Carbon fibre top acoustic?

Amigo · June 2021

Here's a curious guitar:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203196179739
Never heard of the manufacturer, nor of carbon fibre tops, so I thought I'd ask here for opinions. Just sheer curiosity.

ICBM · June 2021

Call me cynical if you like, but for that price I’d like to see evidence of there actually being carbon fibre in it…

It’s not a new concept - Ovation have been using it since the late 1970s (the Adamas model) and there are all-carbon-fibre guitars - Rain Song. Both of these cost thousands.

crunchman · June 2021

The other question is what it sounds like even if it is carbon fibre. I played a Rainsong, and was very underwhelmed by the sound.

ICBM · June 2021

crunchman said:

The other question is what it sounds like even if it is carbon fibre. I played a Rainsong, and was very underwhelmed by the sound.

Likewise - and the Adamas too, although they sounded very good amplified in their day - I haven't played a more recent one.

Bork · June 2021

If it's made from prepregnated carbon fibre sheet, it's not an expensive material to buy or use. The price isn't unreasonable. If you're talking moulded carbon graphite, with the significant additional time and labour cost in making the moulds and laying the composite, then that's a different ball park cost-wise. Trust me when I say that there is very limited experience in China for moulded carbon graphite. It tends to be limited to non structural products like cases although I'm aware of one company that makes cellos, violas and violins from moulded carbon graphite but not guitars.

maltingsaudio · June 2021

Probably sound like a Gibson mark series!
Anyone remember/got a Garrison with the carbon fibre frame?

fretmeister · June 2021

ICBM said:

crunchman said:

The other question is what it sounds like even if it is carbon fibre. I played a Rainsong, and was very underwhelmed by the sound.

Likewise - and the Adamas too, although they sounded very good amplified in their day - I haven't played a more recent one.

It's all about the build.

https://luisandclark.com/the-instruments/the-cello/

These have passed blind hearing testing with some of the best orchestras in the world.

The prices are high - but still way lower than a traditional classical instrument.

Dominic · June 2021

Souldn't they be matt black with blingy oversized wheels and a drainpipe exhaust ?

Dominic · June 2021

Oh,and stupidly 'dark as night 'window tints

Tannin · June 2021

Carbon fibre is a commonplace material for guitar construction. Here is a list of the carbon fibre acoustic makers I knew about or could find within a few minutes. There are also lots of electric makers using carbon fibre.

Beltona (UK) resonator guitars https://www.beltona.net ; *

Blackbird (USA) https://www.blackbirdguitar.com/

Composite Acoustics** (USA) https://www.compositeacoustics.com/ ;

Dlutowski (Spain) https://www.artluthier.com

Emerald (Ireland) https://emeraldguitars.com/

Enya Music (China) https://www.enya-music.com/collections/guitar

Evon Instrumentos (Spain) https://evoninstrumentos.com/ (Spanish language)

Fibertone (***) https://fibertone-guitars.com

Journey Instruments (China) https://journeyinstruments.com/

Klos (USA) https://klosguitars.com/

Lava Music (China) https://www.lavamusic.com/

Leviora Guitars (Germany) https://leviora-guitars.de/en/

McPherson (USA) https://mcphersonguitars.com/

Outdoor Ukulele (USA) https://www.outdoorukulele.com/collections/guitars

Ovation (Somewhere in Asia****) https://www.ovationguitars.com/

Rainsong (USA) https://www.rainsong.com/

Sbrothers Composite (UK) - https://sbrotherscomposite.com

Sumimaru (Japan) http://sumimaruguitar.com/ (Japanese language)

Sydow guitars (Hawaii) http://www.sydowguitars.com/Sydow_Guitars_and_Ukuleles/Home.html

Synergy Instruments (Canada) https://www.synergyinstruments.com/

* Website doesn't work. Possibly defunct.

** Composite Acoustics went broke in 2010, Peavy bought the remains and restarted production, hard to know what is going on with them now. They were certainly still alive in 2018.

*** Probably USA. As a rule, businesses which carefully do not state their location anywhere on their websites are either (a) trying hard to pretend they are not in China, or else (b) based in the USA, the only country in the whole world which doesn't realise that there is a whole world.

**** Ovation is secretive about its production facilities. Ovation guitars have at various times been made in Korea, China, Indonesia, and the USA. Currently, a handful of custom-made ones come from the USA, the bulk of production from somewhere cheap and undisclosed.

But there is a lot more to carbon fibre than the sort of all-carbon product companies like Emerald and Rainsong make. The modern trend among high-end guitar makers is to use carbon fibre reinforced braces underneath a traditional wooden top. This enables production of a stiffer, lighter soundboard, with more volume and better tone. There are several common ways of doing this: some simply use a lighter version of the traditional X brace, some make a carbon-fibre reinforced lattice - here is an example from my little island http://www.danielbrauchli.com/Acoustic_Concepts.htm but there are many others - and others again use carbon-reinforced falcate bracing as set out in the modern guitar-builder's Bible here - https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/supplies/books-plans-dvds/guitar-building-and-repair-and-setup/contemporary-acoustic-guitar-design-and-build-2nd-edition.html

Amigo · June 2021

Marvellous contribution, thank you very much!

hollywoodrox · June 2021

crunchman said:

The other question is what it sounds like even if it is carbon fibre. I played a Rainsong, and was very underwhelmed by the sound.

Rain song is the one I remember seeing advertised in the past

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Carbon fibre top acoustic?

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