McPherson Carbon Sable Guitar Review [video guitar review]

McPherson’s Carbon Sable guitar is an incredibly well-balanced carbon fiber guitar.

To be honest, it was so well balanced, I decided to make a video review of it!

So, in today’s guitar review, I’m hoping to pass along the incredible joy of playing this McPherson Carbon Sable to you.

Before we get started, be sure to visit McPherson’s website to support them, and if you can, see if you can demo this guitar through a local music store if possible!

And, if you’re looking for other acoustic guitar reviews, view some of my recent ones here.

McPherson Carbon Sable First Impressions

This McPherson Carbon Sable I’m playing today has a striking honeycomb pattern on the top. At first glance, this honeycomb pattern is incredible visually appealing.

I kept getting lost in the rhythmic geometry of this guitar’s top, but I also understand it might not be for everyone. McPherson has an alternate top just in case!

Additionally, as I mentioned earlier, this guitar is entirely carbon fiber (save for the tuning machines and a few other bits).

This means the guitar is more durable and less susceptible to environmental conditions compared to a wooden guitar…perfect for outdoor or extreme-conditions playing!

This guitar is also perfect for someone who doesn’t want to worry about upkeep or maintenance either. Because with wooden guitars, they have to be set-up, adjusted, and tweaked as the years go by to make sure they play well.

In contrast, this McPherson Carbon sable doesn’t need this kind of maintenance! Because carbon fiber doesn’t warp, shrink, or expand over time, the guitar can retain its shape over the years.

The Specifications

• 5.45 pounds
• 25 1/2” scale
• 41 3/4” overall length
• 10 3/4” width at upper bout
• 9.5” width at waist
• 15” width at lower bout
• 4″ body depth
• 14 frets to the body
• 20 frets overall
• 1 3/4” nut width
• 2 3/16” string spacing at the bridge

As is tradition with McPherson guitars, there’s an off-set soundhole on the Carbon Sable. Additionally, this guitar also has a feedback buster and internal pickup.

The bridge, saddle, and bridge pins are all-composite, bolstering the durability of this guitar.

Having spent some time talking about the body, I want to dive into the neck of the guitar because there’s a lot of great stuff going on there.

The McPherson Carbon Sable has a composite nut which is 3/4″. I think this size is perfect for comfortable playing. In addition, the neck has a shallow or low-C profile. I especially love the neck because it has a smooth satin finish. I never get hung up or stuck on the neck because of the finish.

Another awesome feature of the McPherson Carbon Sable is the cantilevered neck. This means that the fretboard extension hovers over the top of the guitar, rather than being placed directly on top.

This results in the top of the guitar having the maximum vibrating surface — truly opening up the sound.

Thanks to this design, the guitar produces a ton of volume. Now, it’s important to note that, with carbon fiber guitars, I find their sound to be stringy and treble-heavy.

This is not the case with the McPherson Carbon Sable. This guitar is incredibly balanced. I found the bass to be very resonant, the treble strings clear.

With just a light touch, the guitar was freely offering a very robust sound.

Final Thoughts on the McPherson Carbon Sable

I want to give a big shout-out to the builders and craftsmen at McPherson. Building a carbon fiber guitar that sounds this awesome is a rare achievement!

Additionally, I want to thank McPherson for letting me review the guitar and share this instrument with an awesome community of guitar geeks.

If you have any questions or comments, be sure to visit McPherson’s website to learn more about this sweet, sweet carbon fiber guitar!