Carbon fiber guitars and the future

[rgregg48]

Im glad they are developing Carbon fiber guitars, whether they be
Rainsong, Legacy or whatever.
Wood will someday be a rare comodity and and "non wood" instruments
will be a necessity.
It might make for some interesting posts,, example.

"my custom guitar features "Mastergrade stumpwood"
" genuine solid laminated back and sides"
" I attended Taylorstock 4, and Bob Taylor helped me select the fiberglass personally"
" This guitar features pre iraqi war fibreglass, which has aged in"

im sure y'all can come up with other interesting variations.
Rick

[For Him]

Originally Posted by rgregg48

Im glad they are developing Carbon fiber guitars, whether they be
Rainsong, Legacy or whatever.
Wood will someday be a rare comodity and and "non wood" instruments
will be a necessity.
It might make for some interesting posts,, example.

"my custom guitar features "Mastergrade stumpwood"
" genuine solid laminated back and sides"
" I attended Taylorstock 4, and Bob Taylor helped me select the fiberglass personally"
" This guitar features pre iraqi war fibreglass, which has aged in"

im sure y'all can come up with other interesting variations.
Rick

did you eat too much pizza before you went to bed last night????

[jastevens]

"Beautifully Flamed Brazilian carbon fiber back w/ stainless steel binding and silicon cindy inlay".

Could do great things for consistency though... I mean how much different could two sheets of carbon fiber sound anyway?

[jhchang]

Originally Posted by jastevens

"Beautifully Flamed Brazilian carbon fiber back w/ stainless steel binding and silicon cindy inlay".

Could do great things for consistency though... I mean how much different could two sheets of carbon fiber sound anyway?

I'd bet that'd be VERY expensive!!

[jalbert]

Some more variations, which are already happening:

Martin DXK2 has a "Koa wood pattern HPL textured finish": http://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/...hp?p=pl&m=DXK2.

I've also heard about using reclaimed wood. That is, what once used to be a piece of furniture is turned into back and sides of a guitar.

[JasonA]

Originally Posted by jhchang

I'd bet that'd be VERY expensive!!

I don't know about the other options, but I hear that silicone cindy can charge a lot! Wait... what were we talking about?

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by jastevens

"Beautifully Flamed Brazilian carbon fiber back w/ stainless steel binding and silicon cindy inlay".

Could do great things for consistency though... I mean how much different could two sheets of carbon fiber sound anyway?

According to this page on the CA Guitars website, pure carbon tends to sound "metallic and harsh". Its the addition of "other advanced composites" that makes it sound like wood.
http://www.caguitars.com/HTML/pg20-0.html

How alike two sheets of composite material will sound will depend on how similar the compositions and dimensions of the material are. I image that they could be designed to sound very similar, or noticably different, depending on the manufacturer's intent.

At any rate, I suspect that it *is* easier to maintain tonal consistancy with composite materials than with wood. Its also possible, though, to create more tonal variety, if that's the goal - by changing the composition of the material and/or shaping the guitar in ways that would be impossible (or at least impractical) with wood.

Check out the CA Guitars X model. You can download the specs off this page.
http://www.caguitars.com/HTML/pg21-5.html

Shoreline's John Fowler (who played the X model at the winter NAMM) is predicting that it will become Shoreline's best selling model from CA Guitars. That certainly gets my attention.


Gary

[JasonA]

If they put a decent sized nut width on that X model, I'd be very interested.

[jeffrey]

I played a few of those Rainsong guitars.

I was pleasantly surprised.

Nice guitars with a great neck. At least you know it'd always be straight.

[SearedAhi]

Originally Posted by JasonA

If they put a decent sized nut width on that X model, I'd be very interested.

1 11/16" neck@nut isn't decent? Don't most steel string acoustics come with 1 11/16" as standard?

[JasonA]

Nearly all cheap ones have 1-11/16, and most dreads. But nearly all OM sized guitars, like the X is, come with 1-3/4. At least the ones from Martin, Taylor, Larrivee, etc., etc. There are, of course, those who prefer the narrower neck. But most fingerpickers, who are typically the ones who want the smaller sized guitars, don't.

[jeffrey]

I like wider necks too, thanks to my big stupid hands (emphasis on stupid).

[LOTF]

I'll just hold onto my solid wood guitars, thank you. Carbon fiber might sound just fine but it just doesn't have soul. I know, that's subjective but so is all art.

[bigsbee]

How good are you??????

Bigsbee

It ain't the meat it's the motion.....

[Pat]

I'm predicting that once the word gets out more about CA Guitars the company will become one of the biggest USA guitar making companies out there!!
These guitars are AWESOME!! Rainsongs don't even compare to CA Guitars.
I have a CA Legacy AE and it sounds like a REALLY nice, vintage acoustic, wood guitar! CA doesn't do much advertising but they make incredible instruments.
I actually think my Legacy AE sounds better than most high end wood guitars and it's basically indestructible. If you think I'm nuts, find a dealer and try one out for yourself. Take your wallet though, you'll probably want to buy one on the spot.
I'm not knocking great wood guitars or anything but in my opinion it doesn't make sense to spend a lot of money on a wooden guitar that could easily get damaged in travel or need adjusted constantly if you gig, when there are guitars that sound as good or better and are indestructible.
Check them out for yourself
www.caguitars.com