Just received my new Composite Acoustics Cargo!

[fitness1]

[Acousticado]

Thanks to Fitness1 for not only helping me acquire the above pictured Cargo while I was in the U.S. (Florida), but also for hosting these pics for me.

The pic of my totalled Baby Taylor and the Cargo demonstrates that the Cargo is only slightly bigger, but plays and sounds 10x bigger. The more I play it, the better I think about this little dynamite of a guitar. As far as neck profile, in my opinion it feels like a Taylor neck. You can see that the electronic controls are intelligently placed to be both hidden from view and easily adjustable, and if you wish, using the thumb even while the fingers are over the strings. Perhaps a reason why the guitar sounds so good to the player is the soundhole placement, maybe serving to combine a normal soundhole placement and a soundport into one.

I still haven't played plugged-in, so I can't comment on that.

The Cargo gig bag is way too big, loose and flimsy. In the pic of the cases above, the Cargo is actually snugly accommodated in the Baby Taylor gig bag. I'll continue to use the BT bag for the Cargo. CA should do something about their gig bag.

The only con about the guitar itself is that carbon fiber guitars don't smell very good (maybe it will minimize over time), but it will never compete with the aromas of wood -- (maybe install a car freshener inside the body ). The quality of the instrument more than compensates for it though.

I'm sure the other colors look great and the natural carbon fiber finish is reported to be the most popular, but personally, I love the stealth look of the charcoal version since I first saw it recently posted in another thread.

[Steve Berger]

I am very eager to see and play a Cargo. My local dealer is expecting one soon.

Acousticado ...can you post some sound clips?

Thanks

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by GoodGuy

I am very eager to see and play a Cargo. My local dealer is expecting one soon.

Acousticado ...can you post some sound clips?

Thanks

Sorry, I wish I could, but I'm not equipped to do that. In case you didn't know, somebody in one of the recent threads about the Cargo did post that he can email some clips (plugged and unplugged) to those interested that were provided to him by Composite Acoustics.

[JohnnyMcG]

That's me with the recordings - offer is still valid: PM me w/ an email address and I'll send the recordings from CA along.

Thanks so much for the pics! Pictures online of this thing have been hard to come by. These look great!

Can't wait to get my hands on one

[dandy505]

Acousticado,
was it easy to take the label out? I noticed your pictures were sans the label
Also, please give your opinion of the plugged in sound when you get a chance. I want to know if I could comfortably use one of these in a band setting instead of a dread or larger bodied guitar (ex. in my case church worship) without having it sound lost or small.
Also, does the short scale really throw you off or is it not a big transition to make?

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by dandy505

Acousticado,
was it easy to take the label out? I noticed your pictures were sans the label
Also, please give your opinion of the plugged in sound when you get a chance. I want to know if I could comfortably use one of these in a band setting instead of a dread or larger bodied guitar (ex. in my case church worship) without having it sound lost or small.
Also, does the short scale really throw you off or is it not a big transition to make?

On mine, the label is deeper inside so it doesn't show at all in the soundhole.

Like I said, it may be a while before I can offer an opinion of the pugged-in sound. SongwriterFan also bought one, so maybe he can offer an opinion.

The short scale on the Baby Taylor was a little bothersome for me. For some reason, the scale on the Cargo is no problem at all for me.

[mcphersonnut]

That poor baby, glad you have gotton another to replace the smasht one, very nice

[dandy505]

thanks for the great pics!
I have the exact same guitar on order, a charcoal XS-CE. They are backlogged on these Cargos, my dealer won't be seeing them until June. If anyone has pics of a Cargo in "natural" I would love to see those as well. You can email them to me [email protected] and I will post them.

[SongwriterFan]

I found a nice little gig bag for my Cargo here in Nashville. The guy didn't have any spare Baby Taylor gig bags (he did check for me, though, because he thought he might). Found one that was just perfect, for only $15. You can actually put this bag inside the TKL bag that came with the Cargo.

Double-bagged and safe.

[TommyK]

Drill some holes in the back and you can sein for minnows!

I wonder what that Aussie Maton Diesel sounds like without the electrics? Might not be suitable, though for building sand castles.

Just curious, what does a guit tar sound like when it's being eaten by a trash compactor?

Seriously, sorry for your loss, but when the Lord closes a door, he always leaves a window open.

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by JohnnyMcG

Hey Acousticado or SongWriterFan:
I've been distributing the audio files of the Cargo and it seems some of the people here are interested in the intonation of the guitar. The audio samples, as someone pointed out to me, are in the key of D.

Have you experienced any intonation issues on the short scale? What weight of strings are you using? And here's one I received in an email response:
"is there an intonation problem you can hear going from open 'E' or 'Em' position to open 'D' position?"

Johnny, I'm not experiencing any intonation issues. Sorry, I'm not sure what the current strings are, but they are uncoated and seem to be lights.

[mckejoel]

Have you folks seen this one yet?
The "Red Cargo". Now I'm motivated!

[mhs]

TommyK: If the Maton Diesel is the guitar I've played for a few hours also called the mini-Maton, then it is a very nice sounding instrument sans electronics. I didn't care for the pickup in it, and I don't really like any of the rest of the Maton guitars, but that one is very nice to play and hear.

Acousticado: I talked to Danny B. for awhile when I ordered a Cargo guitar and he said they come in with Exp16's. (So coated ej16's I think).

I'm using some of those right now for the first time but I'm hard put to tell any significant difference between those as ej16's other than that they are a little darker sounding. I've managed to wear the coating off in one day, because my fingers are as black as they'd be if I were playing my normal ej16's .

Mick

[Steve Berger]

I'm looking forward to playing a Cargo when my local shop gets one next week.

Checking out the Cargo specs...the only thing that potentially concerns me a little is the scale length (only 22 3/4").

I have a couple of small guitars already: a Baby Taylor (more like a toy than a real guitar) and a GO Type 2 Parlor (tremendous little guitar). The GO gets a big sound from its small package due in part to its 24 1/2" scale length.

Will the Cargo sound robust enough un-amplified? That is the question?

Any thoughts from Cargo owners would be appreciated.