CA Cargo vs. McPherson Touring?
 

I've searched about looking for comparisons of play-ability and tone, but haven't found anything helpful.

Any intell?

Thanks,

Yohannah

Hello Yohannah, welcome to the forum and the CF sub forum. I can't sleep tonight so you get a quick response.

Here is a good video from LA Guitar Sales that will offer you a general impression of the sound differences- of course you will have to ignore the Rainsong and the Journey OF660, but the 2 guitars you are interested are sandwiched in the middle.

As far as playability, I couldn't help you there but I bet someone here has played them both

To my ears, the Mc Person blows away the other three.

There is a large gap in playability and tone IMO favoring the McPherson over the CA Cargo.

The only advantages the Cargo has over the McPherson are it is impervious to weather and humidity and is less expensive to replace if damaged or stolen on tour. However, the McPhersons are built tough and mine have never needed a neck adjustment so the gap in that area might not be that large.

Otherwise no contest IMO. However, some might say, and it could be true, that with the proper tuning of the PA system the Cargo is just as good in tone amplified. I can't say. I've only played them acoustically and they aren't in the same league there tonally to my ear.

I wouldn't mind having a Ca Cargo in my home in Thailand as I leave there and come home for 3-4 months at a time and leave a guitar there in an un-airconditioned condo. Sitting in a case at 90 degrees and 70% humidity can't be doing my SCGC Vintage Jumbo any good but I have no alternatives.

Thank you, that was exactly what I was wanting. Now to compare the Touring / Travel and the Sable.

Definitely yummy, a very helpful video.

Just FYI, there is a used kevin michael on guitar centers website going for 1299. Seems like a good price, since it lists for 2400.

I need to retract my opinion above, It might all be true but I am an idiot who did;t understand a McPherson Touring refers to a specific carbon based guitar.

Sorry.

It's OK, I figured you were assuming I was talking about comparing wood to CF. It's reasonable, since McPherson has been making amazing wood guitars for a long time, but only recently entered the CF world. I myself only recently realized they have CF models. :-)

While I do not perceive a great deal of difference between the two guitars, other than the price differential, the $1,299 makes the MacP a really good buy as long there is nothing wrong with it.

I've been playing the video back and forth, jumping to the same riffs instantly from one guitar to another using some very good quality headphones.

IMO, the Journey really holds it's own easily. I'd put it on par with any of the others---or better.

But that's where subjective preference in tone comes into play. I was impressed with the Journey in the video.

Tone perception - especially over the interweb - and verbal descriptions are iffy at best, but:

RS Parlor - boxy, small and thin sounding
KM - rich and full tone, woody, my #1 choice of the options shown :up:
Cargo - subdued, smallish "parlory" tone, but not bad overall
Journey - #2 overall in my mind, surprisingly good, a bit quiet overall :cool:

I own a Cargo gloss and have played a Rainsong Parlor once or twice in a store. I remember it sounding better than the video would suggest, FWIW.

OK, I can give a little contribution to the discussion. First, the Kevin Michaels guitar on sale for $1299.00 is at Guitar Center in Southfield,MI, 10 miles from where I live. So I stopped by there after work today. The guitar seemed in good condition, a bit of light fret wear, strings looked still quite new. But when I played I had a very different impression compared to the youtube video: the guitar sounded muddy and with no personality. More over, it was very small and the scale is quite short, so it didn't fit well my large hands. I was disappointed but may be there was something wrong with the guitar that I could not understand. If all Kevin Michael guitars sound like the one I tried today, I would not invest money, not even 1299.00, on the guitar.
Second: I purchased a Journey carbon fiber from Ted at LA Guitar Sales months ago. That guitar really sounded awesome, with a sound and tone much bigger than its size. But I returned it because the fret work was not good: strings were buzzing and the only way to stop the buzzing was to raise the saddle too much, i.e. over an average action ( higher than 6/64 E and 4/64 e). But if you find one with a good fretboard, I think it is a great bargain, considering the price of $1200.00. Finally, I played a Rainsong parlor at Huber & Breese in Fraser, MI, and a CA Cargo at Elderly in Lansing, MI. This was several months ago. I love Rainsong guitars, the parlor sounded good but not as good as the OM or the Shorty, I think it is a good guitar but perhaps a bit too expensive for the sound it produces, considering that in my very personal opinion the Journey sounds better. The CA Cargo sounded warm and "woody", although perhaps a bit muddy, but I didn't care for the same problem I had with the Kevin Michaek: a very short scale, under 23". Hope this helps !

Just to be annoying... How about 4 GS mini mahogany tops instead and just discard them as they develop problems...

To add another layer of thought, having looked at other threads in the CF pages, how concerned should we be about the lack of a tension rod in the McPherson, particularly regarding any future desire to tweak things?

I'm loving all of the responses, thank you very much.

I own an '08 Cargo since new. Apart from having previously tried a Little Martin and owned an '06 Baby Taylor (no longer have) as travel-size guitars, the Cargo is the only CF I've tried and it's far better than those two small woodies. I still have it and love it for what it is. I listened to the video and although there are some subtle differences between the four, not that much. The KM and RainSong are roughly twice the cost of the Cargo and Journey, but neither is twice the tone, imp, not even close. It really boils down to why a small guitar like these is wanted, and how much one has to spend. With these type of guitars one should not expect the best tone compared to full size guitars, but the Cargo sounds plenty fine and does hold its own among the big boys. The other smaller guitar not in the video that is worth considering at a reasonable cost is the Emerald X7.