X-20 Artisan

[K20C]

I’ll try to get better pics of it, but this thing is hard to photograph. Just a mirror-polished black hole of inky nothingness. Like my soul. lol

Sounds amazing. Very loud to my ear, perhaps due to the placement of the soundhole. The low E is a bit thumpy, more like a Martin D than a Taylor GA-sized guitar. I’ve noticed that on other guitars I’ve owned with soundports. I think switching strings to my new favorite, Nano HDs, will help.

I think the ultimate compliment is the one my wife gave it. I was playing in the LR and she was puttering in the kitchen (our house has the “great room” concept where the two are adjacent). After a few minutes, she said, “It sounds exactly like a wood guitar. I’d never know by listening it was made of carbon fiber.”

Action is good but I will ask my luthier to lower it a smidge to suit my taste. I like the string spacing. It feels a bit wider than I expected giving me plenty of room but not so wide as to cause more than moment’s adjustment after playing one of my other guitars.

The neck is very similar to my Taylors, perhaps a tiny bit flatter. I’d love to have one with a V profile. I have a Perry Bechtel Martin (based on a ‘30s OM) with a big pronounced V and like it very much. Perhaps someday.

I’ve only plugged it in for a moment to verify it works so I won’t comment on the electronics until I’ve had more time. I don’t play out so it’s not terribly important to me.

Anyways, I’m loving it. It’s wonderful to be able to keep it downstairs and not worry about humidity yet still have a guitar that plays, sounds and looks so nice. It’s a keeper.

[jdinco]

Very nice Gary, always nice to see another one join the ranks. I have TI Plectrums on mine and the sound is great, may try the nano HD's next since they work so well on the other CF's I have and are a bit cheaper. They ARE hard to photograph, but yours still looks blue. LOL Beautiful guitar, congrats.

[Earl49]

They are hard to photograph, except using a direct flash or strong daylight. It is a testament to the excellent quality of Emerald's studio photos that the colors pop so brilliantly. Regardless of the color, they tend to look black most of the time -- woodies excepted, of course. There should have been a USB flash card in the packaging with their photos of your guitar. It looks like business card.......

Make sure to tweak the truss rod before taking it for any set-up work. Another poster here found the TR completely loose, and minimal tightening adjusted the relief enough to meet his expectation without saddle modifications.

[kramster]

Mine is inky nothingness as well...Cool!

[K20C]

Originally Posted by kramster

Mine is inky nothingness as well...Cool!

Your soul or your guitar?

Oh Gary! What a penetrating question.

[kramster]

Originally Posted by K20C

Your soul or your guitar?

I think so.

[J.R. Rogers]

Nice and congratulations! That's a cool little uke sitting back there too. And that little amp... So much fun for jamming around the house. I have one that looks like that and has a boss digital delay clone built-in.

JR

[K20C]

Originally Posted by J.R. Rogers

Nice and congratulations! That's a cool little uke sitting back there too. And that little amp... So much fun for jamming around the house. I have one that looks like that and has a boss digital delay clone built-in.

JR

Thanks, JR. The ukulele is by I’iwi. The amp is from a guy down in TX. Runs on batteries and has a built-in distortion circuit. I use it for my Cigar Box Guitars...which are a lot of fun, BTW.

[Captain Jim]

Congrats - looks like that guitar has found a nice home!

I took a moment to lighten the image and ease some of the black out of it...



At first, I thought it might be a solid black, but with the lightening, I could see some CF weave... then, what looked like an unusual pick guard: nope, a reflection of an arm.

Nice, classy black X20!

[bsman]

I love it, “None more black”.

[Tom2]

Originally Posted by K20C

Just a mirror-polished black hole of inky nothingness. Like my soul. lol

Originally Posted by kramster

Mine is inky nothingness as well...Cool!

Originally Posted by K20C

Your soul or your guitar?

Originally Posted by kramster

I think so.

Masterful.

[Earl49]

Seems like the late, great Johnny Cash might have gone for a carbon fiber guitar..... what with the whole "Man in Black" theme.

Some strong blues coming from this guitar would be a nice match of the visual and auditory.

[kramster]

Originally Posted by Tom2

Masterful.

It's just the way we roll... and rock.