[OpenD]

Originally Posted by itself

I emailed Peavey and got this response. For now they are not going to add a truss rod.

Hurrah, that is very good news indeed.

I've followed the various threads on this topic for a while, haven't commented until now...

I own 3 CAs myself, an old school Legacy Dreadnaught (Corvette metallic green body, natural top), one of the first GX Performers shipped from the new factory (black with blackburst top, pearl rosette, LR Baggs I-Beam pickup, top of the line, later renamed the 8MCE or somesuch), and a grey beerproof Cargo.

To me, much of the conversation on this truss rod topic has been goofy. A composite guitar does not need a truss rod, because it is not subject to the same warping factors that a wooden neck is. It's far, far stiffer, and is not affected by humidity. It's unlikely a truss rod like the ones used in wooden necks could even do anything, given how stiff composite necks are. I remember watching Ned Steinberger put a composite neck guitar across two chairs and stand on it, then get down and demonstrate that the guitar had not even gone out of tune. So what's a truss rod going to contribute? Nothing except unneeded complexity and expense and weight.

And besides, why mess with success? The CA company was selling all they could make, as fast as they could make them, with no truss rod. A majority of their customers were professional musicians who were looking for what CA delivered in spades: a bulletproof road guitar that you did not need to mess with. Bulletproof. No truss rod needed, period. That was never an issue for anyone I know.

Yes, I understand there is a tiny percentage of guitar tweakers who have found a different use for truss rods than the original purpose of compensating for the weakness of wood necks, but they were never CA's target market, and should not be Peavey's target market. 95% or more of the market can get what they need by adjusting saddle and nut. And CA has always supplied two saddles with their better guitars in case you get the first one too low. I've still got my spare ones for the Legacy and GX because once they were set up the way I like them, they stayed that way.

I watched Arlo Guthrie play a CA on his recent Family Tour, and last Monday I watched the Beamer Family playing music for Governor Abercrombie's inauguration in Hawai'i, and one of them (Keola?)was playing a CA. In the heat and humidity of Hawai'i' it's a no-brainer to play a guitar that never needs adjusting, ever. And that's what CA was all about.

It's also been goofy to read people expounding on at length about CA guitars based on having their played a Cargo. That's like thinking you know all about about CF Martin guitars after playing a Backpacker. No joke.

All the first couple runs of Cargos were bought by people who, like me, already owned full scale CA guitars and liked the idea of a relatively inexpensive (about 1/3 the price of the top line), 3/4 size, rugged, knock-around guitar they didn't have to worry about. No kidding, the dealers were pre-sold for months, to people who had never even SEEN a sample, because we CA users already knew they had to be good. And they were.

Matter of fact, they were so good they created a little market niche of their own with new customers who had never played CA before. The easy-to-play short scale, handy overall size, and amazing sound (for what it is) charmed a hell of a lot of us. To correct a few myths floating around, except for the very first shipments, when the correct cases were not yet available from the manufacturer, they've always shipped in a very nice gig bag. Second, mine came with Elixer Medium strings factory installed, and a quick call to the factory revealed they only recommended using Medium gauge strings, never Lights, because at the reduced tension you get using standard sets on a short scale, Lights are too sensitive to intonation problems. My experience bears that out.

So what you got for a whole lot less than $1,000, was a fun little guitar that beat the snot out of anything else as a travel guitar. And I should know... I've owned them all. Anybody want to buy an original model Chiquita with two pickups, recently set up by Mark Erlewine personally? I don't play it any more. Or how about a European travel guitar that's all neck and no body, with piezo pickup? Got one of those too.

Matter of fact, once the CAs came into my life all my other guitars stopped getting played as much, even the 1963 Gibson SJ with a tobacco sunburst that had been my go-to guitar for more than 40 years. The Gibson and the GX sat side by side in my music room, and I just found myself reaching for the GX more and more and more. And when it came to going anywhere with a guitar, I realized that my fear of having my guitar destroyed on route had disappeared when I took the CA. The Gibson has gotten more and more fragile over the years, and even with a recent rehab from Bob Barrett I just didn't want to take it traveling with me any more. With the GX I had no such worries, and it always sounded terrific whether played acoustic or amplified. And I never had to retune during a set. Often I didn't have to retune for a whole trip. And I check my tuning with a Peterson strobe. Yes, the GX is THAT stable.

And THAT'S what CAs are all about. So why change something that is that good?

Another goofy thread here has been about why the company folded. The simple truth is it was a Business 101 Classic failure. They had a successful product, which they made money on, but they were undercapitalized to deal with the unexpected expense of replacing a major piece of equipment (I've heard it was a quarter $mil), just as the partnership was falling apart for other reasons. Period. Had nothing to do with the quality of the product.

As to the comments about McNicoll's actions, selling off $100,00 in inventory at cost. That was a strategic decision, a choice, and in hindsight it was a mistake, because other dealers actually raised their prices, and got what they asked. But I can't fault a guy who sees the risk of holding that much stock with useless warranties from a failed business and decides it is too risky for him. He played his cards one way, but the deal went the other way. There was more demand for the product than he thought. He could have made a fortune betting the other way.

And that pent-up demand is exactly what Peavey should be out to satisfy. If they can improve production tolerances and improve weaknesses, OK, but my three have been completely trouble free, and they shouldn't do anything to mess that up.

I was tickled to see, looking at a new 8MCE in a dealer showroom recently (which you can buy today, for $2,695) that CA acted on the suggestion I made when I first got my GX, to change out the plain black bridge pins they shipped the first ones with, for the pearl-eye Tusq pins I put on mine. That was my experience with them... they paid intense attention to customer suggestions about possible improvements.

Be interesting to see what Peavey does next, but I hope to high heaven they don't muck things up with an unnecessary truss rod. And I hope they get the 12-string to market that CA had announced. That was going to be my next purchase.

Interesting side note, to finish this epistle... I was talking to an experienced musician today in Hilo who also loves CAs. He mentioned that his house is small, so he keeps his CA X guitar (the thin body model) outside on the lanai. With the high humidity in Hilo that would be murder on a wood guitar. We both laughed, because we know you could play a CA under a waterfall without it going out of tune or warping in any way.

OK, back to the groundless opinions already in progress...

OpenD