New McPherson Sable arrived yesterday!

[granttucker]

Holy cow!
So...I’ve been in the market for a really nice acoustic guitar after losing all of mine in an ugly divorce years ago. I don’t Perform anymore and mainly just wrote and record these days so I wasn’t concerned about electronics. However, I needed a versatile and balanced guitar for recording different styles. I also needed to realistically factor in my four sons in the house and the potential for damages to the guitar at this stage in life.(40yo) I think I would hate myself if I bought some of these amazing guitars in the classifieds that are meticulously kept only to be raped by Vikings in my household. Thus, the consideration of getting a carbon graphite guitar. Now I use to own a Rainsong when they first came out 20 years ago...but I never liked how clinical sounding they were. And I couldn’t stand the sharks on the fretboard (super tacky for my taste).

Someone suggested looking at Emerald and McPherson. After days upon days of listening to online examples and reading reviews I chose the Sable. I chose the basket weave design and grey hardware. I bought it at Musician’s Friends with their 48month 0% interest. They will beat any price and did bring it down for me.

The Sable arrived yesterday well packed (not needed lol) and looks incredible. Tuned up right away. I like to keep my guitar tuned a complete whole step down in D instead of E. So far the Sable is holding intonation perfectly without any buzzing. The low end is perfectly balanced with the highs. I was afraid I would want something bigger like the Emerald x30 for low end, but the Sable is just right. The low end reminds me of how defined KoA low end can be. Just solid and present. Finger picking and strumming both rock on this guitar and the neck feels very nice for my large hands.

I still would love a killer wood guitar one day, but this is absolutely perfect for my situation and needs for now. I’ll save up for the holy grail wooden guitar once the kids are out of the house 😂

Grant

[tbeltrans]

Congrats on your new Sable, Grant. You may find that the Sable grows on you and that your desire for a wood counterpart becomes less enticing "as time goes by" (as the song says...). I think the Sable could well be the one guitar, since it is versatile enough.

I don't mean that it is better than another brand of carbon fiber or wood guitar, but it is at least as good, and the 14 fret with cut away, and that body size, is just so versatile regardless of who made it and from what materials.

Tony

[jdinco]

Congrats on the Sable ! ....considering how good some of these CF guitars are these days, you might be surprised how much you have to spend for that Holy Grail wood guitar to have something that actually sounds a tiny bit different.
Please keep us posted on how it goes with the Sable after the honeymoon is over.

[Kamurah]

Congrats on putting a Sable in your Stable!

I just got mine this past week also, and am really loving it so far. It plays and sounds so good you start to become compulsive / obsessive about playing...which I guess is about as high a praise as I can give an instrument.

Am sure you will have a great experience with yours....so enjoy!

[granttucker]

Thanks guys!
So far, I agree that it would have to be an insanely special wood guitar to be worth purchasing after this. The balance is so perfect...it’s gonna be hard to beat.

I’ll post a recording of it when I get a chance.

[Captain Jim]

Congrats on the new Sable! Seems to be a bunch of new Sable owners here recently, and it is good to have y'all here.

I have played some nice wood guitars since becoming ensconced in the carbon fiber world. They sound lovely. Not so much so that I'd move out a carbon fiber guitar to make room for another wood. I love the sound of each of my guitars (wood and carbon fiber) - each brings something unique. But, it is the CF guitars that get the playing time.

With more experience with your new Sable, you may find that it isn't just a durable stop-gap guitar to be used until the kids are out of the house... it may be that "keeper." I pick up my CF guitars because they please my ears. Enjoy!

[kramster]

Nice buy... theses are fine guitars as you now know!

[GuitarLuva]

Congrats on the new Sable they're great guitars. I agree with Jim I love my 3 wood guitars but they don't offer the full tonal spectrum that carbon fiber does. When I play them I do notice that. I could easily get by with my Sable and 2 Emeralds. Nice to have access to both for sure but those wooden ones sure need to be babied where I live.

[Frettingflyer]

Congrats on the Sable, I know mine gets a lot of play around here, and more when we can travel. My kids are old enough now that they know to be careful, but I keep my wood guitars in a humidified cabinet when not playing while the CF can sit out for motivation anytime.
I agree about the balance, enjoy that Sable.

[mountainmaster]

Congrats! It looks like Sables are the new trend.

Unfortunately in Europe it is easier to get your hands on unobtanium than find a dealer that has a Sable in stock.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by mountainmaster

Congrats! It looks like Sables are the new trend.

Unfortunately in Europe it is easier to get your hands on unobtanium than find a dealer that has a Sable in stock.

When I registered my most recent Sable, I asked a couple of questions. I was told by McPherson that they only make 500 carbon fiber guitars a year, so they are not nearly as plentiful as, say a Martin or Taylor.

Tony

[Earl49]

Building only 500 guitars a year is not surprising. Carbon fiber is still a niche market, even if we here know the truth. For example, when perusing the current stock at Emerald yesterday, I noticed that they are showing some with serial numbers nearing 6000. Emerald celebrated twenty years in business last March. They can build about three guitars per day, last I heard.

Compared to Taylor who builds ~150,000+ guitars in a normal year and Martin who builds ~100,000 the total output of the entire composite market is tiny. CF builds are very much akin to hand-built boutique brands.

[tbeltrans]

Everything I have seen on youtube (factory tours and CA Guitars' series on how they built their guitars) or read about carbon fiber guitars, all seem to point to the process being very hands-on and labor-intensive.

So, no, it is not surprising that McPherson only builds 500 in a year. Considering 260 working days in a year (not accounting for vacations and holidays for the sake of simplicity), that comes to approximately 1.4 guitars a day.

With their extreme attention to detail in the manufacturing process, as we have all seen in the consistently high quality of the products folks here have purchased from them, I could easily imagine them not wanting to make any more than that and trying to push ever higher the numbers. That just has never seemed to be a part of the McPherson culture, where quality always has. Look at any of their wood guitars and you can readily see that.

Tony

[Dbone]

The Sable crew is definitely growing around here. The word must be getting out. Congrats

[granttucker]

This guitar is worth every penny! The more I play it, record it and even just look at it...the more I am impressed. I’m normally cursed with immediate buyers remorse, but I couldn’t be happier with this Sable.
I’ll experiment with strings overtime for the fun of it.