May take the carbon plunge

[Captain Jim]

I have some wood guitars and some carbon fiber guitars. Interestingly enough, all of my wood guitars (all Taylor) sound different from each other. And, I like the sound of each. Same with my CF guitars - each has their own sound/tone. In the grand scheme of ownership, I prefer my carbon fiber guitars (all Emeralds) because of the tone and comfort.

No one can set your mind at ease that you will feel the same way. But with all the different CF options, I can't imagine there isn't something from one of the manufacturers that will make your ears, hands, and heart happy.

For a small guitar with great tone, look into the Emerald X7; I have an older version (pre-2018) that absolutely changed how I consider any guitar. Since buying that guitar, I haven't considered another steel string wood guitar. Oh, I have played some - just none that made me want to part with my $$... but two more Emeralds have been added since. You owe it to yourself to see if CF does the same for you. You are already "curious"... that's where we all started.

[RP]

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

...No one can set your mind at ease that you will feel the same way...

Well put, Captain Jim...

[Dbone]

Thanks again for all your thoughts in here. With the types of comments made here I’m getting the vibe that the carbons are at minimum comparable, or in some cases/opinions better...good enough for me...

This kind of vibe on tone combined with the undeniable advantages of carbon makes it a real possibility for me towards what I’m trying to accomplish.

Have some more specific looking around to do at this point I guess...

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by Dbone

Thanks again for all your thoughts in here. With the types of comments made here I’m getting the vibe that the carbons are at minimum comparable, or in some cases/opinions better...good enough for me...

This kind of vibe on tone combined with the undeniable advantages of carbon makes it a real possibility for me towards what I’m trying to accomplish.

Have some more specific looking around to do at this point I guess...

Maybe take a different path then I took? If you are carbon fiber curious that is great but let somebody else drive it off the lot. There are often good deals to be had in the classifieds here. Carbon fiber doesn't seem to have the resale value that the wood guitars do but that doesn't mean they don't sell- but it does mean a great deal for the buyer. Just my dos centavos.

I've seen an Emerald X7 for $1300 and I've seen 2 RainSongs on here (both from the now discontinued Concert Hybrid series) that were as low as $1000. THAT is a killer deal especially with shipping thrown in.

Good Luck!

[David Eastwood]

Lots of great advice here, Dbone.

My experience? I bought my first CF guitar a year or so ago. I was tired of babying my beloved Martin through yet another Minnesota winter, and decided to take the plunge.

Result? My Emerald X20 is a gem. It's a great acoustic guitar in its own right. There's no such thing as 'CF sound' - this is a great guitar which can hold its own in any company.

And now I have two, and am trying to figure out how to sneak an Amicus past the guard

In the meantime, the Martin is going nowhere. It's tucked in its case with its Humidipacks, and will be joyfully welcomed back into the full-time rotation next spring.

[Dbone]

I must say, this really impressed me...Sounds pretty amazing...

This and the WS version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoDvtA2nR-k

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

Maybe take a different path then I took? If you are carbon fiber curious that is great but let somebody else drive it off the lot. There are often good deals to be had in the classifieds here. Carbon fiber doesn't seem to have the resale value that the wood guitars do but that doesn't mean they don't sell- but it does mean a great deal for the buyer. Just my dos centavos.

I've seen an Emerald X7 for $1300 and I've seen 2 RainSongs on here (both from the now discontinued Concert Hybrid series) that were as low as $1000. THAT is a killer deal especially with shipping thrown in.

Good Luck!

A consideration for sure

[RP]

Dbone: You might find the following video useful...

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by eatswodo

Lots of great advice here, Dbone.

My experience? I bought my first CF guitar a year or so ago. I was tired of babying my beloved Martin through yet another Minnesota winter, and decided to take the plunge.

Result? My Emerald X20 is a gem. It's a great acoustic guitar in its own right. There's no such thing as 'CF sound' - this is a great guitar which can hold its own in any company.

And now I have two, and am trying to figure out how to sneak an Amicus past the guard

In the meantime, the Martin is going nowhere. It's tucked in its case with its Humidipacks, and will be joyfully welcomed back into the full-time rotation next spring.

You sound like you probably won’t part with that beautiful Martin despite yer love for the Emerald. Best of both worlds approach for you as well it would seem...

[Dbone]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1hno4Zcxps

Man these sound incredible too...goes against my original intent of getting a smaller body though...lol

I must say...these things sound quite remarkable. I hadn’t come across these higher quality vids where they seem to to be recorded properly the first time around...

I am a bit smitten with these Concert Series Rainsongs with the unidirectional weave tops.

As nice as the Emeralds are, I think I’m more into the traditional style of the Rainsongs.

Do you guys have any specific comments on these Concert Series?

I think I can kinda see one of these in my future

[steelvibe]

Grab some good headphones. Carbon fiber sounds gooood

Al Petteway plays the CO-WS RainSong.



...and my favorite Emerald video featuring Petteway



and I LOVE this recording. It is one of the better one's I've heard recording the CH series RainSongs (now discontinued). If you don't want to hear the review blab in Korean, skip to about the 3:24 mark to hear the guitars. I used to own the OM version and can attest to how great they sound!

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by RP

Dbone: You might find the following video useful...

I did see that. Thanks.

Measured up pretty good. Some stiff competition there with that furch/stonebridge.

[Dbone]

This may be a stupid question, but how does this sound so amazing?

Where the heck is the mic placement sounding that good? Doesn’t appear to be plugged in?

Confused

Lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB3JL0JKoz4

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by Dbone

You sound like you probably won’t part with that beautiful Martin despite yer love for the Emerald. Best of both worlds approach for you as well it would seem...

Indeed. It’s not an either/or situation for me. They both have their place, and they are both great guitars, regardless of what they are made out of.

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by raysachs

Issues with specific wood guitars aside (you have a lot of patience, which could serve you well in the carbon world), I really like the approach of having at least one carbon fiber guitar. Initially, I was so taken with the Emerald guitars I had (in the process of narrowing it down to a current model X7) that I seriously thought I might go ONLY carbon for my acoustic guitars in the future. After about a year with no wooden acoustics, though, I found I missed the aesthetic of wood, the look, the feel, etc. And while I wouldn't say I prefer the sound of wood or carbon - both can be incredibly great - there's enough difference between guitars that I'm happy to have more than one flavor represented. So I added back a Martin 000-15SM and I'm thrilled to have both. They're both incredible sounding, but not the same - both are warm but the X7 is a little smoother, the 000 has a more accessible growl to it. The X7 is a very short scale (24") while the 000 is a full scale guitar. Both are great for strumming and for fingerpicking. I also have laminate Alvarez, but it will be moving to Oregon to live with my recently relocated daughter so I'll have something to play when we visit out there in the coming years.

There's a beauty to being ALL-carbon and not having to ever give humidity another thought - I really enjoyed THAT part of my carbon-free year. But I'm finding that as long as I have one guitar I can leave out and have handy all the time, keeping the other(s) cased and humidified most of the time is not much of a hassle. When i was playing all-wood guitars before, I always had room humidifiers going in a failing attempt to keep the room adequately humidified so I could leave something out to just grab spontaneously. It felt like a not very successful full-time job and I kind of hated it. The relief of going all-carbon was IMMENSE!

But now I have my carbon acoustic hanging with my two solid-body electrics:

unnamed-1 by Ray, on Flickr

And about a step and a half away, I have my Martin cased on the top of a coffee table and my Alvarez cased just below it (until it leaves for the west coast). The Martin is almost as accessible as the ones on the wall, and the Alvarez is just a little bit less accessible. And I'm not running humidifiers in the room - just keeping humidipaks in the cases (not even in the sound holes, so it's super quick to grab a guitar and put one back).

unnamed by Ray, on Flickr

I had to think about humidity enough to get the room set up the way I wanted once I decided to add back some wooden acoustics, but once set up, in practice, it's very nearly a non-issue. And if my neuroses get the better of me during the very driest days, I just play the carbon fiber guitar that day, which was my only option last year this time. So, it's kind of a win win.

I've come to the conclusion that carbon fiber guitars sound every bit as good as wooden guitars, but no two guitars sound the same, so having a small variety of them is certainly reasonable. And I like the combination better than one or the other. You're right, though, that you can do better on a budget with wood - there are no bargain priced carbon fiber guitars of any quality out there. Yet. I'm sure in time there will be, but at this point you have to spend for a good carbon fiber guitar.

-Ray

Is that a soundseat?