How does a CF guitar "sound" like?

Kid;

Wow!~ Very nice response! It was clear that you touched a Jim-nerve, but equally clear that you are quite capable of defending yourself. I think the discussion went quite well, cleared a lot of air, and brought to the fore a here-to-for unknown Taint Song--must be a foreign instrument since I have unable to find it on the U.S. webb.

Enjoy the day. And Kid, welcome to the forum, it looks to me like you fit here. And good luck in finding your CF guitar. I don't know what part of the country you are in but sometimes a member will indicate what he or she would like to try and note his or her area and someone from that area will invite the searcher for a play.

[Captain Jim]

Hey, The Kid!, my apologies if I came across harsh to you. If we sat down together, you would probably find that we have more in common than our differences in guitar brand tastes. Like you, I had a time where I made my living playing/singing. Too bad your first experience with CF was something that sounded "thin" to your ears. There are other options out there that would probably be more to your liking... but, if a J45 is what does it for you, well, you know.

RainSongs are pretty well known for having a "piano-like" tone that some feel is too chimey. If RainSongs are the "Taylor" of carbon fiber (describing it that way for you), you would be far better off considering a Composites Acoustics OX, a McPherson Sable, an Emerald X20 or the newly released X30. Don't expect any of them to sound like a J45, though, just as another model Gibson won't have that same sound. Give them an audition of more than a couple minutes; not unusual for something "different" to make your hands and ears think "not familiar = not good."

Besides more time playing, I have a couple of decades of life experience on you (including the business world, the service industry, presenting seminars for professional organizations, tourism, and making music)... I have learned that coming into a new environment, especially where comradery already exists, you will find more acceptance with a friendly manner and building a rapport. If I misinterpreted your intent with your post, again my apologies and perhaps we can both learn from it.

Yes, this is a friendly bunch here. You don't have to ask my permission for anything, as I am a participant just like you. I don't claim to have all the answers, sometimes I don't understand the questions ... but I do have a pretty good read on human nature and can appreciate what it takes to get along. I hope you will accept this "virtual handshake" I am extending.

Jim

[jdinco]

I'm still laughing at the "tainsong" guitar and following comments....I could see that coming from this bunch. LOL I also have to agree with most of the Kids comments concerning Taylors and Rainsongs. I've certainly heard Rainsongs and Taylors that sounded thin. I'm more of a warm Martin tone guy, I think mainly because I can't sing, so I need those overtones to fill in some of the space. I've owned a lot of Taylors, including 2 different 814's, I much prefer the tone and other advantages of my X20 over the Taylor. Kind of the same thing I've heard from Captain Jim I think. Sold all my Taylors once I discovered the Martin sound. I'd be real interested to hear what the Kid thinks of the Emerald sound, especially the X30 since he seems to like the bigger sound from J45's and D28's. Glad all has settled down and everyone can offer a group hug now. Hope everyone has a great weekend !

I think the X30 might come very close to the J45. I hope Kid does ask around his area for possible CF guitars to play--who knows, an X30 may lurk right around the corner.

Years ago Michael did road trips where he would send a guitar around to various players for a test run--I really miss those trips.

Jd; You seem familiar with the Taint Song--any pictures? Is it a strummer or a picker? Is a finger picker or a pic picker? How about tone and projection? I look forward to some informed information.

[The Kid!]

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

Hey, The Kid!, my apologies if I came across harsh to you. If we sat down together, you would probably find that we have more in common than our differences in guitar brand tastes.

My man! Never meant to offend you or anybody. I'm just trying to learn. I've been rotating both guitars all summer with humidipacks. It's been working, but it got me thinking about CF guitars and possibly using a Tonedexter J45 profile live.

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

Too bad your first experience with CF was something that sounded "thin" to your ears. There are other options out there that would probably be more to your liking... but, if a J45 is what does it for you, well, you know.

It was a while back. People keep saying "chimey" which might be a better descriptor than "thin." I prefer that J45 midrange punch.

Incidentally, lots of cats bash J45's (Gibsons in general) and say they sound dead.
I prefer a strong fundamental without a lot of overtones. That's the sound I want to find in a CF if it exists.

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

RainSongs are pretty well known for having a "piano-like" tone that some feel is too chimey. If RainSongs are the "Taylor" of carbon fiber (describing it that way for you), you would be far better off considering a Composites Acoustics OX, a McPherson Sable, an Emerald X20 or the newly released X30. Don't expect any of them to sound like a J45, though, just as another model Gibson won't have that same sound. Give them an audition of more than a couple minutes; not unusual for something "different" to make your hands and ears think "not familiar = not good."

Agreed. I can always appreciate a guitar for what it is. There's a sound for everything. I'd love to try some Emeralds, I just need to find some.

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

Besides more time playing, I have a couple of decades of life experience on you (including the business world, the service industry, presenting seminars for professional organizations, tourism, and making music)... I have learned that coming into a new environment, especially where comradery already exists, you will find more acceptance with a friendly manner and building a rapport. If I misinterpreted your intent with your post, again my apologies and perhaps we can both learn from it.
Jim

Right on. I wasn't trying to offend anyone, so I got confused a to why you seemed upset. Wasn't my intention at all.

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

I don't claim to have all the answers, sometimes I don't understand the questions ... but I do have a pretty good read on human nature and can appreciate what it takes to get along. I hope you will accept this "virtual handshake" I am extending.

Jim

Well at this point, I have only questions and I'm here to learn. Youtube videos are so tough to get an accurate idea of sound. So much compression. Plus I'm usually listening on laptop speakers.

Virtual handshake accepted. Glad we got this all sorted out. Sometimes simple misunderstandings bring about some pretty good discourse down the road. I appreciate you and all of the fine folks on the forum.

Gonna try to dig up some videos.

By the way, those Emerald veneers are incredibly beautiful!

[ac]

I agree YouTube videos by themselves are not always the best way to compare guitars when switching from one to the other. The exact sound of the guitar would need a high quality mic set up and would assume you had a high quality audio setup at your end also. Each video would need the same identical conditions.

I recall some comparison videos made in the past where a player sat and played one guitar after another while the camera rolled. You had the same camera and same microphone, same room, same player, same position, same tunes, and that really gave me a much better idea of what the guitars sounded like in comparison to each other.

I would click back and forth in my media app to instantly switch between guitars that I was interested to get a better idea. It really gave me a "feel" for how one would sound vs. another, even if the mics were not studio quality, and an idea of what I personally would prefer or not since none had a recording advantage over another.

I'm hoping someday to see again such videos as it has been a long time since anything like that was produced. It was back in the days of the MacNichols forum and the MacNichols store had a good inventory to choose from to allow the videos to be produced.

Other than Kramster's home, I don't think such an inventory exists anywhere anymore!

Ted's place (LA Guitars) has a pretty nice selection of CF guitars.

Also, I haven't played the new McPherson or Blackbird offerings--has anyone compared them to the J45?

[The Kid!]

Originally Posted by EvanB

Kid;

Wow!~ Very nice response! It was clear that you touched a Jim-nerve, but equally clear that you are quite capable of defending yourself. I think the discussion went quite well, cleared a lot of air, and brought to the fore a here-to-for unknown Taint Song--must be a foreign instrument since I have unable to find it on the U.S. webb.

Enjoy the day. And Kid, welcome to the forum, it looks to me like you fit here. And good luck in finding your CF guitar. I don't know what part of the country you are in but sometimes a member will indicate what he or she would like to try and note his or her area and someone from that area will invite the searcher for a play.

Thank you. I live in Buffalo, NY

[steelvibe]

I think whoever mentioned the X30 is pretty close to the J45. The problem is getting one in the hands of The Kid! I bet he would be blown away.

Having said that, a J45 sounds good because it’s a J45.

[The Kid!]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

I think whoever mentioned the X30 is pretty close to the J45. The problem is getting one in the hands of The Kid! I bet he would be blown away.

Having said that, a J45 sounds good because it’s a J45.

Doesn't have to be exact. I just like less overtones for my playing style. The Emeralds look amazing. I'd love to try an X30.

[The Kid!]

Even with compressed youtube audio and my laptop speakers, this sounds great to me. Tony is an incredible player, and he makes everything sound good, but I would be very happy with this tone.



Oh, and it's gorgeous.

I'm not as crazy about the sound of the quilted one in the beginning of this video. Could be the video, mic, room, different player...

[jdinco]

Originally Posted by EvanB

Jd; You seem familiar with the Taint Song--any pictures? Is it a strummer or a picker? Is a finger picker or a pic picker? How about tone and projection? I look forward to some informed information.

ROFL...OK...NOT touching that one ! I have no intentions of getting banned. Kramster is right, EvanB likes to stir the pot a little.

Good Luck finding an Emerald in your neck of the woods Kid...it's worth the effort I think.

[kramster]

I think I have one of those new X30s around here someplace...a woody... very fine instrument acoustically and plugged in...just mentionin'.

Nephew K;

Well get going to NY! Help out here.

[Juan_Banjovy]

I wasn't quite used to the clarity at first but now I prefer it. It sounded slightly harsh at first because I hear the note separation. It's not compressed or muddy even strummed hard. Mine's a jumbo tuned to D & has all the bass I need. No bracing so it's louder than my wood guitars, fingerpicked or strummed.