Enya X4 Photos and Brief Impressions

RPadTV · #1 10-01-2020, 01:04 PM

My friend brought over an Enya X4. At a glance, it seems like a very good value -- carbon fiber top, carbon fiber composite for the rest. It's a bigger guitar than my Journey Road Trip (comparison photo below) and definitely louder. It sounds very nice unplugged and the effects help cover up for any qualities you might not like. That said I prefer the sound and comfort of the Journey.

Of course the onboard mic/reverb/chorus effects aren't as good as what you'd get from a pedal or even a good amp. However, there are case uses for them and the convenience is nice to have.

A few people have asked about the Enya X4's battery. It uses a standard 18650, commonly used for flashlights and vaping devices. More importantly, it is user-replaceable. It comes with a cheap battery; I'd immediately replace it with a quality cell from Sony, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, etc. It's charged by a USB to 1/4" cable. Just for kicks, I wanted to see if it would charge through my PS4 using the Rocksmith cable. It did.

At the sub-$1,000 price range, the only competition I know of is the Lava Me 2. That's probably a better guitar for traveling due to its size, but some people question the carbon fiber blend and some dislike the untraditional shape. I believe both use a 1-11/16" nut, so that might be a deal breaker for some of you. Overall, I was impressed with the playability, sound, and finish of the Enya X4 considering the $899 MSRP. It's cool to see carbon fiber reaching more accessible price points.

steelvibe · #2 10-01-2020, 01:19 PM

Excellent review RPadTV! I'm a 1 3/4"nut guy and prefer 2 1/4" string spacing at the saddle but i think the guitar looks cool and sounds good with heaphones/youtube videos. Yes, not everyone can afford the upper regions of these carbon fiber offerings, but the tone you can get out of these budget models is pretty stankin' good to my old ears.

mountainmaster · #3 10-01-2020, 02:04 PM

Your images are not showing up. Not even when I am logged into my Google account.

I sure hope these restricted Google images aren't the new trend.

steelvibe · #4 10-01-2020, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mountainmaster

Your images are not showing up. Not even when I am logged into my Google account.

I sure hope these restricted Google images aren't the new trend.

I can see them using Duck Duck Go but still have not seen Jim in TC's shots of his new X7- i'm crying because the amber weave is one of my favorites.

RPadTV · #5 10-01-2020, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mountainmaster

Your images are not showing up. Not even when I am logged into my Google account.

I sure hope these restricted Google images aren't the new trend.

Thanks for the heads up. I switched to imgur links. Hopefully those work for everyone.

raysachs · #6 10-01-2020, 03:19 PM

What's the scale length on these? I looked at their site but all they mention is the nut width, not the spacing at the bridge or even the scale length...

Thanks,

-Ray

RPadTV · #7 10-01-2020, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raysachs

What's the scale length on these? I looked at their site but all they mention is the nut width, not the spacing at the bridge or even the scale length...

Thanks,

-Ray

Looking at the Chinese material, I think it claims 66cm (I can't read half the words). If that's correct, it would be a hair under 26 inches. I don't see anything about the bridge spacing.

mountainmaster · #8 10-01-2020, 04:24 PM

Yes, I can see the pictures now. They have gone a bit wild with that fretboard inlay.

David Eastwood · #9 10-01-2020, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mountainmaster

Yes, I can see the pictures now. They have gone a bit wild with that fretboard inlay.

I rather like it, and the style overall. If you're going with a more unusual composite material, why limit yourself to the boring old paradigms of 'conventional' guitars?

The headstock shape is a bit lumpy, and the gold tuners really don't fit - but bravo to them for at least trying to do something a little different.

raysachs · #10 10-02-2020, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RPadTV

Looking at the Chinese material, I think it claims 66cm (I can't read half the words). If that's correct, it would be a hair under 26 inches. I don't see anything about the bridge spacing.

Thanks for checking. Man, that's long. Seems like halfway between a full scale and a Baritone...

-Ray

David Eastwood · #11 10-02-2020, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raysachs

Thanks for checking. Man, that's long. Seems like halfway between a full scale and a Baritone...

-Ray

Curious lack of measurements on their website. I did find this on Amazon:

Question: What is the scale length?
Answer: The length of the scale on Enya X4 Guitar is 25.98 inches.

Enya Music Seller · July 2, 2020

So, that would confirm that it’s 66cm - basically a half inch longer than your ‘standard’ 25.5”.

It’s got a ways to go before it gets into baritone territory

Paul-ColumbiaMD · #12 12-18-2020, 03:43 PM

I took delivery of an Enya EA-X4 Carbon Fiber guitar five days ago, purchased from Reverb, where a local LLC sold it to me as a 'new' instrument. The reseller is not a storefront, but represented on Reverb.com. The guitar was beautiful out of the box. I love its preamp effects and it is awesome plugged in to my AI

First odd observation was that the guitar was in DADGAD tuning out of the box, immediately impressing me that someone had this guitar in their hands. The dealer assured me that it had only been in her inventory less than a month, and along with a couple of others, sold quick. The box was fine ... everything looked fine, but the boxing didn't look "factory fresh."

The second odd observation telling me someone had their mitts on this guitar was that the action was set too low, both according to my Fritz ruler, plus I had consistent buzz on the 2d and 3rd strings.

The guitar includes no documentation specific to the instrument, especially its AcousticPlus preamp. Given RPadTV's mentioning the factory battery is cheap and should be replaced by one of better quality, I couldn't figure out the USB- rechargeable battery position until finally, Mike from Enya Customer service sent me ad-hoc photos of where it's located ... on the underside of the preamp. To actually see the battery, I used my semi-rigid endoscope to look into the body and then 'up' to the battery. The preamp is positioned below the waist of the guitar, so everything has to be done by feel. Per Mike, the battery is covered by tape to prevent it from falling out during shipping.

As I've played the guitar over the past few days, the ability to keep it tuned has gone down-down-down. The intonation between open and the 12th fret is off, most notably on strings 5 and 6. The bridge and saddle look good, so my only theory is that either the instrument sat in the warehouse a long time and the strings 'aged,' or a DADGAD player got some good time in with my guitar before it came to me. Of course, I've no way to prove this other than the circumstances described above.

As my final test, looked up another 'new' EA-X4 guitar on Reverb and saw a reference to Elixir Polyweb Bronze Nano 16502 strings. I ordered and just received these and will shortly replace those that came on the guitar. Everywhere I read, the inconsistent intonation issues with an otherwise serviceable guitar are most often associated with bad, worn or old strings.

I just wanted to post these observations in hopes others with similar experience with the EA-X4 might share or have advice.

More to come!