Originally Posted by Campro
Thanks for the post. I appreciate it, as I'm having intonation problems with my brand new X20 custom order. Specifically, the strings intonate sharp, with the low E and the A strings being noticeably off to the ear, especially when fretted across the first five frets. I have to flatten them both to varying degrees to get them to sound and measure relatively in tune when fretted and still sound passable against the open string octaves. In fact almost all the strings are sharp down there. At the 12th it's a mixed bag, with the A string being the most glaring and audible example of sharpness.
Anyway, I contacted support and sent them some pics of the bridge, which they requested. Very courteous and attentive to my e-mails, etc. They sent me a new replacement nut and a couple of saddles. I brought these to a very well-respected shop close by who carry Rainsong and other CF brands and they sanded the saddle back as far as they could and still maintain its integrity, and it really didn't make much of a difference to the intonation. They also checked the nut slots, etc and said everything was AOK as far as the cut of the height and width of the slots go, and, so, they didn't do anything with the nut. They seemed a bit shy to do too much, though, since they aren't familiar with the Emerald brand. But something's wrong, and I'm hoping it's not a drastic fix, but, it wouldn't surprise me if this will have to go back to Emerald to straighten it out. That, however, will have to wait until I get back from the tropics in a couple months (the whole reason I got a carbon fiber guitar to begin with).
Also, this guitar has an Anthem system installed, which I requested, since I've liked it on my Martin dread. To my ear, the strings don't sound balanced, with the B string being quite a bit lower in the mix. The guitar, acoustically, however, sounds very balanced. I've tried to EQ it into submission with so-so results.
As far as the end pins go, the wrapped part at the ball-end of my strings was actually resting on top of the saddle on a few strings, so I've used some extra ball ends as spacers to correct that, which they have. It makes me wonder, though, based on Guitar Luva's comments, whether there's some kind of construction problem there too.
I really like the aesthetic and the tone and playability of the guitar, but the intonation problem bothers me quite a bit, especially for the amount of $$$$ I laid down to get this guitar, which, for me, is more than I've ever spent on a guitar in my life. And, lest anyone think I'm being too picky, I have a 2015 Taylor 320e (cost me $1320 on sale) which displays none of these intonation problems. Sure, like ANY guitar, the intonation, when measured with a tuner, isn't absolutely dead-on everywhere, but the Taylor sounds great and in-tune all the way up and down the neck. In other words, I know the problems I'm experiencing on my Emerald are not just the result of me being overly anal :>).
Like I said, due to current circumstances, I won't be able to do much about it until I get back to the States, at which point I will contact customer support once again and see what we can do. The folks I've dealt with at Emerald have been very good about response and helping seek a solution so far, and I'm confident they'll get the situation resolved satisfactorily. It would help greatly if they could partner with some shop(s) in the US, so the customer could try them out and/or at least have an authorized repair center here. I can't do this kind of work on a guitar myself, but I'm wondering if a zero glide nut would fix my problems, especially down low on the neck. Any opinions/ideas?
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