Deciding if I should get a Carbon Fiber Acoustic
 

I bought a Martin D-18 last summer as my first acoustic. I really enjoy the sound of it. I was looking into carbon fiber acoustics before I decided on the D-18 and now I'm looking into carbon fiber again.

I really love the idea & look of many of the CF acoustics but it's really hard to get a good idea of how they sound when strummed with a pick. Many of the reviews on Youtube are done by finger-pickers. Why is that? The guitars I've looked at are the Blackbird Super OM, CA OX, the Emerald X20, & the Rainsong WS1000. The few reviews I've seen where the player is using a pick sound very bright and nasally which I'm not a fan of. One review of the Rainsong WS1000 described it as being a "warm-sounding" guitar which I didn't agree with at all.

I know carbon fibers have a different sound but are they all like this? Will different strings make them sound more "woody"? I know the best thing to do is to play them but there aren't any around here and I'm not going order them & return them just to try them out.

I didn't buy my Rainsong Shorty because of the sound, but because I needed a guitar that would hold up better to temperature and humidity changes better with out me having to worry about it as much.

The sound quality (and feel of the guitar) was very acceptable to me, mine is a smaller body "Shorty" style 12 fret to the body guitar. They make bigger deeper bodies that do have more bass response than the shorty, but in the end, although it is going to sound guitar-like, it'll just never have the nuances of that "wood sound" from a high end acoustic guitar like your Martin.

For me, that was a trade off/compromise I was more than willing to make.

If there is a song you would like me to strum and record for you on my Shorty, just "name that tune!"

I have several carbon fiber guitars. I appreciate a traditional wood guitar as much as the next guy, but am not a wood snob. There were no dealers near me to try, so I bought a bunch of different models to try. I had the newer Martin D18 model and actually like some of my CF guitars better.

I'll be selling a few guitars, to include some of the carbon fiber ones. I should post a youtube video comparing them.

Of the CF guitars, I'll be selling:
Rainsong WS-1000
Rainsong Parlor P12
Carbon Acoustics Gx

I have only played the above two brands of CF guitars. Rainsong is hard to beat. The quality, sound, and playability are awesome.

That's exactly what I did, except for the return part.

I just picked up an Emerald X20 Artist and so far I really like it. I'm surprised by just how much it sounds like a wood acoustic. I only play fingerstyle and strum with my thumb when I need to. I will eventually make a couple video clips for the NGD thread I'll do in a few weeks once I've put it through it's paces. I can strum a few times with a pick, I guess but it only sounds so good through the cell phone camera I record with.

There are many videos on You Tube of the various CF guitars. There must be some with pics. But unless they were done professionally the sound will be mediocre at best. I want to say there were some decent X20 videos out there where they picked. My X20 has a ton of low end (bass). So much so in fact that I've had to really back off on the bass when amplifying. And the body is not that big. Probably somewhere between an 00 and 000 size.

Just pick one up used here on AGF for a good price and that way if you don't like it, you can flip it and get your money back. I've done this the past two years and AGF and I've bought, sold and/or traded some great guitars with some great people. It was a great experience each and every time, I've never lost money because I do my homework and make sure I'm getting a good deal.

Where are you located? If you're close to me you can come play my X20!

I play both of my CF guitars with a pick; great tone, not nasal at all. I've got some very nice wooden guitars and I am not disappointed when I choose to pull out one of the CF's. They have their own, different voices, but still quite satisfying; and so liberating. No worry about leaving it in, or leaning against, the car, winter or summer, for a few hours before its time to play. A luthier friend of mine picked up my CA one day, played a few runs and said "it's just not right that a guitar of man-made materials feels and sounds this good".

There weren't any CF guitars near me either. I was looking for a very specific, hard to find, big name, wooden guitar at the time and drove almost 400 miles (each way) to try one. It didn't work for me so I played everything else that they had. I wasn't looking for a CF guitar and was biased against them by much of what I had read on here about "plastic" guitars being extremely bright. To make a long story short, the moment I picked up a Rainsong P12 I knew I had found the guitar I had been seeking. It's been six months now and my other guitars are getting neglected and I'm selling off most of them. I play the Rainsong every day.
My point is that I strongly recommend doing whatever it takes to visit a well stocked store and play the guitars. You might be surprised by which one speaks to you and by the assumptions you can debunk. It will be gas money well spent.

Another RainSong Shorty owner here. I bought it for the traveling aspects (going back and forth from the desert to living on the water), but quickly found I really enjoy the sound. I have 4 Taylors, so some might say I like a brighter sound... but the Shorty has its own crisp sound. I sure don't find it "nasally," but it is different from my 814ce or my 522ce 12-fret (all mahogany). I heard it described as piano-like, and I sure agree with that.

Since getting it, the Shorty is the guitar I use most for playing out. Great balance from highs to lows.

I would say I have forgotten about the easy care, but we are currently in the desert (Arizona) for a couple months; the Shorty is along.

I have played some wood guitars that I didn't like the sound of... but that didn't affect my opinion of other wood guitars. I have heard some CF guitars that are too treble-ly (is that a word?) for my tastes. The Shorty isn't one of those.

Good luck with the search.

Jim

Whoops. I'm in Long Island New York. I need to enter my location. I thought I did that when I registered :hmm:

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I'll look for more reviews and sound clips.

The Rainsongs I've played have all sounded great as does the CA GX that I own and am thoroughly happy with. I think Carbons generally speaking have a very full and rich sound -- and remember that different strings, by the way, can make a significant difference on CFs, just as on wood guitars, IMO. Also just bought a Blackbird Rider steel. Carbon, wood, whatever -- they're all good in my book!

While I can't speak on most CF guitars I do own a RainSong Shorty. Videos and written reviews were the only tools I had to help me decide on what I was looking for in a CF. I would not, however, trust a video to give me an accurate reading of an acoustic guitar's tone. Many times these instruments are demo'd in noisy circumstances, or even worse, through the guitar's electronics package. So many guitars are demonstrated this way on you tube and many times they are via a piezoelectric UST- not the best way to get an idea of the tone of any given guitar. All piezos sound the same regardless of the fact it could be on a $100 or $1000 guitar, whether carbon fiber or wood.

The tone on the Shorty is out of the box incredible. Is it complex wood tone? No. Does it sound pure and clean in its own way? Yes. It reminds me of a piano- not nasally or harsh but bright glassy trebles, somewhat diminished bass response and luscious mids Will it age tonally like my Breedlove? No. Can I leave my Breedlove in a hot car or in freezing cold. No. Pros and cons.

Aesthetically I can appreciate guitars in both camps but admire wooden varieties more. Enjoy the hunt. I predict that once you get to finally play a CF you will eventually own one. :D

I have three carbon fiber guitars. A rainsong ws-1000, a ca cargo and an alpaca that's actually for sale.
My rainsong is a 2006 model and is heavier than the current ones and imho sounds great for strumming and fine for picking, but you don't really buy a carbon fiber one for sound, you buy them so you have a guitar you can travel with, play in in sun, rain,snow... keep in the trunk of you car, etc.
And you can leave it out on a stand all year long with no worries about humidity. If you want that, then get a carbon fiber guitar.

Yeah I was watching a review of the Rainsong S-WS1000N2 and the guy was plugged in the whole time. If the player is plugged in the whole time or playing finger-style then I just look for another video. I don't even want electronics.

I hear you. I hate USTs and will never buy another guitar again that has barn door electronics. USTs are better if you combine them with another signal because they will help the guitar cut through a mix, but there are so many better options that you can put in aftermarket if you should change your mind later. not to mention that the tech is always getting better. My Shorty does not have electronics, but when I do plug in I'm going through a Miniflex 2mic, model 2. Sounds great and has gotten positive response from sound techs when I'm playing through a PA. Many will go with a K&K or LRBaggs Anthem and these choices will all blow away any UST. Al Petteway knows what he is talking about too since he plays for a living and even though his APLE RainSong has a UST, it also has a gooseneck mic to blend 2 different signals. I think David Wilcox uses a very similar approach.

I cannot imagine anyone being upset with owning a carbon guitar.
A worry free instrument.