Has carbon fiber ruined you for wood guitars?
 

On a recent post about innovation someone posted that Carbon Fiber guitars have caused him to loose all interest in wood ones. I never really thought about this given I have and had some nice wood guitars and simply love the look of figured wood like koa. A full koa was a ebay search for me for quite a while but to be honest now I really have lost all interest in wood guitars. Gave my 1939 Gibson J100 Centennial to my son last year for Christmas. He was thrilled but I never played it anymore. I guess I am one that is having trouble going both ways as well.

No. Not even close.

Ed

Ed curious what Carbons you have tried and what is your favorite guitar?

CA and Rainsong. There have been a couple Rainsongs that sounded ok, actually at least one sounded very good but for the money there were wood guitars that I prefer the sound of.

I'm not saying they sound bad, just that (for the most part) they don't produce a sound that is useful to me. I don't own a bunch of 80s synthesizers for the same reason.

Ed

Short answer: No.

I have a Rainsong Shorty that I bought for durability and a "good" sound. But for pure tone I always go for one of my Martins.

For a guitar that I can leave laying around, out of its case 24/7or take to camp, (and that I don't might the tone of) I always leave the Rainsong out...

But it has no way ruined me for the sound of some wood guitars.

My favorite guitar of all time is a Martin D-18 Authentic I played at the Martin factory. Even my near tone deaf sister could pick it out as the good one among the ones I played that day. I don't think my CO-DR challenges it for tone, but I do think it matches it for volume and beats it for play-ability, with a competitive tone for its price class. I could never claim graphite competes with wood for aesthetics. I have definitely gotten used to carrying my four pound RainSong around in a light gig bag and leaving it in the car with no cares. As for the extra tone and aesthetic appeal great wood can provide, I would rather have the peace of mind. Everyone will see this trade-off differently. I would even replace my Les Paul if someone came out with a light weight graphite competitor for approximately $1K (I bought and returned a CA Blade; ugly and heavy). Jon

My visual appeal used to be to that Gibson burst J45. To me loved that look. Now I actually even prefer the Emerald for looks, in the sun it is so cool. I really do need to seek professional help!

Ed, sounds like you don't own any CF guitars yet. I don't think the original post is really aimed towards people who haven't taken the plunge. In reality, it's pretty hard to imagine someone deciding they didn't want any wood guitars when they don't even like CF guitars.

In my case, the answer is pretty much yes, at least when it comes to steel string acoustics. While I love the look and sound of wood, I just got tired of worrying about maintenance and care. I had various guitars crack and I had one get its headstock snapped off. With CF, I don't have to worry.

Furthermore, my CA Vintage Performer (vintage voiced dread) and my new CA GX sound as good (to my ear) as most wood guitars I've played (okay, not as good as that D-18GE I fell in love with, but as good as or better than most others).

I have a hard time picturing getting rid of my all rosewood Telecaster, though, and my wood electric basses still get the job done just fine (and don't require any serious care or maintenance). I could see selling my wood classical and replacing it with a CF nylon string guitar, but probably not real soon.

As much as I enjoy carbons I would not give up wood guitars to be exclusively carbon.....my favorite guitars for sound are my Two Taylors and my Breedlove. The carbons are a different tone I like but am not willing to sacrifice wood for.

I actually just came back from McCabes, working my way round the shop, trying various guitars. I have a CA GX, and once I found the right strings for it, I would still prefer it over many wooden guitars, particularly as an all rounder. But every now and then, like the mahogany O Collings I tried today, or the Santa Cruz 1929 - well, they are amazing and I would love to have one. But I'd be too scared to take them anywhere. If I could afford one guitar for blues, one for jazz, another for bluegrass, another for DADGAD, and so on, maybe I'd feel differently!

I would say that practically speaking, it COULD ruin me for other guitars. I really enjoy the tone, playability, and indestructibility of my Rainsong H-OM1100N2. It's got, and it does everything that I want/need a guitar to do. I could easily have this as my one and only. Unfortunately, GAS is a fickle and unpredictable mistress...

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...0/IMG_2670.jpg

I have one of the Rainsong Shortie "forum" that Ted had custom built.

I really like it, it's lightweight, sturdy, travels well and sounds good. However for pure tone I still reach for my Larrivee:

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...ainsong001.jpg

I love my Rainsong DR-1100. I would never sell it. It has a sound no wood guitar has....that being said, I still prefer wooden guitars, and they are my goto guitars, Particularly Mahogany and Rosewoods.

Nope, but the CA Cargo I have over here in Afghanistan is a great guitar to have.

I'm not even sure I've ever played one. Will have to do some research. But I'm bringing with me woodism. I'm a woodist. That doesn't sound quite right.