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Old 03-08-2008, 01:10 PM
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Thin Crust Thin Crust is offline
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Default Composite Acoustics Cargo

Anyone actually own one yet? I was looking for a decent travel guitar that I wouldn't have to worry with, and was about to pull the trigger on a CA GX Player when my friends at Artisan Guitars recommended I consider this little gem. I still haven't played one, but fitting in an overhead sealed the deal for me.............I ordered the next one they receive (apparently CA can't build these fast enough)
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Old 03-08-2008, 03:31 PM
Alan Porton Alan Porton is offline
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Cool, John......I'll be anxious to hear your report.....
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Old 03-08-2008, 09:01 PM
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Me too Alan. No one anywhere reasonably close has one to try, but I'm confident Bill and Ellie at Artisan wouldn't steer me wrong, so I ordered the next one to hit their shop that isn't already spoken for.
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Old 03-11-2008, 10:17 AM
JohnnyMcG JohnnyMcG is offline
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I don't have one yet (but I really want one ), but I did send an email request to CA's customer service requesting some info/ a recording. This morning in my inbox, to my surprise, there was a reply with two recordings! Props to CA for keeping up with their email - I've not had good experiences in the past with emailing customer service departments.

If anyone would like the info they sent me and the recordings, send me a PM with your email and I'll forward it on over. (Sorry, won't post my email here to avoid spam.)

They gave me a direct recording using the built-in pickup and an acoustic recording. The acoustic recording sounds better to my ear, but I'll let you be the judge. There's also the powerpoint slideshow with information about their whole line. Let me know if you want any of this!
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Old 03-11-2008, 10:23 AM
jwbry jwbry is offline
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sent you a pm requesting that you forward the Cargo stuff. Tnx.
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Old 03-11-2008, 10:37 AM
thistle thistle is offline
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Where is there a picture of the Cargo? I just want to see it!
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Old 03-11-2008, 10:39 AM
JohnnyMcG JohnnyMcG is offline
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Go to www.artisanguitars.com and search composite acoustics - they've got some good pics up of the cargo.
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Old 03-11-2008, 02:32 PM
JohnnyMcG JohnnyMcG is offline
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::bump::
sorry - just wanted to make sure the evening crowd got a chance to see this. I know there are more who are interested in the Cargo - see above about a recording.
Have a nice evening, all
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Old 03-11-2008, 03:55 PM
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mckejoel mckejoel is offline
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Default Here is a Cargo photo...

Here is a photo of the Composite Acoustics Cargo guitar.



FEATURES
Body style: GX / Parlor
Bracing: Integrated Top Bracing™
Nut width: 1 ¾"
Scale length: 23"
Fretwire: 21 medium stainless steel, 14 frets to body
Rosette: None
Fretboard inlays: None / Aluminum Side Dots
Paint style: Charcoal
Electronics: Fishman Matrix VT
Tuners / gear ratio: Gotoh SG 381 / 1:15
Tuner color / button: Black / Black
Nut & Saddle: Black Carbon Fiber
Case: Gig Bag


Sweet little music maker!
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Old 03-12-2008, 02:49 PM
Buzzer Buzzer is offline
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Here are the pictures of the Cargo next to CA's new GX with the Offset sound-hole to give a perspective
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Old 03-16-2008, 11:02 AM
GRW3 GRW3 is offline
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Thumbs up I played one Saturday...

This is a great guitar. I think it might well become CAs signature guitar - it's that good. It's the best small guitar I've ever played. Now I've yet to play a Santa Cruz Firefly, which is supposed to be da' bomb, but it's 5X the cost.

My favorite shop, Guitar Tex, got two in Friday - a natural and a a charcoal. The natural sold immediately. I played the charcoal intensely on Saturday and then the next person who played it intensely bought it. I think this the way it's going to be for a while. If you want to see a Cargo let your dealer know to alert you when it arrives and go see it then, next Saturday it will be gone.

OK about the guitar. The charcoal is kind of an industrial finish with a slight texture to it. I never liked the glossy black necks of previous CAs any more than I like any gloss neck so this was quite an improvement neck wise. The texture is a little smoother than previous versions, at least on this guitar. The black bridge and fretboard stand out compared to glossy black guitars. I did not plug in but I did observe that the volume and tone controls were very conveniently placed in the offset sound hole.

OK, after holding you in suspense, here's the deal - it sounds great. You will be stunned by how much bass this little guitar produces. It's not just bass, it has good tone across the range, but bass is the usual problem with small guitars. It has a very good dynamic range, you play quietly without fade and you can play loud without break-up or buzz. I don't think I hit the volume limit but more would have been inappropriate in the shop.

The guitar sets pretty well in the lap. (For small guitars I use the mandolin technique of putting my left foot on the side of my right to elevate my left leg.) The combination of the short scale (22.5") and the lightly textured finish make a very fast neck. The action was near perfect needing only a slight drop at the nut on the high E and B strings for my particular preference. The narrower fret spacing did induce some initial overshoot but made those stretched chords much easier. I found some of the earlier CA necks to be a little sharp at the edge of the fretboard, making it uncomfortable to wrap my thumb around the neck for that F# to go with a D chord. This neck is fine.

I flatpick so these comments reflect that style. Ed, the guy that bought this little gem, is a fingerpicker of greater prowess than I flatpick. He brought in a nice little Larrivee parlor for a pickup change so he's a small guitar fan. He started on an "interesting but I'm a wood guy" level but the more he played the more intense his effort and the more excited he got. He played his way to a purchase.

Now downsides, other than the low quality gig bag provided (CA guys - see Martin or Taylor). The primary downside remains the same as previous CA guitars - carbon fiber is not wood and does not sound like wood. Now this is not a problem, just an observation. If 'wood tone' is a big deal to you, then a CA may not suffice. EXCEPT, while the Cargo has that same neutral tone as other CAs, I think it sets a new standard for small guitars. Where the bigger CAs have been designed to emulate wood guitar, I'm guessing the CA engineers built the Cargo to get the most out of it. So it doesn't sound like a wood parlor guitar - it sounds a lot better. Based on what I heard I would strongly recommend that the CA engineers work the same magic on the Bluegrass Dread. Instead of aiming to emulate the D28 aim for the real Holy Grail - Banjo Killer.

I didn't miss out on the purchase because I'm not an impulse buyer. (I don't think Ed is either but he is a much better player than I am so he can make a faster judgement.) Still, it's one of those instruments that's starting eat on me. The charcoal feels great but I would like to see the other colors (natural, red, wine, green). I'm partial to greens and blues so I'm hoping the green color is one I like. I have to be ready to commit to universal use in situations where I won't take a quality wood guitar because I won't have two outside guitars. The 000X1 would have to go.
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Old 03-16-2008, 11:11 AM
Ed422 Ed422 is offline
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I can't find bout sizes... anyone know what they are? And is it made to be tuned to E and with what string gauges? It looks like a neat little geetar.

Ed
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Old 03-16-2008, 11:29 AM
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Thanks for the great report George. I have the next one through Artisan Guitars' door, although we're still not exactly sure on a date. It will be the natural finish with no electronics. I can hardly wait.
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Old 03-16-2008, 11:58 AM
shadowboxer shadowboxer is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed422 View Post
I can't find bout sizes... anyone know what they are? And is it made to be tuned to E and with what string gauges? It looks like a neat little geetar.

Ed
I wrote them a week or so ago and the reply was that it is tuned to E. Haven't seen one "in the flesh" yet, though.
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Old 03-16-2008, 02:57 PM
brahmz118 brahmz118 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed422 View Post
I can't find bout sizes... anyone know what they are? And is it made to be tuned to E and with what string gauges? It looks like a neat little geetar.

Ed
This is my concern as well. If it's only meant to handle lights at nothing higher than standard tuning, then it will suffer from the same fatal flaw as the Baby Taylor -- bad intonation. Whenever I bring this up Baby Taylor enthusiasts often chime in to say that their BT's intonation is fine. But this is really more a property of the strings than the guitar -- at standard tuning on a 22.5" scale guitar, the tension generated by light gauge strings is too low for intonation to be perfect, or even reasonably good.

As far as I know only Martin and Emerald have successfully addressed this issue with their travel guitars -- the Martins are designed for mediums, and the Emerald X5s are full-scale from nut to bridge, just with a smaller body. I really hope the Cargo can handle mediums. If not I would say the Emerald X5 remains the gold standard for travel guitars, even though they are no longer being produced.
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