Composite Acoustics GX Performer

Sunburst Finish looks nicer than other composite guitars I've seen. The cutaway section of the neck/body offers a scooped-out body section behind the neck that makes it much easier to reach the top frets - and it's a visually stunning feature (everyone says "How cool", like they're looking at a Ferrari or something). Tuners are top-notch (gotohs?) and offer precise tuning, especially with the strings gliding through the graphite nut. The neck profile is pretty much like your standard acoustic guitar neck (think guild, takemine, gibson, etc.) not slim like a Taylor or, for an extreme case, my RainSong A-WS1000 - but it is also a little wider, which I just love for fingerstyle playing. At the nut, it's the standard wider 1-3/4", but it's 1/8" wider than my Martin or my RainSong at the 12th fret. The hardshell case is nice enough, I guess, but I think I would prefer a padded gigbag like the one I got with my RainSong for easier carrying, since this guitar practically bulletproof and probably doesn't need the protection for what I do with it. 20 frets, solid carbon graphite, and a suprisingly good sounding pickup system with an L.R. Baggs I-Beam and a piezo with a preamp to control the mix between the two, the overall volume and overal tone with a bass and treble slider. The battery pops out of the preamp easily and has a light to indicate it's freshness. It's nice and light and the contoured back is comfortable against your ribs while you play. I would have liked to see a good tuner built-in with the preamp (minus 1 point). The ergonomic design of this guitar is really effective and looks cool, too!

I would like to hear a little more high-end detail. It was designed to sound like a wooden guitar, and it pretty much does - much more than any other composite guitar I've heard. Pretty well balanced. But it's just a tad bit flat, but no more than my Martin J-40. Plugged in, it sounds great! The I-Beam gets the warmth and low-end you want to hear to give your mix that "singing chunk-o-wood" sound, and the piezo adds definition and high-end presence. I just plugged it into my mixer and tweaked the EQ knobs a bit (a lot less than I'm used to doing) and it sounded BIG. The low end booms a bit if you don't watch it, but that can be controlled easily enough. I'm excited about finding out what I can tweak this sound into.

I bought mine second-hand on ebay, but it looks like the action was at factory settings, which is always way too high for me. I lowered it a good bit since I play with a light touch and don't need all of that room. Optimal relief? I think so! After setting the action to my liking, it's near perfect all the way up the neck. I understand I never have to worry about the neck twisting or warping no matter what strings I choose to put on it. Otherwise, the guitar seems very well made with only a few blemishes that appear to be from the previous owner's usage. Again, very nice sunburst black finish on the soundboard - just a hint of the carbon fiber weave showing through. Overall, a really cool looking instrument.

I've already had it locked in my car during an August afternoon in Texas for several hours. I didn't even have to tune it when I got it out that evening. I'm not surprised. I learned this with my RainSong. You wood snobs can have your purist biases. I can even sympathize with you, but THIS is FREEDOM, brother! And it sounds and plays good, too.

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After only a few days, this guitar has earned a permanent place in my heart. It complements my RainSong nicely by offering a woodier tone and will be strung with heavier strings for that sort of sound. I've owned many guitars over the years: Martin, Taylor, Fender, Alvarez, Takemine, and lately, a RainSong. This composite thing is just too cool with regards to stability, sound and most of all, playability. I'm not a kid any more and my hands don't handle abuse as well as they used to. The precision of these instruments is helping me keep the hand strain to a minimum and allowing me to do more intricate work than ever. I don't like to spend my time worrying about whether the environment is harming my instrument, and I simply don't with these babies. I knew that would be nice, but I didn't know how nice until I owned one. Two words: "care free". This is truly a nice guitar, if you can just embrace the concept of a carbon graphite instrument.