Hello from Caulfield Composites

[StringMeUp]

Simon, that looks great. I cannot wait to hear it! Congratulations on your new adventure.

[Frettingflyer]

That guitar looks great, lots of potential there, looking forward to seeing where you go and hearing that guitar.

[AZLiberty]

So, a couple things:

1 - I think it looks fantastic. I love the double and asymmetric sound holes.

2 - not sure what the lower bout width is, looks about 14"? 00 or double-aught size as we would say.

3 - 12" radius kills any interest for me, but since almost everything else in the market uses a 16" (or 20" for Rainsong) having a tight radius is probably wise as a market differentiator. Certainly some people like it, or Gibson wouldn't keep using it.

4 - While it does not show up on camera, a clear coat, or tinted clearcoat showing the carbon weave will be far more popular than a solid paint job.

Edit to add:

5 - I think there is a good market for a CF tenor uke. So after the guitar business gets going, go back and refine the uke as well.

[Simon@Caulfield]

Originally Posted by StringMeUp

Simon, that looks great. I cannot wait to hear it! Congratulations on your new adventure.

Thanks so much

Originally Posted by Frettingflyer

That guitar looks great, lots of potential there, looking forward to seeing where you go and hearing that guitar.

Actually, I am on my way to a friends studio right now for a chat and hopefully a few recordings

Originally Posted by AZLiberty

So, a couple things:

1 - I think it looks fantastic. I love the double and asymmetric sound holes.

2 - not sure what the lower bout width is, looks about 14"? 00 or double-aught size as we would say.

3 - 12" radius kills any interest for me, but since almost everything else in the market uses a 16" (or 20" for Rainsong) having a tight radius is probably wise as a market differentiator. Certainly some people like it, or Gibson wouldn't keep using it.

4 - While it does not show up on camera, a clear coat, or tinted clearcoat showing the carbon weave will be far more popular than a solid paint job.

Edit to add:

5 - I think there is a good market for a CF tenor uke. So after the guitar business gets going, go back and refine the uke as well.

Thanks so much for your constructive comments.

Lower bout width is 335mm, so around 13 inches.

Personally, I like a chunky, rounded C neck, vintage style neck and when I was designing this I referenced (and played) a lot of parlour style guitars; at the time I felt it fitted the style of the instrument I was after; along side the fretboard radius. The radius itself can be changed to suit with an insert in the mould (however I'm yet to try this). However, my mould is also somewhat modular and I may change to a more common neck profile in the future.

I will likely do my next guitar in clear (black carbon). This one was just my own preference as I intended on having this as my personal instrument. There's also something fun about handing it to someone new, and watch the thought process of them seeing the carbon neck, then the carbon bridge, and then looking in the sound-holes and saying something along the lines of "this guitar has no wood!".


I'm yet to decide a range of options/levels of finish; but for certain there will be carbon finishes.

I agree on the Tenor uke! I especially would love an 8 string tenor uke; however it takes almost the same amount of time and effort and only a little less materials to make a uke vs a guitar. When I last weighed up the options, it would be incredible difficult for me to price that competitively at low volume. Perhaps with enough interest its something i can look into in the future (economy of scale really helps when it comes to purchasing the raw materials).

I actually have designs for 5 other instruments; 2 of which are ukuleles. Maybe in the future if people like my work and are confident to pre-order, I can make the investment into the tooling
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Thanks again everyone for your kind words, comments and suggestions. I welcome all your feedback.

At the moment I'm looking at case options/gig bags. Whilst id like to offer both, what do you guys prefer? Are there any specific brands or suppliers you think I should check out?

If you haven't already, you can sign up to my news letter or follow my socials here on my website.
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[David Eastwood]

Case or bag? For CF, I’d say ‘bag’ all the way.

I’ve got one of each for my Emerald X20s, and on the rare occasions either leaves the house, I always grab the bag.

I have no preference for brands, but the Emerald ones are the best I’ve ever had - I’d think you’d have to aim at at least that kind of quality. Maybe Mono? I’ve heard and read very good things about them.

[RP]

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

Case or bag? For CF, I’d say ‘bag’ all the way.

I’ve got one of each for my Emerald X20s, and on the rare occasions either leaves the house, I always grab the bag.

I have no preference for brands, but the Emerald ones are the best I’ve ever had - I’d think you’d have to aim at at least that kind of quality. Maybe Mono? I’ve heard and read very good things about them.

I agree. I much prefer a substantial gig bag like the ones that Emerald offers, although I understand they've had trouble getting them...

[jdinco]

Originally Posted by RP

I agree. I much prefer a substantial gig bag like the ones that Emerald offers, although I understand they've had trouble getting them...

The Taylor Aero cases are really nice, but heavier than the typical gig bag I think.

[jklotz]

Will it have a truss rod? I've found it really helpful on my carbon guitar to dial in the setup.

[JackDaniel]

something I really like is the "tuning" that Mcpherson uses in their Sable and Touring. CF doesnt need bracing but they add bracing to tune the instrument. You can really hear the difference and the warmth it adds. It sort of gets rid of some of that weird CF resonance thing that makes the instrument sound plasticy. Not sure if you're played with that at all.

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by JackDaniel

something I really like is the "tuning" that Mcpherson uses in their Sable and Touring. CF doesnt need bracing but they add bracing to tune the instrument. You can really hear the difference and the warmth it adds. It sort of gets rid of some of that weird CF resonance thing that makes the instrument sound plasticy. Not sure if you're played with that at all.

Journey does this as well albeit not the same way. Journey has these stalagmite looking formations to fine tune the top. As you can see, the rest of the instrument on the inside looks like regular CF layup.

[JackDaniel]

Oh cool. Didnt know journey did that. I have yet to hear one but would love to compare it with my other cfs.

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by JackDaniel

Oh cool. Didnt know journey did that. I have yet to hear one but would love to compare it with my other cfs.

Good tone IMO for what it is- how much of that has to do with the stalagmite top I have no idea. I also understand that this feature is only on Journey CF guitars manufactured from 2017 onward. The previous gen before the sound hole movement don't have this treatment of the top.

[coder]

Looks great, for sure.
One of the obstacles composite intruments face in the marketplace is that they tend to have an unique, very different sonic signature compared to wood guitars.

Rainsongs esp. tend to sound shrill. There is a reason why they started fusing spruce veneer with their carbon soundboards. ( SFT technology)

The makers of these were trying hard to sell the guitar buying public on the idea that the "carbon sound" is a good thing, and on a mass market level, this has been mostly unsuccessful. I think part of the appeal of the Emerald and a few other composite is that they do not sound too different from what the guitar buying public expects.

So the million $$ question is: how does it sound? If I was going to buy one, that would be my first and foremost question. I would expect something that does not sound remarkably different compared to a taditional, wooden solid top instrument. If that expectation is met, or exceeded ( e.g. better volume, better projection but still a nice woody sound), then all other attributes can come into play, and you potentially have a winner. The insensitivity to air humidity changes, looks, the precision of the playing surface, ligth weight, the accuracy of the fretting and setup...all that. If it sounds "weird" then you have an uphill battle and an inherently niche product.

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

Journey does this as well albeit not the same way. Journey has these stalagmite looking formations to fine tune the top. As you can see, the rest of the instrument on the inside looks like regular CF layup.

If I saw the inside of a guitar that looked like that, I’d run a mile. Can you imagine the equivalent in a wooden instrument?

It looks like an outtake from a bad sci-fi movie

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

If I saw the inside of a guitar that looked like that, I’d run a mile. Can you imagine the equivalent in a wooden instrument?

It looks like an outtake from a bad sci-fi movie

To some people the outside of it is just as scary...or I've even heard ugly!

Good thing they didn't pay for it.