Emerald X20: First Impressions

[dreamincolor]

I recently purchased an Emerald X20. Prior to this, my only experience with carbon fiber guitars was with a friend's Rainsong OM about 10 years ago. I recall that guitar being nicely built but very, very bright—much too strident for my tastes.

I've put quite a few hours on the X20 over the past week and thought I'd share some thoughts.

I'm very impressed with the guitar's playability and ergonomics. It's obvious Emerald spent some real time designing these guitars for player comfort. For a relatively large instrument, the X20 is easy to hold (I play in the classical position), with the arm bevel being an especially nice touch. The neck is a comfortable C-shape, and the smooth fingerboard with stainless frets plays consistently and easily up the neck with accurate intonation.

The neck/bridge/body being a single piece is nothing short of amazing. The quality of the build is impressive. And kudos to Emerald for designing this guitar with a truss rod, which I used to make a very slight adjustment to the neck relief.

My main guitar these days is a Collings OM, which has a very clear and articulate tone. I'm still getting used to the sound of the X20 and will probably need to experiment with strings a bit (it arrived with D'Adarrio EXP lights). The trebles/mids sound very good to me—clear, but not strident/harsh. My one nit thus far is the bass tone. To me, it sounds a bit "hollow" or "echo-y." I'm wondering if the sound hole position is contributing to what I'm hearing.

I'm looking forward to spending some more time on the X20 and getting to better know its nuances and subtleties. Big ups to Emerald for a very well engineered instrument.

[bizango1]

You might try changing strings right away. My new X20's bass sounded weird so I changed to EJ-16s and it was a very positive change for my tastes. Mine came with EXPs too.

[dreamincolor]

After changing the strings to a set of John Pearse New Mediums I'm finding the overall sound (and especially the bass) to be much better.

[bizango1]

My new X20 is turning out to be my guitar that is most sensitive to string selection. Bass was just weird when I got it but trebles were fine. Got rid of the Martin EXPs and put EJ16s on and it sounded great including the bass-most like my wood guitars (not that that's really a goal of mine-this guitar has a unique and special sound of its own). Then I tried D'Addario 80/20 lights for the heck of it and it seemed sort of damped and one dimensional and subdued. Switched back to EJ16s and it sounds great again with more nuance and dynamics. Haven't tried any others yet but the EJ16s seem to be a sweet spot to my ears and preferences so far.

I'm enjoying the attention I'm getting when I'm playing casually in public on the benches by the ocean. Passersby do double takes when they see the X20 and if they play they want to try it. My dog loves the extra attention she gets from them too.