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#1
08-30-2015, 06:24 PM
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First weekend with my Emerald X-20 Artisan
Friday I received an Emerald X-20 that I bought from a forum member so now that I've spent a few days with it I wanted to share my experience with it so far.
I played the guitar for the first night with the strings and action of the previous owner because I didn't have time to set it up properly for myself. I really couldn't connect with the guitar because I was fighting a bit to play it. Saturday I finally put it up on the bench to lower the action a bit (about 0.03") and string it up with my preferred gauge (11-50). The neck relief was perfect so I didn't need to touch that. Once I was done with the set up I could really start to evaluate it better since it wasn't fighting me. After playing it some more today, here are my thoughts on it. It's super smooth to play. Between the stainless steel frets and the fingerboard it feels like I'm gliding on ice but not uncontrollably. I might lower the action a tiny bit more just to see how far I can push it. The sound is bright (DR Phosphor Bronze strings) but not brittle. It's a rounded and articulate but not piercing. I've seen folks refer to the neck profile as C shaped but on this guitar that's definitely not the case. Between all my guitars I've got C, D, U and soft V shaped necks and this one is definitely a D shape. It's not thin but it's not too bulky either. The shape makes me want to keep my thumb on in the center of the neck. Overall I'm very happy with it, so much so that I'm selling an Adamas to make room for it in my guitar closet. 
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#3
09-03-2015, 06:21 AM
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Emerald X7
I bought a new Emerald X7 Artisan at the end of July, just before going on hols for a month. I did connect immediately with the guitar but I also found it a little harder to play than I prefer. I changed the string gauge from the OE 12s to 11-52s and lowered the action slightly and that was job done for me. It did take a few days to get used to the D shaped neck (which is slightly bigger than I usually like) but now I feel I could cover any acoustic gig with this guitar. It won't replace my other acoustics but it could well be the one I play most. Soundwise :- acoustically it has a 'hifi' quality compared to my tone wood guitars but it is very pleasing and well balanced and sounds better (and much bigger) than any other small bodied guitar I've played. Plugged in the B-Band pickup is very good and more natural sounding than a piezo. The built in tuner is only just adequate (compared to my Peterson it can still sound slightly off even when the onboard tuner says it's in tune) but tuning stability is stunning, when I took it out of the gig-bag for the first time having just taken delivery it played in tune!
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#5
09-03-2015, 05:09 PM
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Thanks for sharing your Emerald experiences, all! Can't wait for mine to arrive!
__________________
As we hang beneath the heavens, and we hover over hell Our hearts become the instruments we learn to play so well ~ Dan Fogelberg GSmini Mahogany~Rainsong WS1000 Ser# 4641 Emerald X7~Pono Mango Tenor Ukelele Cordoba Acero D10
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#6
09-04-2015, 09:10 PM
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My favorite thing about my X20 is the comfort factor. I really notice the difference when I play my other guitar and the sharp corners dig in.
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#7
09-05-2015, 03:27 AM
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The X7 is a perfect sofa guitar, the lower bout on a larger guitar makes playing on a sofa uncomfortable the small size of the X7 (and to a lesser extent I'd guess the X20). It's not for nothing small guitars are often called "parlour guitars".
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#8
09-05-2015, 08:12 AM
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It's been a week now since I received the guitar and I can put it down. It's a joy to play, more so than any other guitar I've touched. I am going to own 1-2 more Emeralds, no doubt about that. Just need to make room in the guitar closet for them.
 The only thing I miss on it is an onboard tuner but I'll accept that to lose a "barn door". I just need to pick up a dedicated clip-on tuner for it. The cool thing about the X-20s is you can just clip it on the sound hole and it's right there, in your face.
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