For you Rainsong and Emerald owners.......
 

I have played and very much enjoy the Rainsong tone of especially the concert WS and the tone/comfort of the hybrid OM. How do they compare to an Emerald x20 tonally?

No one owns or has played both an Emerald x20 and a Rainsong Studio OM1000 that can offer any tonal comparisons?

I've never even seen an Emerald in person. This is going to be a hard question.

I haven't owned either, but I've played most of the Rainsong models at one time or other and I had a X20-OS in my possession for a week at one stage. They are quite different guitars. I can't comment on the OM specifically but generally Rainsongs are more "chimey" and the X20 was a little "boxier" in my opinion. Not necessarily a bad thing, just quite different. My personal preference would be the Rainsong for fingerstyle, or for solo work, as it is very rich. The Emerald X20 I I would preferred for strumming and would work better in an ensemble setting, as it would be less dominating. But there are plenty of Rainsong fans on here that would disagree, I'm sure :)

I also had the X20 for a week and own the Doubleneck. I own a Rainsong JM1000 BI and and owned a Parlor and OM1000. Tone is so difficult to describe and really remember if the guitar is long gone. But as the above comment two different tones. The Rainsong is more chimey, I think that decreases on the hybrids. I like the booming, pureness, crystal sound of my pure carbon JM. Emerald is I think less chimey and more woodlike really. I go back and forth between these two and tone wise don't really have a favorite, they both are very pleasing. The X20, I played over a year ago so too far away from it to comment, except I remember it never challenged the Emerald Doubleneck for me.

The only Carbon Fiber that I own is the X-20...and I Love it!!! Having said that, The Rainsongs that I have played are also awesome in their voicing...Quite frankly either guitar would be an excellent choice, altho the X-20 has the best ergonomics of ANY guitar that I have ever played...
Sorry if I am of no help, but as far as the tone...I cannot compare between a choir of Angels & a troop of songbirds...both fulfill the soul... ;):):)

Thank you for those helpful responses! I'm a fairly average sized guy, so any guitars bigger than 16" wide and 4 3/4" deep become a bit of a stuggle. I understand that for that size, though, I'm not too limited, I'll likely have to make a compromise. My point is that the Rainsong OM had the most wonderful trebles that I've heard. Absolutely beautiful! I loved the added bass and air of the WS, but it is just too big. The x20 would be the perfect size, can be made into an extended range instrument, can come with fanned frets and if it had a voice of its own and yet had a few Rainsong OM and WS qualities would be undoubtedly my number 1 guitar.

I have very limited experience with the X20 but there is one for sale by Jim K in the classifieds. Jim is a knowledgeable guy who has owned number of Rainsongs, I would suggest sending him a PM.

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=349996

Thank you Ted. That's a good idea.

In case you're interested, I just posted a fairly extensive review of the X20-OS (actually a repost from the "other" forum) in another thread: http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...8&postcount=51

Thank you!