Carbon Fiber Acoustic Guitars (Composite Acoustics)

[EllisS]

Originally Posted by mario1956

Do you plan on building a 12 string?

Mario, we are currently working on a 12 string - we hope to be able to ship late this year or early '08. We get quite a lot of requests for a 12 string.

[EllisS]

Originally Posted by mario1956

Do you plan on building a 12 string?

Mario, we are currently working on a 12 string and hope to have have it available by late this year or early next. We get a lot of requests for a 12 string.

[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

We currently use stainless steel frets on all of our guitars, so it will take a long time to need a re-fret.

Our frets are pressed into our boards, similar to a wood board - you can remove the frets. You do have to be a bit careful on the ends because we use super glue on the fret ends - you have to carefully use nippers to separate the fret from the board on the ends to avoid chipping at the ends, or use a couple drops of super glue remover on the ends of each fret, but you can re-fret. I the event you should get a chip, a bit of epoxy with some graphite powder (lubricant type) makes an easy repair.

[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.

I'm afraid that we don't offer the X without a cut-away - we hope to do a parlor some day in the future - probably without a cut-away - but we have no firm plans yet.

[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, thanks for the compliments. As for the difference between the Player and Performer, the player 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 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. There is also better projection and definition when playing up the neck.

[laughingskunk]

Welcome to the forum, Ellis. I am a proud owner of a 2004 Bluegrass Performer. I cant say enough good things about my guitar. I am not the most graceful of people, and the guitar has withstood my various mishaps through the years. But durability is meaningless without tone. My guitar is great sounding and works well with whatever style of music I throw at it. I hardly play any bluegrass, in fact most would say I hardly play I have thought of selling my guitar, but then play it and cant think of a good reason, unless I could get some money and buy one of the new X series with smaller bodies!

[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?

[SongwriterFan]

What I've heard (and I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong) is that the Rainsongs don't have any bracing on the top (CA does this to get the different tones out of its guitars). Also, CA is very demanding in that its tops are all within very tight thickness tolerances. I've been told that sample variation between any given CA model is virtually non-existent . . great uniformity in both looks and tone.

By the way, did you know that 2 out of 4 Nashville songwriters prefer CA? (Not really, but I have pics to "prove" it).



More images here:

http://www.neonlightsimaging.com/CountryHitMen

[J.R. Rogers]

I can't wait to check these out. Very impressed with what I've read. Welcome to the forum, Ellis!

JR

[GRW3]

Guitar Tex handles your guitars here in San Antonio and I've seen more than a few move through the shop. I find them really nice all around but I find the neck is just a little wide for me. My Taylor's are 1-3/4 too but don't feel as bulky. Any chance of have a choice of neck size? Also, I see a variety of color variations but I found nothing on your web site or in your brochure that state what can be obtained. That faux sunburst is just gross though, sorry.

BTW, my son is the one who broke the carbon fibre disk that Guitar Tex brought to NAMM.

[kenny5060]

Originally Posted by EllisS

Hi - This is Ellis Seal, the engineer that left Lockheed in 1998 to start Composite Acoustics]

Hi Ellis

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

Kev

[kenny5060]

PS. They look very shiny and slippery in the photos - do you make them in a satin finsh?

[mckejoel]

Hi Ellis,

I just wanted to welcome you to the AGF forum and thank you for becoming a sponsor.
It looks like you have some impressive guitars. I am hoping that I have a chance to play one soon.
I really liked your website, and I apppreciate the fact that you have a lot of great information about your company and guitars.
Best wishes on your company's continued success!.
Take care.

Joel

[Smack]

Hi Ellis,

Welcome!

Any distributors in Canada? Toronto area specifically?

Regards,

Steve

[CRSiowa]

I got the GX Performer for my fiftieth birthday. I purchased mine at Stars Guitars in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This is a great guitar. Fun to play and sounds sweet. I've never been one for cutaways, but on this guitar it just looks right.

Carl