CA Cargo vs. Emerald Guitars

[Kindness]

Hi all,

I had a great afternoon with "Kramster" playing a Cargo Raw, RT and Ox as well as an Emerald X7 and X1O. So here goes my review!

First of all, I now see why the Cargos are so loved. GREAT guitars! Well built, comfortable to play, and od course easy to pack.

It was nice to play the Emerald guitars again too. The craftmanship is excellent and they too are comfortable to play.

But...hands down the Cargos sounded better than the X7. The X10 had a much fuller sound and compared well to the Cargos.

Additionally, the Cargos handle a capo better than the X7.

I fell in love with the Raw and the RT. Ahhh, but Mark was not sure if he had the same strings on them! They both have very subtle differences but we both felt the RT capoed better than the Raw. The Raw seems to have a bit more bass, and I like the string separation on both.

Next time we will play with amplifying them more. Mark does feel that X7 amplifies extremely well. I liked the Raw amplified,

So, yes, Cargo has my vote. I hope that Peavey can keep them alive! Emerald guitars has something special with the X10, but IMHO, the X7 needs some work so it can be a stand alone guitar that works well without amplification.

[inky]

Hi, thanks for the info, did you play these guitars with light or medium strings?.

[gitnoob]

I'm pretty sure Kramster is over the legal limit when it comes to Cargos. You should have taken one home to keep him in check.

BTW, I prefer the RT over the Raw. The Raw sounded a bit too unconstrained and muddy to me, but some people prefer it.

[Kindness]

I believe they had mediums on them. And yes, Kramsters collection of Cargos is probably the best in the world! Simply unreal. We had a really good time taking turns playing for eachother so we could hear subtle differences with the guitars. I cannot think of anywhere where I could have gone and had the luxury of trying all of those Cargo models. Thanks again Kramster!

[chistrummer]

I bought my Cargo from Tarpman and I had about a dozen to choose from which included all three finishes and I went home with a RAW. I found the thicker the finish the more muddy these guitar sound and more mud is the last thing this design needs. The thing about the Cargo is it sounds kind of like a real guitar but it's not. It's good for what I got it for, to leave in the back of my SUV, but that's it. If I were Kramster I would unload some of those Cargos while they are still fetching decent money because once the Chinese Cargo hits the shores priced at GS Mini levels the older ones will be worth didly.

Speaking of the GS Mini, it is far superior to the Cargo, have you tried one yet?

[mchalebk]

Originally Posted by petelor

If I were Kramster I would unload some of those Cargos while they are still fetching decent money because once the Chinese Cargo hits the shores priced at GS Mini levels the older ones will be worth didly.

At this point, there is no reason to believe that Peavey will be outsourcing construction of any CA models. Every indication is that they will be made in the US (just in Mississippi instead of Louisiana). Furthermore, if they did move production overseas, older models would likely retain some extra value based on the "made in the US" heritage.

That being said, if someone did have a Cargo to sell, it would probably be better to try to offload if before the new ones come out as I'm sure there are many folks who don't know that Peavey will be restarting the line and there are probably plenty of folks who aren't convinced that new CAs will see the light of day.

As far as Kramster goes, I kind of get the feeling that he's not too concerned about the money. He just really seems to like collecting this stuff.

[gitnoob]

I wonder if he knows we're talking about him behind his back.

BTW, the term "muddy" has been used in this thread, and I suspect it might mean different things to different people.

When I talked about the Raw sounding "muddy," that meant "too many overtones and too much sustain such that it didn't sound all that great."

[Larry Pattis]

It might be relevant to note that the X7 is a fraction of the weight and much smaller (body-wise) than the Cargo.

The neck and neck-joint areas are much sturdier on the X7, as well.

Lastly, the X7 is a 24" scale, while the Cargo is a 22.75" scale.

Despite both being carbon-based guitar-life forms, they have many differences in areas that matter.

[gitnoob]

I haven't had the X7 in my hands yet (soon, I hope). But I thought the weight difference was due to the process (prepreg vs added epoxy).

In terms of "architecture," the offset vs center sound hole and bridge size/location seem the most different to me.

[davemich66]

I have tried 3 GS Mini's. Many people seem to really like them. To me, they all three sounded like a Baby Taylor with medium strings...

[LoMa]

I don;t know anything about Emerald guitars, but one thing to note about the CA Cargo's is that they have top braces - made of carbon fiber, of course. That's a big difference between the Cargo's and the Blackbird guitars which do not use bracing of any kind.

I think the bracing design may also have something to do with the Cargo's tone and sustain.

[gitnoob]

Originally Posted by LoMa

I don;t know anything about Emerald guitars, but one thing to note about the CA Cargo's is that they have top braces - made of carbon fiber, of course. That's a big difference between the Cargo's and the Blackbird guitars which do not use bracing of any kind.

You're absolutely correct, and that was the the "genius" of CA -- the designer felt that "raw" carbon fiber sounded too metallic, so their "secret sauce" is how they damped the vibrations.

FWIW, the "bracing" differs depending on the model. The Raw has glued-on braces, whereas the RT doesn't -- it's has a graduated thickness of the top as well as the paint to damp the vibrations.

[slimey]

I really am not too worried about the possibility of my cargo's value changing because of new models.
I bought the guitar as my go anywhere anytime instrument and I'm confident it'll outlast me in that role.

[Kindness]

Originally Posted by Larry Pattis

It might be relevant to note that the X7 is a fraction of the weight and much smaller (body-wise) than the Cargo.

The neck and neck-joint areas are much sturdier on the X7, as well.

Lastly, the X7 is a 24" scale, while the Cargo is a 22.75" scale.

Despite both being carbon-based guitar-life forms, they have many differences in areas that matter.

Larry,

Your points well taken. As you move down the neck of the Cargo, you do notice how short the scale is. I moved my fingers down the fretboard in "D", and noticed there was less and less space.

I absolutely agree that the size of the X7 is excellent. But the tinny sound is hard to deal with. Alistair has a winner with the X7, he just needs to tweek it.

By the way, I got an email from Alistair and he has had issues with five of the X7s. He is adjusting the tops so that they can handle medium strings.

[Larry Pattis]

Originally Posted by Larry Pattis

It might be relevant to note that the X7 is a fraction of the weight and much smaller (body-wise) than the Cargo.

The neck and neck-joint areas are much sturdier on the X7, as well.

Lastly, the X7 is a 24" scale, while the Cargo is a 22.75" scale.

Despite both being carbon-based guitar-life forms, they have many differences in areas that matter.

Originally Posted by itself

Larry,

Your points well taken. As you move down the neck of the Cargo, you do notice how short the scale is. I moved my fingers down the fretboard in "D", and noticed there was less and less space.

I absolutely agree that the size of the X7 is excellent. But the tinny sound is hard to deal with. Alistair has a winner with the X7, he just needs to tweek it.

By the way, I got an email from Alistair and he has had issues with five of the X7s. He is adjusting the tops so that they can handle medium strings.

I am sure that Alistair will resolve any structural issues in a rather satisfactory fashion. He is a stand-up guy. Tone of the guitar, based purely on body size, may be a more difficult issue to address, by way of wanting a larger or more full sound. The box on the X7 is quite a bit smaller than the Cargo, and yet the scale length is considerably longer.

I see that you feel that the body-size of the X7 is "excellent"...and that's fine. It's small and comfortable. It's certainly smaller, and also much lighter than the Cargo...and this also relates to the overall tonal response of the guitar. The X7 is what it is...a very small bodied instrument....and that's related to the tonal response that it can deliver.

The only issue that is important to me (!) is in the way a comparison-based evaluation is conducted...and by that, I mean how are the instruments compared, and in determining that they *are* indeed comparable.

I think that there will be inevitable comparisons between the Cargo and the X7, but the for the sake of people that do not have the ability to try these things in person, I like to see the comparisons themselves detail and describe important physical characteristics of the instruments themselves.

Yes, they're both "travel guitars", and they're both carbon-fiber based...but there are several significant differences between these two products, and I like to see as much information as possible provided about both the similarities *and* the differences.

Hence my original post in this thread.

Hope this clarifies what I was trying to get at...