narrow-mindedness about CF guitars at folk clubs?
 

Has anybody ever run into this from the management, people in the audience, other players at festivals, etc?

Nope... only when I play AC/DC...;-)

Folk audiences are very traditional. Ask Bob Dylan.

Bob

Never. Then again for me a lot of that is because I play custom woody Emeralds. No matter where I go, other guitarists can't stop talking about, asking about, touching, playing, taking pictures of my guitars!

Conversely, when I take out my beautiful, custom shop Martin, no ever says anything about it. Ever.

I often play with Blue Grassers and have been seeing a change. Many years ago it seemed like Martin was THE guitar of choice. And then other wooden brands, like Taylor, began to sneak in. And then there was an occasional Rainsong. My CF guitars were first accepted, but barely. Now people are asking to try them out. Just to be really radical I've been bringing my electric 7 woody to various group plays and there is general interest and acceptance. Times they are a changing.

Would most folks know the difference? (I'm talking patrons, not guitar players. We all know the guitar players will notice the guitar, the pick, your brand of strap, and judge you by all of the above)

I have not experienced any backlash. Mostly I let my playing and singing speak for themselves.

My Rainsong has seen many festivals and guitar camps around Alaska, Hawaii, and later Idaho. I chose that one for its stability of tuning, lack of delicacy while traveling and camping, the fact that it plays well and sounds so darned good both acoustically and on stage. If someone gets close enough to realize there is something unusual about that "black guitar", they typically become curious more than offended.

But I also avoid the Bluegrass Police in general, even though my background is there. Pete Huttlinger once told me a story about a pro musician friend of his who had briefly played with Bill Monroe's band. His friend threw in a Bob Wills western swing style G6 chord during rehearsal. When the song ended old Bill said, "Son, show me that chord again" and then growled, "That chord does NOT appear in ANY of my songs". Sheesh.

I'm not sure- times are a changin'. I haven't had anyone thumb their nose at me at a jam but have been asked about my interesting guitar. Good news is that if you decide to take your CF to a jam you can tell who the narrow minded are and just stay clear of them. They look like this


https://i.imgur.com/yHeh059.png

Love your replies. Thanks a bunch.:)

I get some curious looks, then nice comments on the sound, then questions about the guitar's construction. It makes for interesting conversation, but nobody says anything, especially after they hear it. Maybe they're surprised it sounds like a guitar? Wuh-evuh!

Normally folks want to play it. Then when they feel the weight (or lack of weight) they are full of questions about the space age guitar.

I've never played a folk club. While traveling, I let my wife talk me into doing a "jam session" at an RV park. It was odd, to say the least: a trombone player, an accordion player, a woman singing along with a cassette tape, and a cowboy poet. At the last minute another guitar player and his singing wife showed up. When I think of a "jam session" it has always been playing together - this turned out to be more of a "round robin open mic."

A few months later, still traveling, and another park with a scheduled jam session. The lady at the check-in desk told my wife, "there is a band - they play all kinds of popular music, and other people join in. Your husband will love it!" This was in Branson, MO.

It was 3 guys playing seriously old-timey country music. And, an ex rock 'n roller with a carbon fiber guitar. A guy on drums, a guy with a Telecaster, and a guy playing an early Taylor dread. C-F-G... sometimes they would be wild and crazy and do A-D-E. They let me plug into the PA... there were a couple "What kinda guitar is that?" questions, but plenty of "that sounds good" comments, too.

When they asked what I liked to play, I said, "Mostly classic rock 'n roll."

"You mean like Elvis?"

"Well, more like The Beatles, Van Morrison, The Eagles, or some Jimmy Buffett?"

There was mutual respect; I gave their music a try as they did with mine. Turns out people from different music backgrounds can peacefully co-exist... even enjoy playing together.

Folk-types aren't like that? ;)

Captain, this is great. You sure know how to spin a tale. I felt like I was "on the road with captain Jim" and lookng over your shoulder.

All my gigs are piano/keyboard.... but I always have a CF guitar on a stand in plain sight to see if anyone notices and sometimes some one actual asks about it. When I get a little pianoed out I’ll do a few things on guitar or if a buddy shows up ill jam some blues on guitar with him.
My friend Gal, who is in most of my videos , shredding and cool chords always call CF and eKoa plastic guitars... he really wants to try a CF nylon as does my friend Michael V who also is in my videos. Both of those guys use nylon stringers lately in solo gigs.

Harummpph. If they call our CF instruments "plastic guitars", I would counter with a comment about them using "plastic strings". :rolleyes: