Gander Guitars - Home of the Jamie Glaser Signature Guitar

In the April 2008 edition of Guitar Player, Michael Molenda, editor in chief, tested several guitars from Composite Acoustics. From reading the article, it seems the guitars are 100% carbon fiber construction....Mr. Molenda says... "in addition to the guitar's toughness, it's also a lively player that easily spins sparkling tones"....carbon isn't wood, but, for me, that's a big "So what" if an acoustic guitar sounds good and plays easily, I'm going to dig it"...guitars that will likely sound the same twenty years from now as they sound today, and I appreciate the promise of tonal consistency".

I include these quotes because it's easy to have doubts about "something new" and the carbon reinforcement beam in my guitars is the newest, and best, thing to happen to guitars in a long, long time.

There are absolutely no negative aspects to the use of carbon fiber in a guitar unless, like me, you prefer the "look" of wood. I love the look of a beautiful piece of highly figured wood polished to a shine...that's the reason I go to the extent of carving my guitars into "works of art". But a work of art should endure the passage of time, so I incorporate modern technology to ensure that the guitar will look and perform, for many many years, like the day it was made.

That is why every Gander guitar incorporates my patented internal carbon fiber reinforcement beam. I use epoxy resin in every area where the carbon beam contacts the wood of the guitar. Since the base resin used to construct carbon fiber is epoxy, using epoxy adhesive makes the wood and carbon "as one".

The qualities of carbon fiber, along with it's great strength and structural integrity, include the fact that it is almost completely inert in reaction to heat and moisture. My carbon fiber beam does create exceptional strength especially in the two most common weak spots on any guitar...the neck-to-body joint and the headstock-to-neck joint. It also contributes to great sustain and a perfect neck...one that will never need to be "adjusted" or "tweaked" for as long as you own the guitar. Almost all other guitars have a truss rod built into the neck because they know that a neck that depends solely on wood for strength will eventually require some degree of correction. Wood is not perfect, but it looks and feels beautiful.