McPherson Sable

[DebbieE]

So I got to play the Sable blackout edition yesterday and I was shocked at how good it sounded. To my ears it had quite a bit of bass and treble, just a very nice tone and very close to the tone of a wood guitar at least to my ears. The neck on those guitars are a bit heavy for some reason. I had had a Rainsong WS1000n2 a year or so ago that I just didn't quite like. It seemed kind of plastic sounding for some reason but then the scale length was a 24.9 I think. I also didn't like the N2 neck. It was the cheapest build they had , which I don't think they make anymore.

Anyhow, I'm just really impressed by the Sable. The blackout edition is a little more expensive than the regular Sable but it does have the EVO frets and just looks so cool with all the black. Just curious if you all know any dealers that give a discount on the McPherson's or do they pretty much sell at the list price? I'm thinking that there's probably not much if any variance in the tone from one Sable to another since you're not dealing with wood.

thanks,

Debbie

[Tøf]

I bought a Sable Blackout edition with a honeycomb top a few weeks ago.
It has replaced... a Sable «standard»
So the honeymoon period was already over before I bought the fancy model, and it’s still my favorite composite guitar to date!

McPherson probably has an agreement with their dealers, the street price is 200$ below the list one almost everywhere. If you want a good price you’ll have to wait for a used model!

[fenderball]

great guitars...i like mine more plugged in than unplugged...i gig it regularly through the PA...and like it a lot! play-ability is great...sound is excellent...unplugged i prefer my wood guitars...

[Frettingflyer]

I don’t think they have too much room, or reason, to move down in price. Ted would be the one I would call if I didn’t have a local dealer I had a relationship with. Love my Sable.

[DebbieE]

Well how do you all like them acoustically without using the electronics compared to your wood guitars? To my ears yesterday the sable sounded pretty close to a wood guitar acoustically. But perhaps it was also the acoustic room I was playing it in?

thanks,

Debbie

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by DebbieE

Well how do you all like them acoustically without using the electronics compared to your wood guitars? To my ears yesterday the sable sounded pretty close to a wood guitar acoustically. But perhaps it was also the acoustic room I was playing it in?

thanks,

Debbie

I’m really curious about this.

What makes a wood guitar sound like wood?

What makes a CF guitar sound like CF - or not wood?

I’ve got two very fine CF guitars, and a 58-year-old Martin.

They all sound like guitars to me, and there’s not a single characteristic between the three of them that I can point to and attribute to the material it’s made of.

If your Sable doesn’t sound like one of your wood guitars, so what? If it did, why did you buy it?

Does it sound good in its own right? Does it inspire you to pick it up and play it?

That, to me, is the key.

[jdinco]

My Sable sounds great too, best tone of any CF I have tried, or I should say my favorite tone. Might not be others. My wood guitars sound different, but great too. I love them both, nice to have choices ! Kinda like chocolate or butter pecan?

[Captain Jim]

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

I’m really curious about this.

What makes a wood guitar sound like wood?

What makes a CF guitar sound like CF - or not wood?

I’ve got two very fine CF guitars, and a 58-year-old Martin.

They all sound like guitars to me, and there’s not a single characteristic between the three of them that I can point to and attribute to the material it’s made of.

If your Sable doesn’t sound like one of your wood guitars, so what? If it did, why did you buy it?

Does it sound good in its own right? Does it inspire you to pick it up and play it?

That, to me is the key.

I'm going to have that made up as a plaque.

I like my CF guitars. I like my wood guitars. I've had a couple sessions with a Sable, and I thought it was very nice... McPherson knows guitars. Not comparing it to "wood," my ears told me the McPherson was darker than my X20. Some might think that is... "wood-like."

I've never seen a dealer advertise the 2 McPherson CF guitars at any kind of "discount price." I think the wood McPhersons start around $9 grand, so to my mind, their CF guitars are are already a deal. I don't have any inside information, but all the dealers seem to be at the same price for the McP carbon fibers, so the manufacturer must push that MAP price.

[tbeltrans]

My wood guitars sound different from each other. To me, my Sable and Touring are just more guitars in that sense. However, there is something about wood such that I just can't go all CF, at least at this time.

Having said this in other posts here, I will repeat it anyway...

To me, wood guitars are a work of art and CF guitars are a marvel of engineering. I do feel they (CF and wood guitars) are different, not one being better than the other, but different, as in "different but equal). To me, they complement each other in a collection. I really doesn't have to be either/or (i.e. mutually exclusive).

My choosing McPherson over other brands has more to do with local availability because I much prefer to try before I buy. I have played some Rainsong guitars and while the quality is very good, I just can't take to their fretboards.

I have yet to try the new Emeralds. I did play a couple (X7 and X10) way back when CA Guitars was still in business and I had recently gotten a Cargo. I did not care for those old Emeralds at all, but am well aware that Emerald has gone through many, many iterations of their product. It will be interesting to try one at some point when David and I can meet up.

It seems to me that, at this point in the evolution of CF guitars, that just as with wood guitars, it is a matter of matching player to guitar rather than these are "good" and those are not. It would be great if one could walk into a guitar store and pull any of the major makers wares from the wall and try them out. I suppose CF is still a comparatively specialized market niche and the market just not large enough to support that kind of distribution.

Tony

[martingitdave]

My Sable was the best sounding carbon fiber I have played to date. The only down side is the total volume/headroom when you play in ensemble as I do. I had to sell mine for financial reasons and I do miss it. I would really prefer a 16" lower bout version because I think it would be able to keep up in ensemble.

[casualmusic]

Hi Debbie.

The McPherson Kevan Michael aka Sable had the nicest voice amongst the dozen models (McPherson, CA, RainSong, Journey, KLOS) I've played. But not as loud as needed for boisterous acoustic jams or sing-alongs

I read that the CA designer went to McPherson and did additional design work to fine tune the tone using top bracing.

McPherson and CA use the resin infusion method. Dry carbon fibre is placed in the mold and liquid resin is injected and sucked through the mold. This uses more resin and is heavier than the pre-impregnated carbon fibre used by RainSong etc.

Cheers.

[Frettingflyer]

Hi Debbie,
The Sable tone is just fantastic and a joy to play. If I were to compare CF to wood I would say it is more close to a hardwood like Mahogany or Koa than a maple guitar or even a Rosewood with spruce top.
That said, it complements my other guitars, travels very well and is a joy to play. The above comments about being a little quiet for acoustic jams are true, you need to amplify it certain situations, but it does that well too.
I do mostly play finger style with bare flesh and it does get a bit louder with the right pick, FYI.

[DebbieE]

I thought it was pretty loud using my bluechip pick. I also liked the tone of it much more than the wood McPherson's that I played.

I guess when I go back to pick up my M-36 (I took it in to have a top seam fix) I'll check it out again and compare it to my M-36.

[fenderball]

the comments about overall volume unplugged are accurate as far as my experience goes...jamming unplugged, i am 100% going to grab one of my wood guitars...plugged in, i love my Sable....

[Tøf]

I find that the Sable is behaving a bit like a compressor when strummed hard, it keeps a beautiful tone but doesn't get quite as loud when played side-by-side with my favorite OM. As I mostly play to accompany singing it's actually a feature I like. But if you play unamplified with others and need a lot of headroom a wooden Dread is definitely the better tool!

Fingerpicked (mix flesh/nails) and flatpicking gets actually close to wood (OM in my case, not Dreadnaught). Based on my (rough ) measurement on my iphone placed 2 meters away I got similar volume minus a couple of dB here and there.