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#1
11-04-2021, 06:33 AM
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But how does it compare to wood?
Many who are considering a guitar made from carbon fiber either ask or are wondering about this, and I found this review in which Alex does an amazing side-by-side audition of an Emerald X20, a 70s Martin D28 and a "minty fresh" Taylor Presentation Series. See what you think. At 30 minutes this review is lengthy but extremely well-done. The actual playing comparison starts at 18:27...
Last edited by RP; 11-05-2021 at 08:33 AM. 
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#2
11-04-2021, 08:10 AM
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Excellent review.
The sound is thin and plasticky to me. Lacking depth and base.
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#3
11-04-2021, 08:21 AM
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Quote:
__________________
Martin 0-16NY Emerald Amicus Emerald X20 Cordoba Stage Some of my tunes: https://youtube.com/user/eatswodo
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#5
11-04-2021, 09:12 AM
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Quote:
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#6
11-04-2021, 09:15 AM
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Quote:
That’s how I hear it.
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#7
11-04-2021, 09:56 AM
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To hear the comparisons, start at about 18:00 in where he describes the process and then goes into playing each.
My response to the "sounds like wood" will always be the same...wishful thinking for those who don't really want a carbon fiber guitar, but do want the maintenance free (except string changes) aspect of them. Different materials from which a guitar is built will sound different and I don't think we will get away from that. So then, the question becomes one of whether an individual player likes the sound of a given guitar or not. If not, simply don't buy it. As for the sound of these guitars, in my personal opinion (i.e. not something anybody else must agree or disagree with because each person has his or her own opinion), I liked the sound of the Taylor the best. It was full and articulate. The Martin sounded quite good, but the highs seemed rolled off to me. That may be at least in part because that is typical of aging ears - to start to lose the high frequency response. So if the highs on the Taylor are as pronounced as folks in these forums seem to indicate, maybe my aging ears make it a more balanced sound. The Emerald fit right in between the Taylor and Martin. I can't say "sounds like wood", but then I also can't say "sounds like plastic". Carbon fiber is not the same as plastic, and I suspect that plastic, being a different material, would probably sound different again (though I don't know how a decent quality plastic guitar would sound). The Emerald has its own sound, just as the Taylor and Martin do. I like all three and to me, the Emerald is not outside the range of sounds produced by the Taylor or Martin. In other words, it doesn't stand out as sounding highly different in a negative way. With the comments above, I didn't mention all the variables in recording such as sitting in the exact same spot in every case since the guy had to move around at least some to get one guitar or another, or any other myriad of possible small differences that could affect the recorded sound. I suspect that he made a very good representation of the sonic qualities of each guitar though. Also, we each hear at least somewhat differently and will have different equipment to listen to the video with, and very likely EQ at least somewhat differently to get a sound we like. Years ago, I was an engineering tech at a hearing aid company and had fun testing a lot of co-workers' hearing with pro lab quality equipment. It was amazing how fluid our individual hearing frequency responses and sensitivities are, even changing over the course of a day with changing atmospheric conditions, not to mention our own health at a given moment. So in the end, I don't believe the Emerald sounded vastly different from either the Taylor or Martin. They all sounded good and each had its own sound. I don't claim to be a connoisseur of guitars such that blindfolded I could tell you which was which or name the materials a particular guitar was made from, at least until after watching the video of these specific guitars several times enough to register particulars of each sound unique to that guitar. Tony
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#8
11-04-2021, 10:07 AM
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#9
11-04-2021, 10:24 AM
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Didn't we go thru all this when that video was first posted? I don't agree with YamahaGuy at all, but he is welcome to his opinion. I wonder if he has ever played a CF guitar, so it's pretty easy to discount his opinion if that is true. And I don't think the sound (on my computer anyway) is good enough to judge any guitar, I think all 3 of those guitars sound better in person.
__________________
John
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#10
11-04-2021, 10:45 AM
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With the video on or off (audio only), they all sound like wonderful, well-played instruments to me.
That's why we all like to play them.  RE: pinless bridge stringing technique: one innovation I would like to see Emerald pick up on is those Gotoh magnum locking tuner option (the call them magnum locking for some unbeknownst reason) - you can't really tell they are locking, you just crank them and they lock up and look just like standard 510s. Stick in the bridge, and through the tuner, crank and they are locked up, pretty simple and no fiddling. Last edited by redi; 11-04-2021 at 10:57 AM.
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#11
11-04-2021, 10:48 AM
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I’m all for composites and non-wood construction. So my comments weren’t so much that the emerald didn’t sound “woody”. But more that it’s sound was thin. That’s how I hear it. Beautiful guitars though, and I checked out the website and guitar builder. There is a lot of innovation here to be celebrated. I’ve not had the pleasure of playing a CF guitar. But my Yam is composite backed and I’ve played ovations with composite backs.
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#12
11-04-2021, 11:16 AM
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That's the loudest, clickiest pick I've ever heard...
The Emerald does not shine in this video, but I'm not basing my whole opinion on CF based on it, either.
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#13
11-04-2021, 11:36 AM
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My ears have adapted to what I call “carbon fiber” tone and I like it… a lot. It doesn’t sound like wood and I don’t know what plastic sounds like.
__________________
Don't chase tone. Make tone.
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#14
11-04-2021, 01:28 PM
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Quote:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cuB2hprvfdc
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#15
11-04-2021, 02:52 PM
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They, all three, sound like guitars to me - can we at least agree on that?
__________________
Martin 0-16NY Emerald Amicus Emerald X20 Cordoba Stage Some of my tunes: https://youtube.com/user/eatswodo
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