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Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
 Posted - 12/14/2009 : 06:41:52 AM
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When Admin Andy came out to Kailua Beach in October he brought along Darin Leong's Composite Acoustics OX guitar ( http://www.caguitars.com ). Whoa, what an interesting instrument. Made in Lafayette, LA, from a matrix of carbon fiber and epoxy, these guitars are unaffected by temperature and humidity, sound and play great, and don't cost the moon. When we caught Brother Nolan at the Windward Community College Ho`olaulea he and his lead guitarist were both playing Composite Acoustics guitars.
So when an opportunity for a used OX popped up in one of the guitar forums I visit I begged, pleaded, and wheedled until Lynnie gave the OK. I've had the guitar for a couple of weeks now and I'm really enjoying it. The look is dramatic, the sound is sweet, it plays nice and easy, and it stays in tune well. I put medium strings on it and tuned to taropatch F for this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqzDWMBP2gk
I also did a blog post with pics and more commentary: http://www.homebrewedmusic.com/2009/12/13/composite-acoustics-ox-raw/
Fran
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E ho`okani pila kakou ma Kaleponi
Slack Key Guitar in California - www.kaleponi.com
Slack Key on YouTube
Homebrewed Music Blog |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 12/14/2009 : 07:13:58 AM
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Fran,
Congrats on the new guitar! Thanks for sharing your video and blog.
I enjoyed playing Darin's CA guitar, on loan, while in Honolulu. It played great and sounded pretty good unplugged. I didn't plug it in but understand that is when it shines. Nice that you can play carefree of humidity and the hot baking sun. Since I was borrowing it, I refrained from taking it into the bathtub.  |
Andy |
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 12/14/2009 : 08:09:43 AM
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Welcome to the club, Fran. I've got a Cargo, one of their little travel guitars. Hands down the best travel guitar I've ever played... it sounds huge. Great electronics, too.... which limits its underwater use some.
I have played it in the rain but not in the bathtub.
(And I do play in a band with a guy who used to play piano underwater... I'm not kidding.) |
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APT
Aloha
34 Posts |
Posted - 12/14/2009 : 1:24:32 PM
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I, too, fell for the carbon fiber idea. I bought a new Rainsong a few months ago, and it has been nothing but trouble. The action came ridiculously high, and I fell for the line that all it required was a "minor adjustment." I'll never fall for that one again. It has been in and out of the repair shop. It is either unplayable due to high action or, when the action is lowered to a decent level, is subject to fret buzz. So my choices are either having an unplayable guitar or a guitar that drives me nuts with fret buzz.
This particular model does not have a truss rod (I know, I know ... mistake #2), so nothing can be done with the neck.
The place where I bought it is an "all sales final" shop (yep, mistake #3 for me), so I cannot return it. I have no confidence whatsoever that the manufacturer will do anything but restore the action to its unplayable height.
So Fran, I'm glad you are enjoying your guitar! It sounds great! I'm hoping that my latest trip to yet another repairman will lead to a playable and buzz-less guitar! |
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Darin
Lokahi
USA
294 Posts |
Posted - 12/14/2009 : 2:35:37 PM
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Fran, your playing is sounding great. Keep up the good work.
Composites have become quite popular out here in humidity land. Good for outdoor use and you can leave them around the house without worrying about humidity. The ones with the dual source LR Baggs pickups sound a lot better plugged in than the ones with the single pickup option.
If you're on Oahu, Dan's Guitars is the place that sells Composites. |
Darin
http://www.hawaiiguitar.com/ |
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Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
Posted - 12/14/2009 : 4:50:34 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by APT
I, too, fell for the carbon fiber idea. I bought a new Rainsong a few months ago, and it has been nothing but trouble. The action came ridiculously high, and I fell for the line that all it required was a "minor adjustment." I'll never fall for that one again. It has been in and out of the repair shop. It is either unplayable due to high action or, when the action is lowered to a decent level, is subject to fret buzz. So my choices are either having an unplayable guitar or a guitar that drives me nuts with fret buzz.
This particular model does not have a truss rod (I know, I know ... mistake #2), so nothing can be done with the neck.
The place where I bought it is an "all sales final" shop (yep, mistake #3 for me), so I cannot return it. I have no confidence whatsoever that the manufacturer will do anything but restore the action to its unplayable height.
So Fran, I'm glad you are enjoying your guitar! It sounds great! I'm hoping that my latest trip to yet another repairman will lead to a playable and buzz-less guitar!
Oh, man, this is a gut wrencher. However, I would expect that you might find a fix. The buzzing with playable action sounds like one or more frets are high. The secret is finding a luthier with excellent setup knowledge and skills.
There shouldn't be a need for a truss rod, they're not common in my experience with carbon fiber guitars. On the CA and I think on the Rainsong as well the neck is a hollow tube.
Since you bought the guitar new I would expect the factory to correct any defects. Rainsong is not a fly-by-night company as far as I've ever heard.
Fran |
E ho`okani pila kakou ma Kaleponi
Slack Key Guitar in California - www.kaleponi.com
Slack Key on YouTube
Homebrewed Music Blog |
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Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
Posted - 12/14/2009 : 4:53:50 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Darin
Fran, your playing is sounding great. Keep up the good work.
Composites have become quite popular out here in humidity land. Good for outdoor use and you can leave them around the house without worrying about humidity. The ones with the dual source LR Baggs pickups sound a lot better plugged in than the ones with the single pickup option.
If you're on Oahu, Dan's Guitars is the place that sells Composites.
I visited Dan's just to try the CAs, but I didn't have time to really relax into it. Now that I've spent some time with this OX I think a couple of Masterbilts are going on the block.
Fran |
E ho`okani pila kakou ma Kaleponi
Slack Key Guitar in California - www.kaleponi.com
Slack Key on YouTube
Homebrewed Music Blog |
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Hookani
Lokahi
232 Posts |
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Earl
`Olu`olu
USA
524 Posts |
Posted - 12/15/2009 : 07:48:52 AM
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I agree with Fran's comment about factory support. Rainsong seems like a pretty good company and should address this problem. You contact them directly, since I am sure they don't want this kind of bad PR out there.
I have two Rainsongs, a WS-1000 and a PMJ-1000 (an attempt at a less expensive import version, no longer made). They don't have truss rods, but I have never perceived the neck moving at all between the lowest slack-key tuning that I use (Bb) up to standard tuning with medium gauge strings. The action just stays put, no matter what.
I hope you can get this resolved. I like the Rainsong so much that if the house caught on fire, I would grab the cat in one hand and the Rainsong off the wall hanger with the other hand. Martins, Taylors and others in the herd would have to fend for themselves.
And I too was quite impressed with the CA Cargo travel guitar. I may have to acquire one eventually.
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APT
Aloha
34 Posts |
Posted - 12/15/2009 : 4:19:00 PM
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Earl,
I love the Rainsong, too, in a way. I love its tone, and I love how it just stays in tune. But the action is way bad, and I just don't have confidence that Rainsong will do anything but restore it to where it was before, which was too high. I'm hoping that the current repairman will be able to fix things, but I'm not real confident. I would love to be wrong about that!
If he can't make the fix, then I am selling the thing and moving on. |
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Haolenuke
Lokahi
USA
117 Posts |
Posted - 12/16/2009 : 09:13:02 AM
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Aloha Fran,
What a beautiful recording! That CA guitar and Kaliponi player are an awesome combination. Could you please be more specific about the medium strings that you used? I was amazed with how little string noise came through in the recording. |
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noeau
Ha`aha`a
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 12/16/2009 : 11:05:27 AM
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| Wow Mediums! Whe I had my rainsong It was recommended that only lights be used. So itʻll be interest to se if the CA holds up with mediums since the bass response with those gauges is great sounding. |
No'eau, eia au he mea pa'ani wale nō. |
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Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
Posted - 12/16/2009 : 12:39:57 PM
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Thanks for all the responses.
quote:
Originally posted by Hookani
Did you know you can cut them in half and still play them too?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OEZNzOAQFM
I'd heard of this video, but seeing it is a whole other thing!!!
I was fascinated by the shop tour video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QbH8_GnU5k - they're really handmade instruments.
quote:
Originally posted by Haolenuke
Aloha Fran,
What a beautiful recording! That CA guitar and Kaliponi player are an awesome combination. Could you please be more specific about the medium strings that you used? I was amazed with how little string noise came through in the recording.
Howdy, and thanks. I use Elixir Nanowebs, usually the original 80/20 formula. Since I'm basically always in taropatch, I buy an extra highest and lowest string and replace the originals with one size heavier.
I use light strings when I tune to G, then with my replacements the first and last strings are .013 and .056 instead of the standard .012 and .053.
When I tune to F as I am in the video, I use medium strings, replacing the .013 and .056 with .014 and .059. This is handy because I pass down the outer medium strings to the lights.
I still wind up having to buy two extra strings for every other set, and I have a drawer that's filling up with .012 and .053 strings <grin>.
quote:
Originally posted by noeau
Wow Mediums! Whe I had my rainsong It was recommended that only lights be used. So itʻll be interest to se if the CA holds up with mediums since the bass response with those gauges is great sounding.
Please note that the guitar is tuned to taropatch F. Still, based on the way it feels mediums would work fine in G. Of course, I'd hate to find out I was wrong the hard way.
Also, the Zoom H2 was roughly a foot away, well inside the proximity zone, and it generally has a low end bump to my ears, so some of the bass you're hearing is a recording artifact.
Fran |
E ho`okani pila kakou ma Kaleponi
Slack Key Guitar in California - www.kaleponi.com
Slack Key on YouTube
Homebrewed Music Blog |
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Darin
Lokahi
USA
294 Posts |
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Haolenuke
Lokahi
USA
117 Posts |
Posted - 12/18/2009 : 1:41:42 PM
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Aloha Fran,
Thank you for the information about the strings that you use so well. It must be annoying to fill a drawer with strings that you have no need for. It sure would be nice if the string manufactures would let you define your own string set for a small additional charge.
I have been trying to figure out how to string an old Martin tiple for low G tenor ukulele taropach tuning without buying a store full of string sets. I just don't want to play in A, D, F#, and B. |
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salmonella
Lokahi
240 Posts |
Posted - 12/18/2009 : 3:00:11 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Haolenuke
Aloha Fran,
I have been trying to figure out how to string an old Martin tiple for low G tenor ukulele taropach tuning without buying a store full of string sets. I just don't want to play in A, D, F#, and B.
There is a guitar store in Dixon, and I suspect it is not the only one, where you can buy individual Daddario PBs in whatever gauge you want. I know this because I cut one string of a set too short when I was visiting there and did not want to buy an entire set to get that one string.
Dave |
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Waterproof Guitar
