Too many Emeralds!!
 

No such thing, I know.

Met up with Jim from Seamus Knives today in St. Louis. Jim is a terrific guy, I had a blast. Heck of a knife maker too, some of the most impressive work I’ve seen. My biggest conclusion was that his 20 sounded way better than mine, so I’m gonna swap out the strings and try to get that perfect warm, balanced sound.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/aK...wi90T0z4=w2400

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/qE...0Lb4xbyU=w2400

Looks like fun! You guys have some pretty Emeralds there...

So... are ya gonna tell us what strings? ;)

True, there can't be any such thing as TOO many Emeralds. That being said, only one in the pic belongs to yours truly.

Captain Jim, I texted Alex to let him know that I'm using Elixir PB, HD Lights since he seemed to like their sound more than the one's Emerald supplied.

A fine choice! :)

What strings did he use that made his x20 sound better?

The Elixir's work well, I've used them since day one on the X20, but recently the Martin Authentic Acoustic Lifespan 2.0's have taken the x20 up a couple notches above the Elixirs. I've posted that several times, so will quit pounding that drum. I do have a question though, are you guys wearing matching shoes? :D

I experimented with a bunch of strings so far for the X30. My favorite so far has been Elixir 80/20 bronze HD light. Go with the phosphor bronze though if you want a little warmer tone.

I also did a little experiment today as well which may possibly apply to you. I have the baggs anthem in 2 guitars. One is a Gibson and when I installed the anthem in it I noticed a big difference in the unplugged tone which is of course thanks to the element UST. Today I loosened the strings on the Emerald and removed the element UST temporarily and the change was even more noticeable on the Emerald. The volume was about the same but it's almost as if the element UST choked the tone a bit from the treble strings. I put everything back for now but because I'm aware of this I sense some experimentation in the near future. I've used the fishman UST's before and never noticed a change in unplugged tone before. I also can't see me ever investing in any system that has a UST regardless of what brand it is.

Anyways I rambled on a bit just another thing to consider if you have the baggs element in yours and maybe he doesn't. I also heard of some people saying that the element can "settle in" after several months.

John, nice catch ! Although 31 years seperate us in age, Alex and I share some tastes. When he was leaving I noticed that we were both wearing Olukai shoes which are about as comfortable as an X20! He's also driving a white, two door sporty car like me. Our tastes in music are also real similar. Maybe we Carbon Fiber guitar owners are often cut from the same cloth.

Great. Just great. The things I learn here. We used to go to Hawaii once a hear, over a 20 year period. I was able to find comfortable sandals there... seems I have what I was told are: Hawaiian feet. Double wide, and not in the mobile home kinda way. I have trouble finding comfortable shoes.

You may have seen folks wearing S.A.S. (San Antonio Shoemakers) shoes - they have been my go-to shoes for over a decade... sneaks, dress shoes, boots, sandals. They make shoes that fit my fat feet. And now, you guys start talking about these Olukai shoes.

I had to look at their website. "Oh, that looks comfortable..." Joan just ordered me a pair.

Not bad enough that this place induces GAS, now it's SAS (Shoe Acquisition Syndrome, not the S.A.S. mentioned above), as well. ;)

I'm just glad that I can contribute something to this forum that has brought me a lot of entertainment and emptied my wallet over the years. Are we going to have to start posting pictures of our shoes now? LOL

I'm having a look at those shoes now too - seems the only things I can wear comfortably are Chacos and Birks (but I can't walk far in Birks). So now I force a strange new breed of old guys (byudzai excepted) playing Emeralds and wearing Olukai shoes. They'll be doing news stories about this strange small cult soon...

-Ray