Quote:
Originally Posted by EvanB
(Post 6073598)
Methos;
Are you using the 10 as your primary gigging instrument?
Also, I'd be interested in knowing how you compare the 10 with your 20.
I took a look at your review list, wow! You have been through some serious music makers and shared a lot of material on this forum. Thank you.
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Yes, the X10 has become the primary gigging guitar with the X7 as backup. The X20 is up for sale here and on Reverb. In a head-to-head dogfight the X20 is probably still the best guitar of the three for amplified tone and playing. The neck scale and shape is still the best for me. The X10's long scale and wide nut are definitely the 'downsides' to that guitar from a playing comfort standpoint but the small, slimline body and nylon strings are more comfortable for longer playing than the X20. Also the active level 1 pickup system and nylon tone is better suited than the X20's passive K&K for my style of playing. If I was a pick strummer the X20 would be better.
So why does the X20 get the boot over the X7? The X7 is the best of the three played unplugged and is the go-to for travel, not that I travel all that much. But the small size, light weight, short scale and whatnot make this my favorite guitar to just grab off the wall and noodle around with. The X10 is also very light weight and surprisingly nice sounding unplugged. The X20 is very heavy (compared to the other two) and surprisingly sounds the least great of the three unplugged. The fact is that all three guitars bring something to the table over the others. If I could take the very best of the three and meld them into just one guitar it would be the perfect guitar. This can be dangerous because it always makes me think that I could probably do it with just 'one more custom' Emerald, something I'm sure you understand, Evan!
So spitballing here, if I took an X7 (or even an X10 since the bodies are so close in size) as my baseline guitar, make it a 24.6" scale (my current X7 and X20 are just that) and give it the X20's soft V carve (ordered that on the X7 but due to the differences in neck basics between the two models Emerald was unable to duplicate very well), make it a nylon, give it some sort of active system (level 1 is good but honestly something with onboard barn door EQ and notch would be better for me, something like a StagePro Anthem), maybe a slimline body (might be hard with the barn door though) and then factory install some locking strap locks then maybe,
just maybe, I'd finally have THE perfect custom Emerald.
But the wild card is you just never really know until it's in your hands and you're playing it. It's easy to theorize but it's just that - theory. You don't know how the recipe is going to taste with all those ingredients until it's in your mouth. And with all those customizations you're easily looking at a $5k guitar. So the risk is huge. I actually came very close to ordering just what I have above and then the X10 came into my life. Is it perfect? No. Is it a great guitar? Absolutely.
Yes, I've been through many guitars and amps and other things and I do really like to take the time and review them here for people because I've gotten so much help from reading others reviews. One thing I've learned (so far, at least for me) is that there is
no such thing as the perfect guitar that ticks ALL the boxes perfectly. There is always something missing or that could be better. In the end we make up for those shortcomings by acclimating with our playing style. In all honesty the X20 has probably come the closest to perfect for a gigging guitar for me. So maybe an X20 nylon short scale with an active pickup system would be the end-all, be-all. At some point (and I'm quickly getting there, if not already there) you just have to stop the madness and be happy with what you have.
I have a custom Emerald on the drawing board that I've been going back and forth with Kevin for weeks now and is on hold pending the sale the X20 and even then I'm not sure it will happen. The X10 continues to be a great gigging axe. I've used it for one brunch gig and one open mic so far. The brunch gig was great. The open mic not so much because once again the guy running it could not dial in my tone - hence the desire for an onboard barn door system. So I'll still need to bring my own preamp to get a decent tone for open mics. But through my own equipment, it sounds great. We've got a big outdoor gig this Saturday and I'll be using the X10 through my current set up which is just the guitar and mics through the awesome new EAE StompMix X6 which continues to impress and then into two Bose S1s, one as a monitor and the other blasting out front. I'll report on how it went at some point.