NGD and Build Log - Emerald T8 Woody Opus

[Jimmy Koh]

Originally Posted by Acousticado

By the way Jimmy, the headstock design on your T8 is different than other Emeralds and is very nice. It kinda has the look of some Ryan and Olson guitar headstocks, which are my personal favorites. Is your other T8 headstock the same as the new one?

No Tom. The other T8, the amber opus one, has a crystal ice black painted headstock, with the old metal/pewter like hound. But both the new and old T8s have the same headstock shape, almost similar to the Ryan and Olson or R Taylor guitars.

[Jimmy Koh]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

Ahh, yes. All good things; great looking veneer, cool body shape, the traditional sound hole placement, the dog house......

But how does it sound?

Hey steel, this is actually the most important question.

My two T8s are the only acoustic guitars that I have. And the older T8 is the only reference point I have. The older T8 sounds big, it has a thinner top, when you tap on the soundboard area between the soundhole and the bridge, it produces a 'thong thong thong' sound, like a cajon, very resonating. This newer T8, when tap at the same soundboard area, produces a slightly lesser resonated tone, and sounds like 'thug thug thug'. I observed closely and attribute the difference to the thickness of the soundboard. The woody's top is definitely thicker. You can't substitute carbon with veneer.

Now, the sound.

The older T8 when strummed or plugged, every note 'echoes' and all frequencies seem to jump out at you, with lots of sustain. The newer T8, however, produces a more focused sound, it does not ring out as much as the older one. It has a drier sound, but you can still hear the strings resonating with softer echo. The older T8, can sound muddy if I'm not careful on the strings. The newer T8 is slightly opposite, if you dig in a bit more, all the right sound come out. The older T8 has a flatter frequency range but the newer T8 seems to be slightly scooped in the mid frequency. For singing, I would take the newer T8 as it does not fight with your vocal, while still produces a clear musical tone. The older T8 is perfect for an all-out, strumming session.

I'm still comparing the two, and I think a fairer comparison will only take place when I lower the saddle height of the newer T8, and install similar strings on both. The older T8 now wears a 4 months old Ernie Ball Everlast 12 string set (less tension I think), and the newer T8 has the daddario coated 80/20 12s that came with it, that felt higher tensioned to me.

[Captain Jim]

I had to chuckle: it took 9 pages to get to the sound.

[kramster]

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

I had to chuckle: it took 9 pages to get to the sound.

Thread had to age some.

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

I had to chuckle: it took 9 pages to get to the sound.

5 pages for me (30 posts per page). Our (adjustable) settings are different.

[Captain Jim]

Originally Posted by Acousticado

5 pages for me (30 posts per page). Our (adjustable) settings are different.

OK, let's go with: 132 posts to get to the sound!

[Jimmy Koh]

Things are just slightly special in the CF world. Haha.

Don't you guys agree that this is the most detailed chronicle of a CF build from conceptualizing to completion?

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Koh

Things are just slightly special in the CF world. Haha.

Don't you guys agree that this is the most detailed chronicle of a CF build from conceptualizing to completion?

LOL...might just be, Jimmy, though I think Evan's X10-OSN thread a while back may have been close.

[ac]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Koh

Hey steel, this is actually the most important question.

My two T8s are the only acoustic guitars that I have. And the older T8 is the only reference point I have. The older T8 sounds big, it has a thinner top, when you tap on the soundboard area between the soundhole and the bridge, it produces a 'thong thong thong' sound, like a cajon, very resonating. This newer T8, when tap at the same soundboard area, produces a slightly lesser resonated tone, and sounds like 'thug thug thug'. I observed closely and attribute the difference to the thickness of the soundboard. The woody's top is definitely thicker. You can't substitute carbon with veneer.

Now, the sound.

The older T8 when strummed or plugged, every note 'echoes' and all frequencies seem to jump out at you, with lots of sustain. The newer T8, however, produces a more focused sound, it does not ring out as much as the older one. It has a drier sound, but you can still hear the strings resonating with softer echo. The older T8, can sound muddy if I'm not careful on the strings. The newer T8 is slightly opposite, if you dig in a bit more, all the right sound come out. The older T8 has a flatter frequency range but the newer T8 seems to be slightly scooped in the mid frequency. For singing, I would take the newer T8 as it does not fight with your vocal, while still produces a clear musical tone. The older T8 is perfect for an all-out, strumming session.

I'm still comparing the two, and I think a fairer comparison will only take place when I lower the saddle height of the newer T8, and install similar strings on both. The older T8 now wears a 4 months old Ernie Ball Everlast 12 string set (less tension I think), and the newer T8 has the daddario XL 12 that comes with it, that felt higher tensioned to me.

If you get your saddles the same height--but most importantly, have new sets of the SAME strings--only then will you really begin to hear what type of difference there is between the old and new, IMO. 4 month old strings of a different brand, slightly different string diameters, should be expected to sound different.

Looking forward to hearing what you think when you do the comparison again. You have a super looking T8!

[Jimmy Koh]

^^ Hey ac,

I'm am trying to find time to make the real shoot out happen e.g. Same strings set, same action, pro audio recorder etc.

But at this moment, something is very clear: Thickness of the CF soundboard, will determine how airy the sound is, string note sustain as well as EQ of the tone emitted. Just like using different wood top for different voicing of a wooden guitar. We just need another owner of both a X20 Opus and Woody to prove this.

And I foresee that in the next 3-4 yrs, CF builders will begin to offer tuned soundboard, custom-to-order for players.