Emerald X20 or Mcpherson Sable for fingerpicking?

[gerardo1000]

I mainly fingerpick, almost never use a flat pick, and I do not use finger picks, just my fingers. Also, I mainly play unplugged.
Any opinion on which of the two guitars is better suited?
Thanks!

[JackDaniel]

I'd go with the x20 because it is louder. I love the tone of my sable but its sound is a touch muted, especially with light strings. Mcpherson designs their guitars to use medium strings. For the x20, a light touch delivers a big sound.

[BlueStarfish]

I’ve got both an X20 and a Sable. Love them both!

Unfortunately I don’t finger pick much. So I can’t directly answer your question. But I can make a few observations which may be relevant.

First observation — compared to the X20, the Sable has slightly rolled-off trebles. Playing with a flatpick, I have found I need to go with a thinner pick on the Sable (a 1.0 mm large triangle, instead of a 1.5 mm large triangle on the X20) to get the tone balance I want. Also I use 80/20 strings on the Sable, to help the trebles out, vs. Martin Retros on the X20. From the perspective of a flat picker, these two adjustments allow me to end up with pretty similar tonal balance on the two guitars. But if you play only fingers then the thinner pick is out and, no doubt, the Sable will sound a bit darker due to the rolled-off trebles. Whether that is good or bad is up to you.

Second observation is that the X20 works well with both medium and light gage strings (obviously, with a different feel). I prefer mediums because I like the tension under my flatpick. But there is no shortage of volume with lights. However, the Sable is arguably one of those guitars that really needs mediums to get the top moving. If you prefer really light gage strings for bends, you’re going to get less unplugged volume out of the Sable. Now you may not care — it seems like most finger pickers playing with other people plug in anyways. At acoustic jam sessions, a fingerpicked guitar is basically a silent guitar. But still worth mentioning.

Third observation is that, while both have 1 3/4” nuts, the saddle spacing on the X20 is 2 1/4”, but it’s slightly narrower (2 3/16”) on the Sable. Some people care about these things. Both work fine for me. But again worth mentioning in case you have a strong preference.

None of those three points will tell you which is a better guitar for fingerpicking. Truth is they both sound great — and you can find demos of both online to listen to from very good fingerpicking players. It’s more a question of fitting what you want.

Added thought: The voicing of the two guitars is also different. For lack of more precise language — the X20 has a more “modern” voicing while the Sable has a more “traditional” voicing. I say this even after selecting strings and flatpicks that get the bass / treble balance to about the same place on the two guitars. So depending on what styles of music you like to play most, that might actually be the most important factor for you.

[gerardo1000]

Thank you for the great comments so far! I am not 100% sure I understand the meaning of "rolled-off trebles" ( sorry, English is not my first language!). Does it mean that the trebles on the Sable are weaker, or less crisp?

[JackDaniel]

I'd say that cf guitars tend to be very bright. Probably overly so especially compared to wood. McPherson uses internal bracing to control some of this and that's what gives the sable it's distinct tone - what others have called the most wood sounding cf guitar. The drawback is that you lose some volume. I wouldn't say the McPherson is lacking in treble but more that compared to the emerald, it's more warm.

[gerardo1000]

Jack Daniel, actually I do not completely agree that carbon fiber guitars, today, necessarily sound brighter than wooden guitars. It may be a thing of the past . To give you an example: I own a new Rainsong CO-OM1000 N2, the most recent Concert model with unidirectional top, and actually it sounds less bright (without being muddy) than my Guild dreadnought and my Recording King RO328 Orchestra model.

[JackDaniel]

Hmmm. interesting. To be honest, I haven't owned a wood guitar in about ten years, LOL!!! I'm probably living in the past.

[BlueStarfish]

Hi Gerardo, thanks for taking the time to call out an unfair use of American slang! Three points deducted from the blue team.

Yes, “rolled off” means a little less strong. I guess the language comes from using a tone wheel or knob on a 3-band parametric EQ — one “rolls off” (turns) the knob to bring down the level of treble or bass.

You mentioned having a Rainsong. I unfortunately haven’t played any as they don’t have any dealers in my area. But I did want to point out that the Rainsongs are readily available in short-scale necks, if that is important to you. Short scale is not available at all on the Sable, and it’s a special order (with an up charge) for an Emerald. I mention this because I’ve noticed lots of finger pickers seem to prefer short scale.

I’ll close out my comments by mentioning the unofficial AGF all-weather advice, which is that you actually need BOTH a Sable and an X20. So really you are only deciding which one to buy first, and then you can buy the other one later

[byudzai]

[albirw]

I play an emerald x20.
While I do like the sound and playability.
I do feel that the neck width on the 12th fret is a little too wide for me.
If you want to play like Tommy Emmanuel or Joe Robinson for example, where you want to use your thumb over the low E string, McPherson probably has more suitable neck profile. (The guy in the YouTube link above also pointed out the the neck width differences on the upper fret area of the neck).

A lot of fingerstyle players on YouTube playing McPherson Sable, not as much with Emerald x20 I think.

I would probably get an Emerald x10, Enya x3 pro, or an Mcpherson Sable or Touring if I were to get another carbon fiber guitar for fingerstyle.

[RP]

Originally Posted by JackDaniel

I'd say that cf guitars tend to be very bright. Probably overly so especially compared to wood...

I disagree although I'd say that my Rainsongs were generally brighter than my Emeralds. The X20 has a warm sound to my ears...

[Earl49]

As a data point, I am a 75% bare nails fingerpicker and use my X20 a lot. At bluegrass jams I beat on it fairly hard, strumming with a heavy flat pick. So it is a pretty versatile guitar. I have not owned a Sable (yet) but the right used deal may come along some day. Curiosity killed the cat....

The conventional wisdom gleaned from reading many posts here is that Sable is warmer tonally and noticeably quieter than most CF guitars, if that helps. There is also some tonal variation between different years, but it isn't clear which one is better than the others. Byudzai's video comparison is as good as it gets short of having both in your hands.

[albirw]

Hi I take my word back.

Because I saw a story on Instagram where Tommy Emmanuel got to play the x20.
I guess depending on your hand size as well.
For some playing fingerstyle with big hands, x20 might work for them.

My hand is smaller for sure…

[PassingThru]

Originally Posted by albirw

Hi I take my word back.

Because I saw a story on Instagram where Tommy Emmanuel got to play the x20.
I guess depending on your hand size as well.
For some playing fingerstyle with big hands, x20 might work for them.

My hand is smaller for sure…

Did Tommy have any comments about the X20?

[SprintBob]

If you are primarily a fingerstyle player, see if you can find (probably on Reverb) a Rainsong Al Pettaway APSE. I currently own one as well as a McPherson Touring. I replaced an X20 (14 fret custom short scale) I owned previously with the Rainsong APSE (12 fret short scale). Compared to the X20, I think the APSE carbon layup is a bit lighter and there is less paint/clear coat (which does makes it plain looking). This contributes to the APSE feeling more responsive than the X-20. I think the X-20 is a head turner aesthetically and IMO if you are primarily a strummer or flatpicker, you will really love it but IME for fingerstyle the APSE is just better.

Al was an iconic fingerstyle guitarist and he worked closely with Rainsong to develop his signature model. You can find a demo of Al playing the guitar on the Dream Guitars website.

Good luck.