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Kestrel Report - piece by piece
Playability and sound are the two things I am most concerned about in any instrument, but I will leave the sound off until later. I'll also save the travel, arrival, guitar details and initial reactions for later. For now just playability.
First here is a link to a picture of it in the elements.https://photos.app.goo.gl/V5ncoRe1BAFNaXwR7 Playability - pretty awesome. Not sure what the neck is. I am thinking shallow C. It feels good whatever it is. Nice and solid. With the bridge and truss I can dial in pretty much any height I want on the stings. The guitar feels great sitting or standing. In someways it feels a little smaller than an X20 (back to front thickness for example) and in some ways it feels bigger (wider bout). I can't slouch (sitting) as much as I can with the X20 or an L1 sized guitar, but it's still comfortable playing while sprawled out on a couch. The Kestrel strings feel a little narrower up the neck too, but that's not a problem. I am not a fast enough picker for that to be a problem for me. Let me know what else you want to know. I will get to other topics, but you can lead the discussion.
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Cheers, Tom PS If you don't want to invest in yourself, why should anyone else even bother to try? Last edited by mot; 12-15-2019 at 01:05 PM. |
#2
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Looking forward to the whole of your over-all impressions. Such a fine-looking guitar!
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Some CF, some wood. |
#3
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What is the width of this beautiful guitar?
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#4
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That is a great-looking guitar!
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Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 |
#5
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All the dimensions here, Evan - 16.5” is the answer to your question.
https://emeraldguitars.com/guitars/s...tions/#kestrel
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Martin 0-16NY Emerald Amicus Emerald X20 Cordoba Stage Some of my tunes: https://youtube.com/user/eatswodo |
#6
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Sooooooo SEXY!
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CF: Emerald X-30 Royal Ebony, Rainsong H-WS1000N2, Journey OF660 Martins: 000-Nylon, All Mahogany custom, 000-15SM, D16-GT (resto mod in progress), D15-M, Stinger SSL electric.... And a Kobza, Bouzouki, Hurdy Gurdy and something medieval looking..... www.woodenshoe.blog |
#7
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Is it just me, or is that instrument crazy thin?
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Larrivee OM-03RE; O-01 Martin D-35; Guild F-212; Tacoma Roadking Breedlove American Series C20/SR Rainsong SFTA-FLE; WS3000; CH-PA Taylor GA3-12, Guild F-212 https://markhorning.bandcamp.com/music |
#8
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Compared with what? The Kestrel is not primarily an acoustic guitar...
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Martin 0-16NY Emerald Amicus Emerald X20 Cordoba Stage Some of my tunes: https://youtube.com/user/eatswodo |
#9
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As an owner of an acoustic-only X10 and an Eastman AR805 archtop I'm most interested in acoustic-only sound comparison between your X20 and Kestral.
Last edited by JimCA; 12-15-2019 at 11:19 PM. |
#10
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The Kestrel is about the same size and thickness of a Super 400 or L5. The thicker arch tops have more bass and they vary by as little as an 1/8 inch in some models where you can hear the difference. You can find fully acoustic arch tops clocking in at 3 inches or maybe less. The Kestrel is 3.5 inches thick and can hold it's own in a chunka chunka situation without need of amp even if it's providing the rhythm for a brass section. As a soloing instrument it'll likely need to be amplified if in the same group with the brass though.
Nice thing is that it can go both ways as the need arises. I haven't tried it with any players yet, but I think it is easily loud enough to solo with a django style group without any amplification. I want to check it for feedback issues too. I suspect it will be fine, but I haven't checked in a loud-ish setting yet. I was at a venue this evening where I could have tested feedback if I had thought to bring the Kestrel with me. Compared to the X20 or X30 the Kestrel has a noticeably weak bass. However this guitar can pin a fly to a wall across the room in the midrange without an amp in ways those flattops could never do.
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Cheers, Tom PS If you don't want to invest in yourself, why should anyone else even bother to try? |
#11
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Quote:
I don't have an X10. I have played one, but I don't remember enough to make any sound comparisons. I remember the X30 in that it's like a big brother of an X20, but the X10 didn't register in my memory as well.
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Cheers, Tom PS If you don't want to invest in yourself, why should anyone else even bother to try? |
#12
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This is because of the physics of the body and those F-holes. Basically this baby has about a 90 degree projection off the face where the sound is a lot louder than anywhere else. It's even louder than what the player hears.
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Cheers, Tom PS If you don't want to invest in yourself, why should anyone else even bother to try? Last edited by Kerbie; 12-16-2019 at 06:48 AM. |
#13
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Quote:
Last edited by JimCA; 12-15-2019 at 11:33 PM. |
#14
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No worries. Anything particular?
The X20 blends the chords a lot more than the Kestrel when strumming. The Kestrel has less overtones I think. I spent some time at a Guitar Center a few years ago trying to decide whether to get the Rainsong they had in stock. I felt it's chords where crisper than the X20. I finally went with a Lucky 13 which felt more bluesy. The Kestrel is on the other side of that Rainsong in crispness. For busking on a busy street without an amp those Kestrel chords will likely cut through a lot more.
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Cheers, Tom PS If you don't want to invest in yourself, why should anyone else even bother to try? |
#15
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That is a fine looking guitar.
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