I am on the hunt for a ‘comfortable’ guitar; not too big, not too small, and not just for travel. Dreadnoughts are too wide and hurt my shoulder after about ten minutes, and parlor guitars make me bend over too far. (Standing and playing is out of the question.)
My question is specific to carbon fiber guitars. I live in the tropics where it is very humid. I’ve been doing some research and it appears that carbon fiber guitars are not affected by humidity. I’m curious to know if anyone here has a carbon fiber guitar, and how well you like it, not only for sound quality, but also comfort when you are playing it. Yes, I have seen Justin’s video regarding the carbon fiber guitars. Any other carbon fiber guitars that you have and really love to play?
Cheers!
There’s a world of guitar sizes between a dreadnought and a parlor. It’s not either/or. Taylor alone has the Grand Auditorium, GT, the GS mini, the Baby Taylor, the Big Baby to name just a handful that fall somewhere between dreadnought and parlor.
As far as having to bend over too far, lots of players use a strap on an acoustic guitar even when seated, to keep it in a comfortable and stable position.
Carbon fiber guitars also would vary in size, but yes, they would not be affected by humidity. They won’t sound the same as wood, so you really should actually try one to see if you like the sound rather than just ask others for their opinion online.
I live in Thailand. I have never been able to find a carbon fiber guitar anywhere. There are shops that say they will sell them, but there are none in stock to try out. What I’m thinking is that if I can zero in on a few that might suit me then when I make a return visit to my home country I can try some.
I’ve mentioned my Journey to you before… It’s easy to play, the one thing I notice with it if I play outdoors in the sun, with it’s dark blue body, it gets a bit hot to the touch. It’s a little bit smaller than my full size guitars, so I don’t notice it’s size, good or bad. It doesn’t have the sound project of my fuller sized guitars so I only play it when I’m traveling. It’s a great travel guitar but it has a number of compromises that make me not play it when I have other guitars around.
Hi Tony, I found a shop in Singapore, online, that can order the Journey, with a three to four month wait period… Pay in advance. So I decided to look in other directions.
My greatest concern is that when I do travel without a guitar that I will regress, backslide, and otherwise unlearn what I have learned. Perhaps my best bet is to just buy a cheap guitar when I get to my destinations so that I can at least practice.
There a few shops in Singapore, especially in Peninsula Plaza, which sell carbon fibre guitars.
If you can, it might be worth a quick visit to see and try some in person. It’s only a 2 hour flight from Thailand.
Cheers,
Keith
Hi Keith, I very likely will be going to Singapore in June, although still unsure at this time, and while there my schedule will be full, so not much time to shop for guitars. However, I definitely would like to try out some carbon fiber guitars. If you happen to know the names of the shops I will try to look them up on facebook or google maps to find out what they have in stock. I would be grateful.
And just curious… do you have a carbon fiber guitar? Any comments or suggestions? I know that they don’t sound like wood guitars, but that doesn’t worry me too much since I will be learning and playing for myself only. No rock concerts scheduled for this old geezer! I’d like to upgrade from my Yamaha FG800, which is too wide for me. I’m concerned about spending a lot of money on a comfortable high-end wood guitar only to have the humidly here ruin it.
Many thanks,
Hi Skip,
I don’t have a CF guitar.
The place to go is Peninsula Shopping Centre, basement level. There’s about 4-5 guitar shops there. Not all do CF guitars but Davis Music I saw has a CF Enya Nova guitar
there is also Lava Music in the same shopping centre just around the corner.
It may be worth contacting these places before you travel to make sure they have stock and that they are open and manned. The few times I’ve walked past Lava Music, it didn’t seem to have any staff around.
If you are interested in trying other non-CF travel guitars, The Guitar Gallery sells these. That’s in a different shopping mall, but it’s around 15 minutes away by bus, or less than 10 mins by Grab.
Both these malls are quite central.
Cheers,
Keith
Also, another option which might interest you is the Yamaha Silent Guitar.
Nominally Sound Alchemy in Peninsula Sopping Centre (just across from Davis Music) sell these, but they don’t seem to hold stock.
The best place for these is the Yamaha store in Plaza Singapura, which isn’t far from The Guitar Gallery.
Cheers,
Keith
Newstrings, Sounds familiar. I wanted a guitar that I could leave at the marina and not worry about it. I purchased a Lava Me 2 several years ago. Additional requirement was - it had to fit in a very small car trunk. I’ve been happy with the CF guitar. The guitar winters on the boat now as well. I am not going to comment on the sound of the guitar, other than to say - I play it and like it at least twice a week in season. I play on the boat and in the common areas of the marina. People sing along and enjoy it. My Lava Me 2 does exactly what I want. It fits comfortably under my arm, stores and travels easy, it seems to have that durability/survivability that I wanted, and I like it… The Lava Me has traveled twice to Cancun with me. There is no worry about heat or humidity damage. I really like having it with me when I travel. I am really happy with the Lave Me 2.
Late last spring, I ordered a semi custom Rainsong 25 year edition. Rainsong guitars were expensive and then the price went up when they were forced to relocate… I ordered mine before the price went up. It sounds as great as it looks. The Rainsong is slightly larger than the Lave Me 2, but the case makes travel much harder and I just won’t travel with the Rainsong…
Kind Regards,
Chris