Yeh, but does it sound like a guitar made of wood???

[tbeltrans]

Forums are great places to spawn myths. The "sounds like wood" statement made about certain CF guitars is one. Another is that silly Taylor "golden era" of the 1990s that we read when somebody is selling such an instrument.

The latter is hype to maximize a sale in favor of the seller, while the former is simply wishful thinking on the part of those who consider wood guitars to be some sort of gold standard that CF needs to measure up to.

There seemed to be a lot of importance placed on that "sounds like wood" hype back in the old McNichol forum when the original CA Guitars was still building instruments. I said back then, the same things I am saying now - don't listen to the hype and let your own ears be the judge as to whether a particular guitar, regardless of what it was made from, has a sound you are looking for.

That is my opinion, which I am assuming this thread is asking for.

Tony

[Pnewsom]

[QUOTE=David Eastwood;6740384]Isn't the fact that they were made from CF irrelevant? You could equally well have found a couple of wooden guitars and had the same reaction.

Actually, I did have a similar reaction playing a couple of woody's at the same store, but didn't consider them relevant to this discussion.

You CF guys aren't just a little bit defensive, are you?

[jdinco]

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

And again - “what does plastic (or CF) sound like?”

Oh yeah...good point, what I think it sounds like is likely totally different than what anyone else may think it sounds like. I guess we should just buy what we like and be happy ! I kinda like 'em all.. LOL to a fault.

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by Pnewsom

You CF guys aren't just a little bit defensive, are you?

Fair comment - I suppose it might seem that way.

I'm just tired of the 'sounds like wood/CF/plastic' nonsense. It's simply not relevant.

So yes, I'll admit to being a tad defensive

[tbeltrans]

This seems to be an odd artifact of being human - I have the real truth, the guitar I choose to play is the best and everybody should fall in line, the way I see things is the only right way, and on and on. We see it with religion, politics, guitars, and probably most everything that can be discussed and/or argued about. If anything, these discussions are simply one way to avoid actually playing the things. The forums are a great avoidance. I suspect that is why we read rather often people who have been playing for 30 or 40 years, but say they aren't very good. By the time we retire, we are pretty darn good at whatever we have been doing for our careers, so why not guitars ... because discussing and buying them is so much more fun.

From my perspective, CF guitars are just another form of guitar with its own pros and cons just as any other type of guitar will have. I see no ultimate "truth" or any other reason to consider one choice of guitar better or worse than any other. In short, there is no reason to be defensive. Just play what you like and leave the rest for everybody else.

Tony

Discussing and buying guitars is fun and I like it, a lot. I am also prone to noting that I am not a great player--that does not mean that I am not a good player. I expended my great stuff on my profession. For me to be great I'd have to be at Montoya or Segovia's level which just not going to ever happen. Darn.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by EvanB

Discussing and buying guitars is fun and I like it, a lot. I am also prone to noting that I am not a great player--that does not mean that I am not a good player. I expended my great stuff on my profession. For me to be great I'd have to be at Montoya or Segovia's level which just not going to ever happen. Darn.

Yeah, we made very practical trade-offs. Having a solid career that allows us to raise a family and take care of them and get a retirement in the process, all the while having a nice avocation playing guitar seems a good balance to me.

I'm just stirring the pot a bit when things get a bit silly.

Tony

[Captain Jim]

You guys crack me up! I like a guitar that sounds like... a guitar. I'll admit that the first carbon fiber guitar I bought really grabbed me, sound-wise. Since that purchase, I've bought other CF guitars that I like even better... but, based as much on the comfort as on the sound. They simply "fit me" - so, it really doesn't matter to me what someone else thinks about my choice. Like it? Fine. Don't like it? That's fine, too.

Nothing defensive about it. Don't like the same guitar? Allow me to laugh at your poor taste. But, it doesn't change anything. If a guitar sounds and feels good to you, it shouldn't matter the material or the name on the headstock.

Go make some music.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

You guys crack me up! I like a guitar that sounds like... a guitar. I'll admit that the first carbon fiber guitar I bought really grabbed me, sound-wise. Since that purchase, I've bought other CF guitars that I like even better... but, based as much on the comfort as on the sound. They simply "fit me" - so, it really doesn't matter to me what someone else thinks about my choice. Like it? Fine. Don't like it? That's fine, too.

Nothing defensive about it. Don't like the same guitar? Allow me to laugh at your poor taste. But, it doesn't change anything. If a guitar sounds and feels good to you, it shouldn't matter the material or the name on the headstock.

Go make some music.

Tony

[boneuphtoner]

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

And I'll agree to disagree. My whole position in this perennial discussion is that there is no more a 'CF sound' than there is a 'wood sound'. They all sound like guitars, and some sound better than others, regardless of material.

No disagreement from me - I 100% agree that they all sound like guitars, however, I have yet to play a wood guitar that gives me the evenness of tone across the wound and unwound strings that CF seems to do (and I’ve owned RainSong, Emerald, and now McPherson). For my playing it seems to be something unique in the CF DNA as nearly all wood guitars can sound very bright on the unwound strings if I’m not very careful. For the wood guitars I’ve played and owned - there are many from Martin, Taylor, Yamaha, Gibson, and Ibanez - one Martin 12 fret dread I owned came somewhat close, the others, not so much.

[The Bard Rocks]

CF has it's own sound - and from the ones I have played, that sound is not like wood. It's kind of uncolored, a bit sterile, but certainly not unpleasant. And, yes, I have one.

[mikealpine]

My guitars, wood or CF, sound like guitars. While I love the sounds of my wood guitars, I usually play my CF guitars when I am out, whether a religious gig, open mic, electro-acoustic duo stuff, etc. for all the reasons we often see here. And I love my Rainsong H-OM and now my Emerald X30. At no point ever has anyone come up to me wherever I play my CF guitars and questioned whether I the instrument I am playing is a guitar. They comment on how wonderful the guitars sound, and how different they look than what most people envision a guitar looks like. But people see a guitar and hear a guitar. As others have noted, wood guitars can sound vastly different from each other, and CF guitars do the same. I know what I like, but again, my guitars all sound like guitars.

I think it really just amazes people that companies have managed to create guitars of a man-made material that sound...well...like guitars.

[RP]

Originally Posted by Pnewsom

You CF guys aren't just a little bit defensive, are you?

I don't consider myself defensive about my choice of guitars. Since I'll be the only one paying for them and playing them, nobody else's opinion really matters to me. Sure it's nice to get attaboys, but if someone doesn't care for my choices I don't really care...

I've grown pretty defensive regarding my wooden guitars. After playing and hearing my CF guitars people often ask me why I bother having any dull sounding, inconsistent, fragile wooden guitars hanging around. I feel a bit of embarrassment but I fess up to just liking the historic aspect, sort of like owning a manual lawn mower.

[blue]

Sound like wood?! Yuck! Real guitars sound like nickel silver or brass!

All joking aside, I am in the process of shedding guitars, and will be replacing the departed with a small-ish body Carbon Fiber. And if emerald made a non-harp Ukulele, I would already own one of those because it's not a guitar, so I don't have to play by the "can't buy a guitar until I move two out" rule. Not suggesting Emerald is the only guitar choice. But so far their harp uke is the only carbon fiber uke that really blew my mind.

I'm not worried about sounding like wood. I want rich, full, and clear. I want strong harmonics. I got into Resonators because I wanted more than wood can give me. That's what I'm looking for in Carbon Fiber too.