Composite Acoustics GXi - The Final Frontier?

CA was the brainchild of of Ellis Seal, a Lockheed-Martin Engineer, who worked out of shed behind his house for years, perfecting his carbon fiber guitar designs.

CA had one chambered body electric model and a whole catalog of acoustics, from the jumbo 'Legacy' to the short scale 'Cargo' travel guitar, including a 12 string, a baritone and 2 thin body cutaways.

Shut down without explanation March 4th 2010, probably just another Bush Crash victim.  And probably because they were having too much fun perfecting new models instead of concentrating on making money off just a couple models like the other carbon guitar companies.  Their f-hole archtop never made it to market.

Was looking for a cutaway acoustic with a 1 3/4" nut width for my fat clumsy fingers, that could acoustically render the resonance, sustain and deep low end punch of my favorite amp model.  Gypsy Jazz Gitanes have the 1 3/4" nut but tend toward the tinkly range acoustically and throwing my arm over a big Jumbo makes my right elbow ache.

Except for hand made luthier pieces in the $5G range, CA was the only thing that came close.  Wanted to custom order one in the sanded and waxed 'Raw' finish.  Glad I didn't wait.

Found 2 offset hole GXi models on craigslist at the same time:

an HG (high gloss) in red with the Baggs Element Onboard system (sold).

a custom ordered RT (road tough) textured finish in wine with large pearl dots and the
Baggs iMix system, an under bridge pickup + an under saddle piezo, with soundhole controls.

Bought em both.

When news of the closure hit the internet, I bought 3 more CAs from dealers who were happy to close them out, since there was no more warranty support.

The GX has the same grand concert form factor, with a conventional round sound hole and bracing scheme, yielding a more conventional sound.  Beautiful Raw carbon fiber top and soundhole inlay.

Passed it on to my friend Peter, who needed something for solace.

Also picked up a new raw GXi that I keep in open tuning.  Rings out louder and sharper that the painted ones.  Clear carbon fiber top isn't as pretty as the GX.

And a raw Blade chambered electric that I play when my fingers are too tired to bend acoustic gauge strings.  The guy I sold the the gloss red GXi to called it my 'slut guitar' because it easy.

Here's a snapshot of the CA website, before is disappeared: http://carbon.nut.net/

Eventually sold out to Peavey who cut way back on the lineup and raised all the prices by a grand.
Still don't think Peavey is making any 1 3/4" necks

So we're right at 15 here, including 2 basses, with a couple pieces currently for sale.

Martin Alternative X - Weighing the Alternatives

The 'Grand Concert' body of the Alternative X is about 5/8" smaller in length and width and 3/4" smaller in depth than the 'Auditorium' body of the Alternative II. Loses a bit in the lows but much easier to throw an elbow over.

With the advent of the CA evolution, these mostly get used for open tuning experimentation, but that where most of the interesting composition takes place.

Charvel 325 SLX Surfcaster Acoustic

Check one off the wishlist.

Had the high bid on eBAy but didn't meet the minimum.
Found the seller's parallel posting on a guitar enthusiast site, so I emailed him an offer.

Only sold from 92-94.
Very rare, very strange, probably made by Samick in Korea.
Small & light with a tinkly tone like an old parlor guitar or a Baby Taylor.

Makes great noises with onboard electronics, including a chorus effect.

The less expensive SL model lacked the chorus effect & flame maple top.

Marlboro Guitar - Sold!

Jack found this on craigslist, from a guy who knew somebody with a serious nicotine habit. With enough cigarette carton coupons, you paid $50 for the shipping.

These unlabeled mysterious Martin knockoffs, attributed to Reliance International (http://www.productpilot.com/en/suppliers/reliance-international-corp/) are well regarded; good action and nice tone for less than $200, but Jack has over 50 acoustics, including a passel of amazing Venturas and Tamas, so he re-sold this one to me.

No plug-in or cutaway, so it's outa here!

Read all about 'em here:
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/product/Marlboro/DM/10/1

That's all folks...

You start at the bottom - click to expand the pics - most are 144 dpi.

This is what 2 Snow Days gets you.  Will update as things change.

Believe I left out a Martin Backpacker that I traded for an Vintage Edyline Orca Kayak, but that was more of a long scale 6-string Mandolin...

And a cobby Chinese Epiphone Chet Atkins CEC; never adapted to nylon and that 2' nut neck, but get credit for trying it on.

The Amps - Johnson Millenium 150

Some bright fellow from Utah decided to make the ultimate cover band amp and is generally credited with success, despite the never-ending gnashing by the power tube purists. Whenever I plug into a 'big name' combo, I'm amazed at how harsh they sound in a small room at practice volume.

I don't cover anything, but I love total distortion played at a whisper, late at night after the spousal & kids are out for the count. Every sound a closet rocker could want with the spin of the big black knob.

Johnson sold out to a conglomerate and the JM150 became the Line6 Vetta, but 5 years later, they still keep their website up:

http://www.johnson-amp.com/

and John has his private amp page:

http://www.abyssmall.com/Johnson/mainframe.htm

Also keep a Johnson J-Station, a battery powered Roland Microcubes, a yellow Crate Taxi,
a cheapo Peavey 112 bass amp and that old 3W Silvertone running a scratchy 60's stereo console speaker.

Martin Alternative Resonator

A local craigs buy for 1/3 the cost of a National, with full electronics,
and carrying less than half the weight.

Way loud, even strung down to 13-59 (versus the factory 16-63 reso set) using a nickel 7 string set, minus the high E string.

Ever try a 2 fret bend on an 16 with your pinkie? Need to cut a new Micarta nut or super glue the high E notch to quiet that rattle though.

Currently tuned G minor.
Slide monster.

http://martinguitar.com/guitars/choosing/guitars.php?p=m&m=ALternative%20II%20Resonator

Martin Alternative XT

Use to be my most expensive piece.
Martin made one run of 170 of these and sold them all at the NAMM show a couple years back. Seen one or two on eBay.

The big Portland Martin dealer got one, but decided to sell it after a year. Just my bad luck. My second 'store bought guitar'.

Kinda weird because that pickup is like the loudest shrieking shred metal pickup that Dimarzio makes.
Got it cranked way down and it rings, but what were they thinking? Who knows.

Got it working on a Tele vibe with the right amp model.

http://martinguitar.com/guitars/choosing/guitars.php?m=Alternative%20XT&p=i

or

http://m2w.net/wiki/index.php/Alternative_XT

Eastwood Sidejack - Sold!

Some Canadian dude made his fortune in Silicon Valley, then decided to monetize his vintage guitar collecting hobby by having the the Chinese knock off his favorite pieces, thus Eastwood Guitars.

I was looking for something cheap to fulfill my P90 yearnings without an hour of tuning up the old 125, so this Mosrite copy looked like fun.

Set neck, heavy as hell, even with a 3" wide bass strap, same old crappy Chinese pots, and not enough of 'em.

Sold on craigs for a bunch more than the 250 that I paid via eBay, but need alot more for anything on the wish list.

His old messy site: http://www.myrareguitars.com/toplevel.html

His new slick site: http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/

Martin Alternative II

Now we're to the bones.
This was the prime axe prior to the CA takeover.
Currently tuned to open Low C.
Piezo pickups kick ass on magnetics.
Frequency response. Highs and Lows. Sub-harmonics.

Some Martin grandson thought that the family legacy shouldn't be dependant on the continued desecration of the Tongrass National Forest in Alaska, where all the worlds' instrument grade straight grain spuce is logged. Thus the Alternative Series. First they experimented with a carbon graphite top, then moved to the aluminum top over a Micarta body.

The seller actually wrapped the snakeskin case in a layer of brown paper and sent it via US Mail. Arrived with a yellow crust of ganja smoke on top; I'm still afraid to take it thru an airport.

Sat in the back of the truck for the duration of the 'Great Oval Tour of '06', hot, cold, desert dry to gulf coast dripping.

44 days without needing a tuning.

Try that with a hunk of wood.

http://martinguitar.com/guitars/choosing/guitars.php?m=Alternative%20II&p=i

or

http://m2w.net/wiki/index.php/Alternative_II

Ovation Tangent MOB57

Another 'family' guitar.
Looks great!
Sounds just like an Ovation acoustically, Rocks out through an amp
Nobody adopted it.
Currently for sale with HSC.
$450 takes it.

Ashbory Bass

Carol's new bass.

Big metal wounds hurt your soft little pinkies?
Try big fat soft silicone rubber strings.

Invented by a couple amazing English lads.
Licenced to DeArmond, who was bought out by Fender.

Half scale; 30" long. Weighs, like nothing.
Sounds big and thumpy like a real double bass.
Played by jazz guys in clubs with real small stages

Read all about it at:
http://www.ashelec.demon.co.uk/ashbory/

Steinberger Spirit GU-7R - Sold!

Was Logan's Guitar.
He wanted something like the Sticks, except 'like a real guitar.'
But since he's only interested in being first seat french horn, it's gone.

Ibanez AEB 10 Bass

Kamon's Christmas Present Acoustic Bass.
So he could take it and play it at school.

Still lives with him off at college.

Ovation 1866 - 12 String all over again - Sold!

For near half the price of the dearly departed 1866, an eBay buy.
With mahogany neck instead of the composite neck on the original.
Never really rang out as loud and sharp as the original.

After playing Baggs and Fishmans, the Ovation's piezo sound thunked like a hunk of plastic  thru an amp.

Don't play it for months, take it down, and it was right in tune.
And that's most of what I wanted from a 12-string.

But with delay, echo, reverb and tremelo,
who needs 12 strings?

Fender Jaguar Baritone Special and Baritone HH - Both Sold!

Time to go Baritone!
Got both of these on eBay.
The 27" scale dual humbucker HH was just loud and noisy; sold it on craigs to a local heavy metal head banger.

The 28.5" scale Special was owned by Rontrose of the Supersuckers.
Just off a tour opening for Pearl Jam through Canada.
Spent the whole day in his basement in Tacoma playing his collection.

Has that classic Jaguar growl, low enough to rumble all the innards.
No tiny 24" scale and crummy Jag tremelo.

Thought it was a keeper, but slowly slipped out of favor.
Could rumble away with the hollow bodies in drop tuning with less stress on the old joints.

Sold to pay for a CA GXi. A sad day.

http://www.supersuckers.com/07website_dir/index.php

Hohner Professional G3T 'Hohnerberger Stick'

Ned Steinberger is the guitar design genius of the late 20th century.
Better designer than manufacturing tycoon. Licensing out his designs paid some of the bills, but the end was inevitable.

Now Steinberger is just another line in the Gibson family of profit centers.

Real American graphite Steinberger GL 6-strings are now over $3K on eBay.  And I have the carbon fiber thing covered with the CA Gxi pair.

But according to the stories, Ned really liked these little numbers;
a solid chunk of American maple carved by Samick in Korea.

When my Jagstang experience sent me searching the web for a tremelo that actually worked (returned to tune) I found one of these on craigslist in Seattle for $250; got another on eBay so I could keep one in open tune.

God's own noodling units, an absolute breeze to play, with chimey passive EMG's.  Got those active EMG 89's and SA's to swap in - just have to figure out the wiring with the 3 mini toggles instead of the 5-way.

The last solid body guitars I'd ever sell.
Well now, make it the only ones I have left.

Fender Jagstang - Sold!

1963. The Beatles. A Fender Jaguar was my first love.
That Teisco Sears knockoff was what I showed Grandma in the catalog.

Got around to that wicked Surf machine with tremelo thing.
Gave a new Jag a test drive at the guitar store; what a piece of junk!
Why do they lovingly copy every mistake in the history of guitar design?
Oh yeah, idiots will pay a grand, even if it's Japanese made.

For something affordable and Fender, found a Jagstang on craigslist in Seattle. Owned by female working bass player who got it second hand to try out the 6 string thing. Nearly perfect and stock except the missing trem bar and JB bridge pickup (like Kurt used). Amazing sounds!

The 24" scale was way small for my fat fingers and it was too heavy and valuable for the boyz to screw around with. Not really colllectible with the swapped (better) pickup and 50th anniv sticker removed.
Sold it to a kid down the street. So long, Kurt.

Learn all about Jags and their bastard offspring, with a guide to those weird switches: http://www.jag-stang.com/jsIndex.shtml

Jay Turser JT-RES - The Collection Begins - Sold!

There is no Jay Turser; it's a marketing company in New Jersey that imports cheap Chinese Guitars.

Always wanted a resonator, but the super heavy strings made my fingers hurt and who has 2 large for a National?

This little spider bridge Reso-Lectric knockoff was 200 plus shippin on eBay and is a bunch of fun, but typical of Chinese guitars, needs better pots or an active balance control between the piezo on the cone and the humbucker.

Sold it at a guitar swapmeet in a sweltering hotel ballroom. Didn't really intend to move it, but I was helping my guitar buddy man his booth and it was the only offer we got on over 50 guitars all day. Never set up across from the MESA factory amplifier booth, even if they assign you that spot!

http://www.jayturser.com/jt-res.php

1963 Gibson 125TDC

A friend rescued this forlorn piece of junk from the basement of a building being demolished in Portland and gave it to me,
because I fix stuff.

Split from bout to bout thru the tailpiece, bridge gone missing,
frets and fretboard ground to death by some hard bending neck choker.

Cleaned it up some and took it around to local luthiers,
who said the cost of repairs far exceeded the book value.

So I clamped it up as close as I could, tite-bonded the cracks, made a bridge out of purple heart and strung her up, tuned low and open.  Eventually I added new tuners, a repro adjustable bridge and a Seymor Duncan SH1 '59 in the bridge position.

Tuned way down to CFCFAC, the tuning stabilizes, its easy on the fingers and it's a screamin' P90 slide machine. Lonesome George.

Liking that P90 wail more every time I plug it in.

http://www.provide.net/~cfh/gibson4.html

Ovation Legend 1866 12 string '92- '02 RIP and Resurrection

Back in '92 we done sold out and packed up for Oregon.

And I got me a shiny new store bought guitar to celebrate.

Still my favorite piece of neck, ever.

Stayed in tune like a chunk of steel tube.

Learnt open tunings and slide and everything.


Then, one night after dinner, Kamon, the galoot
knocked it off the hanger on the living room wall whilst it was tuned up to DGDGDG. KABLOOIE. Shattered the top right off it.

There's a rumor that the composite bowl and neck
may be resurrected as a 12 string biscuit resonator
with an Fishman active piezo and EMG 91 jazz pickup.
Should hum like hells' own box of bees.

The Ibanez Artist 2619 1976

Sam got this new and sold it Jon,
who gave it to me for my 21st birthday.
(Thank You!)

Last year, I sold it back to Jon
to fund the the start of my collection.
(Thank you again!)

Am I a schmuck or what?

The string spacing is only 1.3"
at the nut and 1.875" at the bridge.

So this wonderful piece of Japanese artistry frustrated the crap outa me for over 20 long years.

'Til I finally paid enough attention to realize that there were different neck widths to be had.

Schmuck and Dolt.

Silvertone 1448L Saugus Swapmeet Special

Jon's mom nabbed him this beauty at the Swapmeet, allegedly for $5.

When Jon got himself a real guitar, he passed it on to me;
still wondering what I did to piss him off that week.

An untunable piece of Danelectro detrius, but I learned a few chords.

When I returned from Alaska, the masonite top was split off the poplar body, so I hauled it to the dump out there off Hwy 126.

Next week, saw one in a guitar shop on Sunset selling for $400.
A nice one posted here last year on craigslist with Case/Amp for $500.

Still have the amp, working on all the original Silvertone tubes.
If I ever figure out what speaker to hook it to, it could be a howler.

My first guitar - the Emenee Tiger Guitar 1966?

Can't remember the year, probably '66, when I showed my Grandmother the guitars in the Sears catalog.

 I knew this hunk of styrene was a toy when I got it for Chistmas, and my brother broke it a few days later.

 Somewhere in the 3 archive boxes of family slides, there's one of me with my Tiger, but it'll never be posted here.

Here's a link: http://mewzik.com/research/emenee/guitar/wingding/index.html