In praise of Composite Acoustics....?

[David Eastwood]

For a comparison data point, my Emerald X20 weighs in at around 4lb 5oz.

[KevinH]

It's interesting how much weights vary, and how big they can be for guitars made of CF, which is normally associated with light stuff.

My smaller Journey OF660 weighs 4 lb 10z, which is more than my X-20.

[steelvibe]

Sounds heavy man.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

Sounds heavy man.

I see what you did there. Nice play!

Tony

[Quintus]

I lucked into a CA Legacy their first year of production, pre-Peavey of course. It was one with a a blemish (though I couldn’t see where) and the rep, Denny, let me have it for $300 with case. It arrived just before I deployed to Iraq in 2003 so I had to wait an entire year to play it. Definitely worth the wait. It’s got the Fishman pre flex system and sounds huge, plugged or unplugged. The only carbon fiber that sounds as good or better to my ears is an Emerald X30 I tried. Only drawback is the lack of a truss rod. I had a tech grind down the upper frets on the body in order to lower the action and it’s perfect.

[casualmusic]

MacNichol Guitars videos of the Composite Acoustics factory.






The first video shows carbon fibre cloth laid dry, and resin sucked into the mold. The resin flow method tends to result in heavier parts because not all excess resin is sucked out of the mold. (The alternative of resin pre-impregnated in cloth method yields lighter parts because the minimum precise amount of resin is embedded in the cloth).

The three videos together show a large number of steps and labour hours needed to make each guitar. They also show large investments in space, equipment and jigs geared to make more novelty carbon fibre guitars than they were able to sell at the high prices needed (D18, D28, J45 level) to recover expenses and investment.

It appears that Composite Acoustics likely spent its investment funds and wasn't able to sell enough guitars, make profits, pay back investors, and stay in business.


.

[PTL]

Originally Posted by Quintus

I lucked into a CA Legacy their first year of production, pre-Peavey of course. It was one with a a blemish (though I couldn’t see where) and the rep, Denny, let me have it for $300 with case. It arrived just before I deployed to Iraq in 2003 so I had to wait an entire year to play it. Definitely worth the wait. It’s got the Fishman pre flex system and sounds huge, plugged or unplugged. The only carbon fiber that sounds as good or better to my ears is an Emerald X30 I tried. Only drawback is the lack of a truss rod. I had a tech grind down the upper frets on the body in order to lower the action and it’s perfect.

That has to be the deal of the decade on the CA! And thank you for serving the nation!

[Quintus]

Thank you. I retire this month after 30 years on active duty. I feel incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to be in so long. I’m also thankful to Denny and CA for the guitar. Until then, a Martin HD-28V was the ultimate dread-style in my mind. The CA ended that GAS in its tracks!

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by casualmusic

[some interesting content deleted in this quote to save space]

It appears that Composite Acoustics likely spent its investment funds and wasn't able to sell enough guitars, make profits, pay back investors, and stay in business.


.

From what I recall of discussions in the MacNichol group and here, as well as those informed CA Guitars dealers I purchased from at the time, one other aspect (in addition to casualmmusic's information) of CA Guitars demise involved the Cargo. Apparently, CA Guitars initially thought of that model as a sort of "loss leader" to get people interested in their products at a lower price point so they would hopefully buy the larger models too. Unfortunately two things happened with the Cargo:

1. At the price they were initially selling it, they were barely breaking even if not actually losing money since making that guitar was just as labor intensive and expensive in materials as their larger guitars.

2. The Cargo became their biggest seller by a wide margin, amplifying their losses.

As I mentioned above, the Cargo is but one possible aspect of the problem, so I am not saying it was the only, or even the biggest issue, but it is an interesting consideration.

Later (after I bought my three Cargos), they started raising the price but it was apparently too little, too late to undo that aspect of their problems. Later Cargos from CA Guitars were pretty much double the price I paid earlier and then, when Peavey took over, even more than that.

Another problem CA Guitars had was quality control. At the time I was purchasing my Cargos (which I still have), The Podium was sending back quite a few. Luckily, Marty was checking every one of these over before they would sell them, so what they did sell were the "good" ones and I have never had a single problem with any of mine.

Tony

[itsLars]

Played my CA GX the other day.......it had stayed in its case for at least 2 years, I think.
I have to say I was quite overwhelmed with how good it sounds. Definitely still a keeper, and given the aura preamp in mine, a perfect stage tool!
It's a real pitty the company couldn't keep up (with whatever).