About to order an Emerald, but decisions, decisions...

[wickedwahine]

I am about to place an order for an Emerald X7 this week. I have been going round and round in my mind though unable to decide what to do. I am hoping to have the guitar to take to a music camp in February, so part of me wants to just grab a production model that will hopefully be available in four months. But the other part of me keeps telling myself this may possibly be the only Emerald I get, and I should be patient and get what I really want.

My apologies for the long post, but my spouse, best friend and Mom (usually my three go-tos for advice) all think I'm nuts. Why do you need more than one guitar? I tried to explain it to them like it is shoes. I need high heels, flip flops, sneakers, etc. for all different reasons. The steel string, nylon string and silent guitars I already have fulfill different purposes. And this carbon fiber would give me one relatively impervious to humidity and weather changes, in a compact size good for travel. It all falls on deaf ears...so I resort to my fellow forum members (hopefully) for advice. I am leaning in one of three main directions.

1) Grab a production X7 Woody in green and be done with it. No mods at all. I get a great looking and playing guitar, in a cool color (I'm 1/4 Irish so I like the idea of the green top). It is the fastest to arrive and costs the least amount of money.

1b) Add a fan fretting option to the above production model. I play almost entirely slack key guitar and really like the idea of the fan fret option. I don't mind paying extra for it, but would hate to make it take it to a custom waitlist and then it does not arrive in time for my music camp. None of my other guitars have this, so I don't really need it, but it would be nice to have.

2) Get a custom color paint job on an X7. Anyone that knows me knows I love the color of turquoise/peacock blue. I even ordered a custom fiberglass ukulele case in this color. My toothbrush is even this color, etc. So the idea of having a guitar this color would be super unique and very me. I would still get the woody option, so it would be a custom color on the standard quilted maple they use. If I am heading to the custom wait list I would also add on the fan fretting to this one, since I'm waiting longer anyway. Advantages: a very unique "me" guitar. Disadvantages: it may make it arrive after my music camp, which would be a bummer, and could potentially hurt any resale value as it would be a one-off color.

3) Get one of the special order veneers with no added color stain. There is a very lovely one I saw on their YouTube channel and Kevin said they have it in stock for the X7. Upside: it is a near identical match for the wood on my custom ukulele, which would be a nice idea. Downside, it is an extra $550 and could delay my production date beyond my music camp. It is a relatively rare wood and I searched CITES restrictions to see if I would have a problem traveling with it and couldn't find it listed anywhere. I am sure it is fine or they would not sell it. But I do a lot of international traveling and don't want to have to worry about being stopped by Customs with it. At least with a green or blue guitar it doesn't jump out at an officer as "WOOD" and I don't think maple is really restricted anyway.

I wish I had eons to wait and think about this for weeks, but if I opt for one of the custom ones, I'm nervous enough already about getting it before February. So I don't want to waste too much time. Plus, as a side benefit, slightly sneaky one, my spouse and I just sold our house and since I handle the bills and we are flusher than usual with cash right now, I'd like to buy it before we have to go back to normal.

Sorry for the long diatribe, but I'm going round and round in my head trying to decide on all this. I know if anyone in the world can understand my excitement, anticipation and angst over this, AGF forum members might. What would any of you folks do?

Option 1, 1b, 2 or 3?

[David Eastwood]

I'd take option 1 - buy the stock model. It's sure to reach you in time for your February camp. In the meantime, you can figure out what you really want, take your time about ordering it, and then sell the stock one to help pay for the custom.

There, problem solved. You're welcome

[Pine]

As always, you get completely opposite advice from forum members. I would say the camp is a one-time event, your guitar isn’t. I’d get the guitar I really want. Otherwise, after the camp, you’ll wonder, “what if???”.

Good luck with your order!

[wickedwahine]

Originally Posted by eatswodo

I'd take option 1 - buy the stock model. It's sure to reach you in time for your February camp. In the meantime, you can figure out what you really want, take your time about ordering it, and then sell the stock one to help pay for the custom.

There, problem solved. You're welcome

Originally Posted by Pine

As always, you get completely opposite advice from forum members. I would say the camp is a one-time event, your guitar isn’t. I’d get the guitar I really want. Otherwise, after the camp, you’ll wonder, “what if???”.

Good luck with your order!

Thanks...you two sound like the competing parts of my brain.

[Captain Jim]

I agree with Pine. It sounds like you have some specific thoughts on your "ideal guitar" and a custom is the only way to get all that. For full disclosure, when I was considering a custom woody, Alistair's Select Series for that month had everything I wanted except a shorter scale. I don't think of that guitar as any kind of a compromise.

My X7 is an Opus with the B-Band pickup, and it is an absolute delight to play. A stock instrument that was ready to ship when I made the buying decision. I don't do the waiting thing well. Just tossing that out there if you are able to get an Artisan by the spouse, it may not be so easy to do it all again with a Custom in the not too distant future.

The guitar camp would be a fun "show & tell" with your new Emerald... I guess you could do the stock version this year and the Custom version for next year's camp.

Good luck with the decisions.

Eatswodo gets my vote--you get to have your cake and eat it too. You'll find the resell of the stock guitar goes well and any loss can be counted as a your camp rental fee. Further advice: rust never sleeps, don't be denied, go for it while you can.

PS: A one-off color is not a detriment in resale, it says CUSTOM!

[JimCA]

Originally Posted by wickedwahine

1) Grab a production X7 Woody in green and be done with it. No mods at all. I get a great looking and playing guitar, in a cool color (I'm 1/4 Irish so I like the idea of the green top). It is the fastest to arrive and costs the least amount of money.

I would verify features vs arrival time with Emerald before deciding. It looks to me like now there aren't any stock guitars and every order is a custom.

[Earl49]

Wicked Wahine, we've done both. I ordered a custom Artisan X20-12 and waited about four months (ordered July 10, delivered November 15 last year, just over four months). If Emerald still has a 4-5 month turnaround, you'll be OK for camp in early February, with some margin to spare. There is nothing better than YOUR custom guitar. I just looked at the Emerald web site, and did not see an X7 in stock. So you will have to order and wait either way. I can't really speak for Emerald, but a simpler order does not seem to take much lead less time than a complex custom. So you may as well get exactly what you want.

My wife saw a Woody X7 in stock over the winter, and quickly ordered it for her. Those eight days of waiting were about all she could stand. I also bought a matching green stock X20 Artisan from a fellow forum member - not a custom, but I had it in a week. It has become my favorite daily player, almost completely displacing the others. Someday I might miss not having the matching shorter 24.6" scale that my twelve string has, but 25.5" scale works fine for a six string, and for slack key.

I play a lot of slack key in a variety of tunings. I've never felt the need for a fan-fret neck, but if you want one then go for it. I have switched to medium or medium-light string sets to maintain tension on the lowered bass strings. BTW you'll love Aloha Camp - we've been three times. The only better vacations we've EVER taken have been live-aboard scuba diving trips, and that was not better by very much.

[Methos1979]

If you're flush with cash, order a stock X7 now to have in time for your event. Then, custom order an X7 with all the features you really want. Don't count on a custom order arriving on time. Mine was delayed over two months. And, like you, I was counting on having it for a gig! I did the opposite of what I'm recommending above. I placed my custom order then realizing it would not arrive in time, I bought a stock custom woody and got a 15% price break since I'd ordered before. This was enough that when the original custom order arrived I was able to sell the stock custom for nearly what I paid! Win-win.

As for options, only you can know for sure. I really don't like colored woody tops. I much prefer that stock woody to show through. To me, the colored ones just look too fake. As for fan fret, I'd love to play one but until I do, I'd never order one since I have no experience with them. A custom paint job in your favorite colors would make the guitar EXACTLY yours. Along with other customizations like neck shape, scale, string spacing - if you're going custom, make it YOUR guitar. That's what I did and I couldn't be happier.

You're right, our SO's don't understand. But a custom order built exactly to your desires could very well one day end up being your one and only guitar. So do it right.

[jdinco]

Get exactly what you want !

Hold on there. Methos may have a method. Turquoise on a wood veneer may not be a piece of art--and I assume you do want a piece of art?

But some turquoise inlay, that's a different matter. Maybe instead of silver, go for a turquoise dog.

In the meantime, better be looking around for a camp guitar (I assume you're looking at the classifieds on this forum).

[mkatz]

PM sent.

Mitch

[AZLiberty]

Order the guitar you want.

Custom Color will not affect resale. Custom scale length or fan fret won't bring it down, but you wouldn't recoup the change cost.

If it won't arrive in time for the camp, then look for a used X7 (old model). You have plenty of time to find one. Then after your custom arrives sell the old x7. Buying used you can sell for what you have into it minus shipping, so consider it an inexpensive rental till the custom arrives.

[acwild]

I stopped debating with my wife regarding my guitar purchases. The bottom line is that I don't need any of them, but they make me happy and that's justification enough. Besides, there's never an explanation for all of her purchases.

Personally I vote for getting the exact guitar that you want and don't look back.

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by acwild

The bottom line is that I don't need any of them...

Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Slow your roll, there skippy...

What kind of crazy talk is THAT?!?