It's official..Composite Acoustics has been bought by Peavey
 

Just got notice that CA has in fact been purchased by Peavey Electronics Corporation and they will resume the manufacture of CA guitars in their Meridian facility. More to come as soon as I get the info.

Update, I spoke to the Peavey rep handling the CA account and Iwas told they will offer all models, prices will remain the same "for now", and as for finishes we will see high gloss first than RT. (no decision on a RAW finish yet) They are hoping to get the guitars to dealers by the end of the year. As for warranting the older guitars, the indication is that they will cover them but nothing is set in stone as of yet.

That's very good news.

It also moves pre-Peavy CAs right into the rare and collectable market, right?:D

This is great news!

Cool! My friend Hartley owns CA! :up:

JR

Good news !! Glad to see CA will be back on the market. Hopefully Peavey will continue to grow and innovate the old CA lineup.


Yes all Pre-Peaveys are now collectable :D

Awesome!! I love my CA!

This is indeed excellent news!

Hi Tarpman,

This is good news! Peavey and CA is a really good match! Peavey has been a really forward looking company, a real innovator over the years.

- Glenn

I wonder what name will be on the headstock? Probably 'Peavey'.

Perhaps they will start off by building guitars with proper neck angles (for correct saddle height above the bridge at proper set-up specs), and add adjustable truss-rods...

:cool:

Just curious Larry, what do you think of the Rainsong setup?

Never seen or played one, and that's besides the point of what CA did. Also, I was really only looking at the Cargo model. Rainsong has no scale-length equivalent guitar, nor does any company in the carbon-fiber world.

I had to have several shops sort through dozens and dozens of Cargo models to find one that even came close to having more than a 1/16" of saddle showing over the bridge at standard 3/32" and 2/32" set-up specs....and that was in the middle of the saddle, once you got out to the E strings there was essentially nothing, maybe 1/32" at best. You could grab the high E and slide it around with this kind of set-up resulting from the improper neck-angle.

I interacted with CA directly on this early-on (they also couldn't come up with one that met my minimum specs), and it was clear that their production-specs (at least for the Cargo) had been created by someone with little knowledge of a proper guitar set-up, and what the resulting problems would be on a guitar with little saddle showing over the bridge.

These are my observations, only...although I did save a series of interesting emails with them with set-up specs they considered "standard" that have nothing to do with reality in the guitar-playing world. Stuff like shipping guitars with 5/32" & 3/32" action at the low and high E, respectively, and still less than an 1/8" of saddle showing (again, in the center). Bringing that down to a playable height resulted in the same too-low saddle height.

...not to mention no adjustable truss-rod.

Larry, I was just doing a forum search with the terms "neck angle", "correct saddle height", "proper set-up", "CA Cargo" and "larry pattis", and guess what the result was: "Too many hits to display" :D:D:D

I didn't realize there were "proper" set-up specs -- i would have guessed that varied from player to player.

That is some good news!!! I have a lot of respect for Peavey amps and guitars. They are a lot of bang for the buck. I'm glad to hear CA will live on.

I play with a very low action. As LP points out (often), that brings the saddle height pretty low on my Cargo. But it's because the bridge is relatively tall -- the neck angle is fine.

AFAIK, there is no "proper" saddle height. You need enough saddle to torque the top, but what is "proper" for wood might be overkill for carbon fiber.

The real question is does a low saddle on a CA kill the tone? My guess is no.

Hey Larry, part of the issue with the action is that the very short scale lenght on Cargos (22.75") leads directly to lower string tension and increased amplitude of vibration (floppy strings) at pitch. With a standard set-up, the strings would buzz like crazy unless you play very softly. I find that the decreased string tension more than offsets the higher action in terms of playing comfort but it does steal from speed of execution. My Cargo is my go-to guitar when my tendons start complaining.

So many companies that do something well get taken over and the product quality crashes. There are numerous examples, I wonder if that will be the case with CA Guitars?

Peavey WILL definitely be a plus for the quality of the CA line whenever they begin selling them. This means that when you buy a new Peavey-CA guitar, you'll be keeping it instead of fretting about whether to send it back to the dealer or keep it because it kinda/sorta meets your expectations. I've been there twice, with top-of-the-line CA's, and really wished they would have got it right--I sent 'em back! The neat part is that the two CA's I auditioned at a Sam Ash, in New Haven, Connecticut, in November 2009, were both, cosmetically- and setup-wise, perfect. Wouldn't you know they got it right just before they went belly-up? I should have bought one of those CA's when I had the chance! No biggie because I'll now be able to buy a Peavey-CA when the urge hits.

Regards,

SpruceTop

There is a reason CA went 'belly up' selling guitars at the prices they were.

Will we want them at the prices Peavey will need to charge to fix that?

Hi Larry & All,

Out of all the CA and RainSong guitars I've either owned or auditioned, I've only seen one guitar, a new RainSong DR1000 Dreadnought, that arrived at my local dealer in February, and is still currently available, that has a typical Martin guitar saddle-height and break-angle. Maybe carbon guitars can be built a little differently than wooden guitars, and get away with lower saddle height and break-angle? Of course, getting too little break-angle would cause string slippage, etc. The tone and playability didn't seem to suffer on any of the low-saddle, low break-angle carbon guitars I've been familiar with but maybe the latest RainSong models are endeavoring to incorporate a higher bridge-saddle with steeper break-angle? I understand your concerns and, personally, if this is a trend, I'm glad to see it happening!

My next RainSong will be ordered with RainSong's new adjustable truss-rod N2 neck. I think we're starting to see more-and-more things happening on the carbon guitar front (all brands included) which will make these guitars much more appealing to more guitarists.

Regards,

SpruceTop

Good Point! I wonder what will be the price-points that will be necessary for Peavey to market their new Peavey-CA guitars to help assure their viability in the carbon-guitar market? I wouldn't hesitate to pay a street-price of 10% to 25% more for a new Peavey-CA guitar over last year's street-price for the same CA models.

Regards,

SpruceTop

I understand the issues of low-tension as they relate to set-up...quite well.

There is also the variability of what gauge strings are used, and while, for instance, Larrivée ships their parlors (24" scale) with medium gauge strings, CA chose to ship their sub-23" scale cargo with lights.

Go figure.

Choosing lights, and standard pitch for the sub-23" scale provided for ultra-floppy strings, and other woes.

It's too bad.

My playing is fairly aggressive, while using no picks. I don't strum, but digging in (and with rest-strokes) can be a pretty string-exciting thing, even in the fingerstyle world.

P.S. There *are* standards or parameters for basic set-up specs, within the context of a few different playing styles. Ask any tech. These specs don't change when you go to a carbon fiber guitar. Slight modifications are necessary at the super-short scale lengths, but you still need enough string height at the saddle (after getting to the specs) for a good string angle. Saying that the bridges are thick (as an excuse) is the oldest trick in the book for a manufacturer that does not want to do a neck re-set on a guitar...or for a manufacturer that *cannot* do a neck re-set, as per the CA product.

Sure, go ahead and shave the bridge.

Wait, I have a better idea...build the guitar correctly.

...not to mention that maybe Peavey'll decide to include an adjustable truss-rod.

:D

I have owned a bunch of CA's & prefer low action. My experience has been that you don't need as much saddle height or height of string above the top with a CA as with wood guitars. You can also ramp the bridge to get better break angle. I don't think the same rules apply when properly setting up a CA as compared to wood guitars. I also don't think you can expect the short scale of the Cargo to play like a longer scale wood guitar no matter what the neck angle.

Looking forward the the return and evolution of CA under Peavey.....i am hoping the gx raw makes it back as we know the cargo will.

I was the first Canadian dealer for CA and have been selling them consistently since they first started up. Even before the Lafayette factory. I like them. They are unique.

However, I doubt whether Peavy will sell to a boutique type of shop like mine.

Hartley Peavey is a true gentleman and genuinely bulding guitars.

But I was kinda hoping he was going to buy Gibson.

This is awesome! Now I can make a claim to fame as owning a Pre-Peavey Composite Acoustics! :D

I'm happy, that really made my day. Does anyone know if they're going to bring back the original staff or if they are going to get new workers all around?

On the other hand, will Peavey be able to use its manufacturing & distribution scales to produce & sell Peavey-CA guitars at the same (or even more) competitive pricing?

I don't know enough about this industry to answer the question. But it's a question worth considering IMHO.

The physics of string vibration does not alter from wood guitar to non-wood guitars. A string that can slide around on the top of the saddle due to extremely low break-angle is simply not optimal for vibration.


I would never make a comparison without taking scale length/string tension differences into account.

A saddle that is too low at a good set-up height is simply too low....usually due to an improper neck angle.

I hope that Peavey considers this, at least with the Cargo model, which is the only one I've examined closely.

...oh, and in case I forgot to mention this earlier, I hope they think about adding an adjustable truss-rod.

:D