Carbon Fiber Acoustic Guitars (Composite Acoustics)

[EllisS]

Originally Posted by mario1956

Do you plan on building a 12 string?

We just started working on a 12 string - hopefully for introduction late this year or early next. We believe we can make the holy grail 12 string - one that sounds really great and lasts forever - I'll make posts on the forum as we test prototypes, so you guys know how its going.

[EllisS]

Originally Posted by rgregg48

I played a couple of CA composite guitars..
suprisingly good sounding...
I wonder what happens at refretting time..
can any competant repairman or Luthier do the
job? Does it take a different process than wood?
Is it only possible to refret from the CA manufacturer?

Just curious

Rick

Great question. One of the things we have tried to do is make our guitars as user friendly as possible. We use stainless frets, so it will take a lot of playing to wear the frets. Our frets are pressed into our boards - not an easy proposition for carbon fiber (Parker's Carbon boards had bonded frets, making replacement a factory only proposition), but we tested numerous materials to get something that felt right, had good resonance, great wear characteristics, and that we could press in and remove frets. We also super glue the ends of the frets, just to make them as trouble free as possible

As for re-fretting, our guitars can be re-fretted - you just have to be careful to use sharp nippers on under ends of the fret to separate the fret from the glue, then they just pull right out. You can also use a bit of super glue remover on the fret ends to soften the glue prior to removal.

[EllisS]

Originally Posted by gordee

Hi Ellis,
I've strongly considered the X model after talking with Danny at Acoustic-Pro Musician but I'm in the minority that doesn't like a cutaway. Any chance of getting an X Performer non-cutaway anytime soon? I realize that production is market driven but it can't hurt to ask.

We don't have any firm plans right now, for a small guitar without a cutaway, but we have talked about a parlor size guitar without a cut-away. If we decide to move in that direction, I will post.

[EllisS]

Originally Posted by chrono

Hi Ellis,

I've owned a CA Legacy Aura and currently own a 2007 COT. They are absolutely fantastic guitars in both tone and playability.

Just wondering, are there any differences in the bracing between the Performer series and the Player series? Because on your website, the Performer has a hybrid bracing while the Player has a traditional bracing. What are the differences in tone?

And is it possible to show more NAMM pics of the guitars either on your website or mySpace? I am sure many of us would love to see more high res pics of different CA guitars up-close.

Thanks!

Cheers,
Samuel

Samuel, glad you like our guitars! Our Player series guitars have our traditional voicing based on our first 10 years of development. These guitars are designed to be well balanced, with a rich warm tone. These voicings have a round bottom end, smooth mids, and clear highs.

The bracing on our Performer Guitars have been optimized to improve clarity, definition, volume, and projection. The guitars have a similar warm tone to our traditional voicing, but really shine in playing styles where individual notes are featured, both in finger picking and flat picking. When playing chords, there is better individual string definition with the hybrid baced performer guitars. There is also better projection and definition when playing up the neck.

We will work on better photos

[EllisS]

Originally Posted by SongwriterFan

Hi, Ellis!

I have a late 2006 COT model (with the Imix, not the Aura), and it's a great guitar. I A/B'd it with many high-end guitars with Danny Brevard of AcousticProMusician.com (great guy!), and I'll have to say that it was very comparable in tone to guitars costing as much as 5x as the CA.

I noticed in the thread in that other forum that you've got plans now to make a travel guitar. Will this be something the size of the Little Martin and/or Baby Taylor? If so, that would be awesome! Any idea of the price of one of these guitars yet?

Our travel guitar is about the size of a Baby Taylor, but has more sound than many $700 full size guitars - the bass response is incredible - people just can't believe it. It has a revolutionary top construction that allows this small guitar to perform like a much larger guitar. It also has our very durable proprietary RT finish, which has a slight texture (NOT like the Ovation splatter), but looks very cool. These instruments are very hard to scratch, aren't affected by humidity, rain, etc, won't warp or bow, are small and light enough to take anywhere and sound like a full size guitar. They will be more expensive than a disposable travel guitar, but they will last forever - and they will be under $700 street price. We plan to start production later this year.

[EllisS]

Originally Posted by WorksInTheory

Hi Ellis - fantastic job on the GX performer. My wife and I got to try one finally and were amazed. We were just talking about the applications of carbon fiber to so many things. I have a carbon fiber mountain bike that is so much lighter. My wife's dad works on the Dreamliner which uses a lot of carbon fiber. So it was really cool to see it's use in such enjoyable things such as guitars.

I am interested, if you don't mind, how different is your approach and philosophy vs. the Rainsongs?

The main reason I got into this is that the early attempts to do all carbon fiber guitars didn't sound that good - I believed I could manipulate the materials and design to get something that acoustic guitar players would recognize as a great sounding guitar.

Everything in our design was based on getting great tone first. We have developed material formulations, designs and bracing patterns that allow us to tweak and optimize tone - because if an acoustic guitar doesn't sound good, it doesn't matter if you can paddle your boat with it.

I can't speak for Rainsong's philosophy - I know they don't brace their tops and the construction of our bodies is different.

[Plaid Coyote]

I played a CA recently and fell in love with it. I am certain I will end up with one very soon. They are seriously sweet sounding guitars. Of course, here in Florida humidity is not an issue, , hehehe, well...

Do they float? Maybe put a small outboard motor on it and go fishing out in the mangroves. Wow, that that would be the perfect guitar. Seriously, would make the perfect guitar for live and beach playing.

[EllisS]

Originally Posted by Smack

Hi Ellis,

Welcome!

Any distributors in Canada? Toronto area specifically?

Regards,

Steve

Steve, Long and McQuade are currently evaluating some samples as they are considering picking up the line. I belive they have a couple of locations in the Toronto area - if you call your favorite store and tell them your interest, we would certainly appreciate it and it might help us make our instruments available to Canada.

Ellis

[EllisS]

Originally Posted by Plaid Coyote

I played a CA recently and fell in love with it. I am certain I will end up with one very soon. They are seriously sweet sounding guitars. Of course, here in Florida humidity is not an issue, , hehehe, well...

Do they float? Maybe put a small outboard motor on it and go fishing out in the mangroves. Wow, that that would be the perfect guitar. Seriously, would make the perfect guitar for live and beach playing.

Like the way you think! However, why waste carbon fiber on a boat when it could be used for a great guitar! You can use wood for the boat.

[Smack]

Originally Posted by EllisS

Steve, Long and McQuade are currently evaluating some samples as they are considering picking up the line. I belive they have a couple of locations in the Toronto area - if you call your favorite store and tell them your interest, we would certainly appreciate it and it might help us make our instruments available to Canada.

Ellis

Thanks for the info Ellis. I live a few minutes from the downtown Long and McQuade and work a few minutes form the one in Mississauga.

I'll drop a hint at both of 'em

Steve

ps like the "sound" of that travel guitar

[EllisS]

Originally Posted by Smack

Thanks for the info Ellis. I live a few minutes from the downtown Long and McQuade and work a few minutes form the one in Mississauga.

I'll drop a hint at both of 'em

Steve

ps like the "sound" of that travel guitar

Thanks!!

[EllisS]

Originally Posted by kenny5060

Hi Ellis

I'm very interested in you guitars. Will you be shipping them to the UK?

Kev

Kev,

At some point we will be setting up dealers in the UK, but not in the next several months. We have on-line dealers that ship all over the world, usually with a reasonable return policy. If you are interested, I can get you dealer names. Thanks for your interest.

Ellis

[surfandstrum]

I had a questions in regards to temp shifts...Since I live in cold midwest, would I have to let your CA guitars acclimate before taking it out of the case after being in a less than warm trunk? How severe of temps can they take? I'm not going to leave it in the snow or sub zero temps, but I do have to take a guitar in the winter and usually overkill on letting it warm and acclimate...Sorry for the rambling...

[EllisS]

Originally Posted by surfandstrum

I had a questions in regards to temp shifts...Since I live in cold midwest, would I have to let your CA guitars acclimate before taking it out of the case after being in a less than warm trunk? How severe of temps can they take? I'm not going to leave it in the snow or sub zero temps, but I do have to take a guitar in the winter and usually overkill on letting it warm and acclimate...Sorry for the rambling...

You are why we make carbon fiber guitars! I was at an event where someone was playing a CA inside by the fireplace, then went directly outside where it was snowing and never missed a beat. The guitars don't need to acclimate the way wooden guitars do - go straight from your trunk to your gig! Our guitars are safe from about 0F to 150F - above that and you risk a bridge pulling up. You have to go above 200F to do any permanent damage.

[TonyC]

Hello EllisS

I got a recent GAS attack after hearing David Wilcox playing a Rainsong JM1000, and was reviewing all the graphite options- the X is just one of the sexiest guitars I've ever seen- and the MP3 I heard of it was simply exquisite.

I had the opportunity to A/B a Vintage to a used Rainsong JM1000, and went with the Rainsong, but I believe you make a wonderful instrument, and the "future" for many of us "should" be in graphite guitars. The overall durability and weather resistance was a huge selling point to me- here in very dry Colorado, where I refilling the humidifier on my Taylor every 4 days!

Thanks for becoming a part of this forum, and some day I hope to add one of your beautiful guitars to my stable.