Pulled trigger on Emerald Custom X20 Woody - now the wait!

[Methos1979]

Summer is a busy time for me as my wife and I enjoy motorcycle riding and it invariable flies by and then I get into fall and start to get bummed about the pending need to put the motorcycle away and be 'stuck inside' for four months! The guitar should arrive in October so that will go a long way toward staving off that depression. It might even get me all the way through the winter season!

[ronadair]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

As I said in the original post, I'm not a fan of long scale guitars. These days I find I must have a short scale so one of my 'must haves' for a custom X20 was a short scale.

I emailed Sean and this was my first and primary concern. He said that a short scale on an X20 was no problem. In fact, they do three different short scales. The more normal (Martin) 24.9", 24.6" and even a 24". I was torn here because my Santa Cruz is a 24.75" and the Martin I had was a 24.9".

I really liked the SC 24.75" but I wondered if the 24.6" might be a little too short so I was leaning towards the 24.9" since I knew I could get used to that one. I asked Sean his thoughts and he took my feelings directly to Alistair who in turn recommended I go with the 24.6" which is what I did.

As for the K&K, that was a no-brainer for me. I much prefer the K&K in all my guitars and after conferring with Sean as well as getting feedback from several X20 owners here that the K&K works just fine in their X20's I went with what I know and love. K&K is pure and simple, no batteries to worry about, no UST quack to deal with.

Thank you! I have an X20 on order as well. I pick it up in Ireland, travel with it for a week, and give it back to them for shipping to CA. I just might go with the K&K as well. The shorter scale has me thinking.

Methos;

"Dislikes" may have been the wrong term. A better term for explaining the second X10 order is "advancement." The original had the traditional center sound hole--I wanted to try out the OS. The original had peg tuners and I wanted to check out the slot head tuners. Finally, the original had the barn door electronics and I wanted the K&K.

As with the other makers, Emerald is continually tweaking its materials and build--I wanted to keep up with the new. I am really happy with the X10-OSN., but I could also now order a 3rd for a woody model. With a third one I would also try a new pickup, the Barbera., and maybe a different neck thickness and scale. If I had infinite funding, I could do this forever with any of the CF makers.

I don't have infinite funding so I'm sticking with one maker and moving on to the electric nylon string that is being formulated with members of this forum and with Alistair, and realized with my funding and persistence.

[Captain Jim]

Originally Posted by EvanB

Methos;

"Dislikes" may have been the wrong term. A better term for explaining the second X10 order is "advancement." The original had the traditional center sound hole--I wanted to try out the OS. The original had peg tuners and I wanted to check out the slot head tuners. Finally, the original had the barn door electronics and I wanted the K&K.

As with the other makers, Emerald is continually tweaking its materials and build--I wanted to keep up with the new. I am really happy with the X10-OSN., but I could also now order a 3rd for a woody model. With a third one I would also try a new pickup, the Barbera., and maybe a different neck thickness and scale. If I had infinite funding, I could do this forever with any of the CF makers.

I don't have infinite funding so I'm sticking with one maker and moving on to the electric nylon string that is being formulated with members of this forum and with Alistair, and realized with my funding and persistence.

There's the key. OK, just one more little tweak. A tip of the hat to you for your persistence.

[Methos1979]

Evan,

That sounds about right. I followed your thread about the slot head and considered going that way (if possible) but in the end didn't even ask Sean about it because I'm sure the added expense would not have been worth it. Much like the pinless bridge, which I decided against since the upcharge was not worth it to me after a cost/benefit analysis.

Tell me about the Barbera pickups. I've seen them mentioned a few times but I have no idea what they are, what are the benefits, etc. I guess I should mention that for us (my wife and I and our acoustic duo) we will use this guitar for open mics mostly.

I generally prefer to just plug into whatever is available at the venue though I do have both a K&K pre-amp and RedEye, both of which I rarely use at open mics. We have a little Carvin AG200 we use at home and plug both guitar and mic directly into that. I used to do a lot of pedals and such but eventually got away from all that.

Methos;

The Barbera was mentioned by a forum member who had received the recommendation from Alistair. I've done some search on line and I like the way it seems to function and what I perceive to be its simplicity. It looks like an interesting option.

[TomB'sox]

I have been lingering on the CF for a while, considered a Rainsong, but just never pulled the trigger. I think it was an aesthetic thing because I loved the thought of the take anywhere guitar and not worry.

You guys have shown me the Woody now and that concern is gone. The cocobolo tops are amazing and I watched the video of the unpackaging of some other veneers and could only imagine how cool some of those would look as well.

However, is it just me or is the Emerald website kind of incomplete? I wanted to try and see the various options and they are just sort of grouped into categories without explanation. For instance, the last box is something like "other options" with a description saying, these are options we can do that have not been in other categories. Oh, so that's what "other" means hahahaa. It would be nice to have a list of what those are. I kind of wanted to build a guitar and see what I could do and get a little idea of cost without having to email them and ask sort of cold turkey?

Am I missing something, how do I get more info on an actual build and cost?

[Matt McGriff]

Contact them and they will work with you in a one on one fashion. Truly a personal experience. I'll be working with Sean this summer on my own X20 Custom.

[Kerbie]

Tom, glad you're considering an Emerald. Those woody finishes are enticing, aren't they?

I had the same thought Matt did about specific costs. Sean does a wonderful job communicating with customers, so I have no doubt he will do the same with you. I think after I chose the size and finish, my only other specification was nut width. So, I may not have had as many individual options as you do.

Yes, the Coco tops are just fascinating! I look forward to hearing about your new build.

[TheChicagoTodd]

Originally Posted by pandaroo

Congrats!

I only got my X20 for a month or so and am already discussing with Sean about another custom but not for niggling dislikes but for something more elaborate from a cosmetic perspective which I haven't quite decided on.

Yeah....with Emerald you can really go to town on the little cosmetic options.

Todd in Chicago

Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk

The Emerald site is in constant revision and it does, at times, seem lacking. For example while the veneers have gained a lot of attention the veneer options are not yet on the site. The problem is that Emerald has been a fast moving center of CF development and I imagine that keeping the web site current is not easy. On the other hand, as already noted, it is pretty easy to get into direct contact and work out available options and prices.

[TomB'sox]

Originally Posted by EvanB

The Emerald site is in constant revision and it does, at times, seem lacking. For example while the veneers have gained a lot of attention the veneer options are not yet on the site. The problem is that Emerald has been a fast moving center of CF development and I imagine that keeping the web site current is not easy. On the other hand, as already noted, it is pretty easy to get into direct contact and work out available options and prices.

Thanks everybody...I agree the website could be much better, easier to use, easier to build a guitar and see the options. There is a lot info there, but it takes a while to get it all.

I took everyone's advise and emailed this AM. I will see where this leads!

Thanks again.

[JimCA]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

However, is it just me or is the Emerald website kind of incomplete?

Compared to most other guitar manufacturer's sites, I give them a "well done". You can use the search function to find examples of lots of the one-off customizations they have done. For example, I found 3 different nylon string headstock designs, two slotted and one like the steel-string version. What Emerald is offering is hard to capture in a website. You bring your ideas, they'll tell you how they can best implement them. It's an iterative and fun process. Be prepared to answer a lot of questions about the implications of your choices.

Jim

[Kerbie]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

I took everyone's advise and emailed this AM. I will see where this leads!

It leads to your wallet being a little bit lighter...

[TomB'sox]

Originally Posted by Kerbie

It leads to your wallet being a little bit lighter...

LOL, yeah that's really the bottom line hahaha