found this sentence totally depressing, my hair doesn't even grap a comb anymore.

[mchalebk]

Originally Posted by Merry Gentlemen

If anyone had replace NS or SS frets on their CF guitar, is it difficult? & do SS frets really last longer?
.

My CA Vintage Performer was made in 2006, before CA started using SS frets. I just had the first 12 frets replaced with SS. This thread over at the MacNIchol.com forum describes the process and has some photos. SS dxefinitely last longer.

[mot]

Originally Posted by mchalebk

My CA Vintage Performer was made in 2006, before CA started using SS frets. I just had the first 12 frets replaced with SS. This thread over at the MacNIchol.com forum describes the process and has some photos. SS dxefinitely last longer.

My Emerald X20 is loud and has stainless steel frets. It is loosely in the dread class but feels smaller. I can comfortably play it sitting or standing for hours at a time. It travels great also even though I only have it in a soft case. The wait time for Emerald is longish if you order new. You can find a few of them floating around at a reasonable price. I have found mine to be a very versatile guitar, but the Emerald guitars don't look very traditional.

If you want more traditional looks you should consider the Blackbird Lucky 13 (think of a vintage Gibson but with 21st century technology) or maybe one of the Rainsong or CA models. The Lucky 13 is more of a blues guitar with a 24.75" scale and stainless steel frets. Rainsong still uses softer frets and you can read above about CA. I would almost always recommend getting an acoustic only and then putting in a pickup later. There are a lot of great options for pickups these days.

I spent a year looking at options before ordering the X20. I just got through with 6 months of research before ordering my second CF guitar.

One more thought is that CF guitars tend to be very consistent for identical models. If you find one you like at a store or in your friend's house, you can be fairly confident you can order the same model and get the same feel and same sound you heard on the one you played. Of course definitions and building practices change with time. Also caveat lector as these are my two cents and you should check other sources before going off anything I say.

[Merry Gentlemen]

Thanks for the f/b and the hairy story
I think this guitar forum might be having the most ‘traffic’ in the www if I ‘Ani’t see nothing yet’.

Since this will be my first CF guitar, I think I will look at Studio, Hybrid (Rainsong) & Raw (CA) series instead of getting a higher series or am I missing something?

BTW J.R. is it a SG or SFT shorty?

http://www.rainsong.com/models/shortysub.asp


Thank you once again for the f/b.

[J.R. Rogers]

Originally Posted by Merry Gentlemen

Since this will be my first CF guitar, I think I will look at Studio, Hybrid (Rainsong) & Raw (CA) series instead of getting a higher series or am I missing something?

BTW J.R. is it a SG or SFT shorty?

http://www.rainsong.com/models/shortysub.asp

The SG is the one I have. The fine texture finish (SFT) kind of makes noise as you move the guitar or move your arm across the top. This doesn't bother some people but just be aware...

JR

[AZLiberty]

My shorty is a Fine Texture. If I had to do it again I would probably go gloss. I was expecting a finish more like Larrivee's matte finish but it's quite a bit rougher.

Ordered mine without electronics and added a K&K pure mini. I'd have gone with the Fishman if the Matrix infinity were an option instead of the Prefix Plus since I don't like big barn doors in my guitars.

In size the shorty is very close to an OM:



It is somewhat thinner though. Doesn't look like much in a photo but it feels much thinner due to the taper:

[Earl49]

One thing to keep in mind: CF material and molds are expensive enough that no one is going to waste that effort on a sub standard instrument. They will differ from brand to brand (design approach) but will all be pretty good, and consistent from example to example. I would feel pretty good about ordering sight unseen, not something I would do with wood, regardless of brand.

I love my Rainsongs, and wish I had grabbed a WS 3000 (12 string) while they were still in production.

[Merry Gentlemen]

Thanks Earl49 & AZLiberty.
I don’t know Rainsong use to makes 12 strings. I’m having shorter playing time with my FG720S-12. It’s only good for strumming but narrow for finger or flatpick. Will KIV of it.

Thanks for the pic, AZLiberty. Now I know how tall the Shorty is. Good updated here. But I’m sure I heard a voice when they first appear on the screen, something like, “…Get back to the house Larry, them sunbeam’s gonna melt you down and you’ll never gonna get a tan like mine”.

Ok now, guess I tuning down to 2 makes, 4 models.
Not in order of priorities:
• Rainsong WS1000N2
• Rainsong DR1000N2
• CA Legacy
• CA GXi or Gx

I can do with cutaway or not cutaway. No doubt the cutaway looks better when taking pics or selfie . But I’m not sure to just stick to the Studio/Raw, Hybrid/HG or another class higher

1 more question.

https://www.google.com.sg/search?q=r...w=1155&bih=622

The offset sound hole is not reflected on the main website. Like the CA’s GXi, do it have more bass?

Thanks again guys.

[mot]

Offsets sound like they have more bass from the player's perspective definitely. I think the audience hears more too, but I haven't effectively measured it with like models in a blind test. I am only guessing from listening to same tune played on similar instruments with traditional sound hole versus offset. In an attempted blind test it sounded like more bass, but I knew from the sound which guitar was which, so the opinions collected were likely biased.

[Merry Gentlemen]

Thank You 'mot' and all you good people for the f/b.
Was lurking again before I pull the trigger on 1 of the 2 above make and happen to dig this out...

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=270448

post#7 is quite worrying, and I thought CA had some kinda bracing to tune the tone and to keep the body being pulled up? Still, I’m more incline towards the CA though I never tested one before.

Over the weekend, I tested a few Rainsongs Classic Series OM and WS1000N2, a Palor and a Shorty (not sure what Series) and one thing I notice was, the carbon fabric inside these guitars still look & feel very ‘bare’ and when I use my index to get a feel of it, I’m not sure but I think I can feel some very small movement on the weaves, but I’m very sure that the inside a pre-owned, on consignment, green Emerald that I tested last year do not have such fresh looking fibre inside it. The look and feel on the inside of the Emerald is covered with some non-reflective enamel(?) therefore making the fibre fabric inside not so ‘real’ or bare but you still can see the weave of the fabrics. Also, I think those Rainsongs have noticeable pieces of small, long strips of fabrics glued along the inside of the back and side joining. I did not take note of this in the Emerald and like I said, I had not tested a CA before.

The different inside finish of the Rainsong and the Emerald, do they have any impact on the acoustic value of the guitars?
Will it be messy after drilling on the inside of a 1100 if I intent to have amplification later?

Hope to learn from you folks about the inside fabric texture and the truss rod thingy of CF guitars.

Thanks in advance.