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.