Awesome Emerald Guitar experience in Ireland!
 

I just have to share this story!

I was fortunate to enjoy a 2-week vacation in Ireland – and just returned to the good ol’ USA yesterday.

While there, I contacted Sean from Emerald Guitars to see if I could stop by to meet him and see their establishment. Sean was great in that he sent me several detailed emails regarding directions (with pics of the roads and arrows where to turn, etc.…. Since there are soooo many narrow, 2 way rural roads there…. And, yes, they drive on the “wrong side” of the road.. 😊We mostly managed with our rented car… though had several close calls during the whole of the Ireland trip. I was so impressed with the communication from Sean and all the help he gave to support my visit there.

Then, the day before I was to visit them, Sean emailed me again to say that Alistair Hay was going to be in Ballyshannon, rather than the Emerald guitar shop, that next day. Reason being, Alistair was setting up a “Pop-up shop” at the annual Rory Gallagher music festival there. He was bringing most of the guitars he had in inventory and so… since Ballyshannon was directly on our itinerary’s route, we should consider stopping by to meet Alistair and demo their inventory. I just couldn’t turn that invite down!

When we arrived in Ballyshannon, Sean continued to email to describe where Alistair’s Emerald Guitar pop-op shop would be, complete with pics of the street frontage…. (again, so impressed with the support from these guys!). Alistair had set up shop in a large room towards the back of a music shop. I was able to chat with him for quite a while.. and played about 5 of the guitars he brought.

No way could I leave without one of them! I ended up with an X20 Artisan from the March 2017 series. Alistair’s March series focused on Ireland because of St. Patrick’s Day. Therefore, my new X20 is green with a silver Celtic knot on the 12th fret and Alistair’s Irish hound logo, ending in a Celtic knot design, as a relief across the lower bout. I love that this will always be an amazing memoir of my trip to Ireland... and a fantastic instrument as well. I should be receiving the guitar in a couple weeks – can’t wait!

Here's the link to the exact guitar I bought:

http://emeraldguitars.com/product/x2...v=7516fd43adaa

Here are some pics of my experience in Ballyshannon:

Me with Alistair and my new guitar:
[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...psnuqvkvzk.jpg[/IMG]

Some of the other guitars there:

[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps0bnzbhmt.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...pslejt0eus.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...psl0ddr5ji.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps6dcxmgu6.jpg[/IMG]

Thanks for indulging me!

Wow... what a story! I'm excited for you. Did you bring us all a T-shirt? Sounds like you're still up on cloud 9 somewhere... enjoy! :D

Congratulations!

Sounds like a really rewarding experience. Looking forward to a clip of music.....

Play it happily for a long time!

Wow, awesome guitar and even better experience. Congrats!!!!

Yep - definitely came home with a T-shirt. (and it came in handy since I was running out of clean clothes - oops - more than you wanted to know.....)
Wish I could've brought some more for all of you!

That was a wonderful experience. Lucky you! I love reading stories like this. I'd like to do a trip like that with my wife some day. A beauty guitar you have there. Big congrats!

What a memory ! Great story, thanks for sharing.

Thank you for sharing this story. What a great trip!

Also, what a great guitar. Those were a very special edition and took quite a bit of additional work to be made, as I recall reading.

The best part of all, you won't need to wait 5 months!!

Very nice story. My wife and I are going in September for two weeks. I have an X20 ordered & the plan was to pick it up in Donegal keep it for a week or so, turn it for shipping back to the states. Looks like it'll be ready in July, so I'm not waiting for delivery. Still planning on visiting the factory.

A wonderful way to go deeper into your experience of Ireland! And that guitar must have been meant just for you – no other explanation for why no-one had snatched it up before you got to it!

Enjoy!

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What a cool experience! Thanks for sharing the photos and congrats on your new X20... what a memorable trip! :)

That sounds like a really great trip and you ended up buying an amazing guitar too!

Thanks for all the replies! It was an amazing trip - great pubs, local musicians with traditional ("trad") great Irish music, beautiful topography, sheer cliffs, and loved all the ancient ruins, cemeteries, etc.

Looking forward to getting the X20!

Do you have an Irish accent now? Every time I talk Alistair I get one...and a guitar...

I hadn't seen this thread, but I'm in Ireland for two weeks myself starting on June 25th, and asked if I could stop buy and possibly buy a guitar :)

I haven't played one of these yet myself (though I have played a number of Rainsongs), how was the action on your X20? I pretty much need nearly electric action lol

EDIT: That is a STUNNING guitar you've got! I love everything about it; the color, the hound in the top, it's just fantastic. So jealous! :)