Hi folks,
I'm not a longtime part of the AGF community - I'm not even a long time lurker. But I've come here and done searches over the past year or so to gather information on particular guitars, strings, etc. Humidity and acoustic guitars has become one of the banes of my existence over the last couple of years since I started playing a lot again in retirement and got a couple of pretty nice guitars that needed to be cared for.
Sometime in literally the past few weeks to a month, just looking around here, I became aware of CF guitars for the first time - I was looking at something else, saw the post about "have you sold your wood guitars yet", said "HUH?" and dove in from there. I had no idea. The whole idea of a carbon fiber guitar for which humidity was a non-issue immediately sparked my interest. I thought this could really be a great solution to my "problem" (the MOST first world of any problem yet known to man or beast!). But
IF and only if I really liked the sound and playing experience.
So I started reading everything I could find here and elsewhere, watching as many Youtube demos as I could find. And decided to give one a shot to see if I'd like it. The Emerald X20 seemed like the best fit for me and the price was somewhat less painful than some of the other models I had some interest in. But as long as I didn't get my head turned by their gorgeous wood veneers, I figured I could handle it. So I went on Emerald's website, saw two bone stock, off the rack X20s for sale, one black, one red, and ordered the red one. Got it last Thursday. And, yeah, I returned one very new wood Yamaha and am selling another very nice Martin. I'm keeping my wood electrics, but they're different animals and humidity is really only and issue with them around the margins.
It sounds as good as, but different than, my Martin 000-15M. I slightly prefer the feel of satin-finished wood, but like the feel of CF as much as poly finished wood. If I A-B them I very slightly prefer the Martin, but only just. All things being equal, I might have kept that and returned the Emerald, but no things are equal. The X20 just fits my life and twice annual relocations waaaaay better than the Martin ever will.
So the X20 will be my primary acoustic. I'll probably buy a really cheap parlor at some point to keep it company - I had a Jim Dandy before and may again. Humidity or lack thereof can't hurt the Jim Dandy - I've tried! And if it did, I could afford to buy another from time to time. I'm more of an electric player than acoustic, so I don't want or need a house full of acoustics - one nice one is all I've ever owned or wanted.
So anyway, a word of thanks to all of you folks on this forum and particularly in the Carbon Fiber sub-forum. I've learned a TON from you folks. I doubt I'll hang out a lot going forward - I don't need and can't afford the GAS. But if I have questions, I may pop back in from time to time. In terms of pics, I know you've all seen Emerald's glamour shots of red X20s, so I'll include a couple of it in my man-cave, with way more light on it than it usually gets. So you can see the weave. In normal light, as you folks are aware, it basically looks black or, at best, a dark purple. It takes a lot to make the CF weave visible. That's pretty evident in the shot of me holding it. And one quick one of the Emerald mug with my morning coffee in it.
-Ray
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