NGD Emerald X20 Custom

[domen]

Arrived! wonderful!
Ordered on 7 December 20, received on 28 May 21.
Custom X20 with:
-short scale 24",
-12 frets,
-12-16 compound radius,
-nut width 1 3/4"
-silver weaved amber + black,
-totally acoustic (no pickups)
Basically it is the body of the X20 with the neck of the X7 and the radius of the X10.

With more time, in the next days I will try to provide more complete sensations, in the meantime here are some photos taken on Lake Maggiore where the day before yesterday I went to spend an hour playing alone.

[RP]

Beautiful guitar and setting. I hope you enjoy both....

[waterboy]

Now that looks really nice. If I needed another Emerald (and I really don’t) it would probably have a very similar configuration.
Enjoy it in good health!

[steelvibe]

Congrats!

Easily one of the coolest Emeralds I've seen to date! Enjoy in good health

[StringMeUp]

Congratulations!

Beautiful guitar, beautiful scenery. I could take my multi-use nylon string Emerald, tie a hook to a treble string and fish while playing.

[seannx]

Very nice! Congrats!

[Frettingflyer]

Wow, great looking guitar and what a great place to play, I love playing outside on your own, so satisfying. Enjoy.

[jklotz]

Nice! Congrats!

[boneuphtoner]

Looks awesome- such a neat blend of specs! Many congrats!

[David Eastwood]

That’s really rather lovely - excellent photos!

The proof’s in the pudding, though. I look forward to your impressions of how it plays and sounds, and how your specification matches with your expectations.

[Captain Jim]

Wow - that is striking with the vibrant amber! Congrats on your new, unique X20!

[truckee]

Very nice. Contemplating something similar since I like the neck on my X10. Only difference would be red and 24.9" scale. Would like to hear your thoughts on how it plays.

[domen]

Here I am again with some considerations, I will dwell a little, I hope not to bore you. If so, just ignore the first part and move on to the last

First of all, thank you all for your kind words in response to this thread of mine which really made me very happy! and the idea of being able to fish with the X20 of @EvanB is really spectacular

I have some guitars but none really valuable, when I was a child I studied the basics of music theory and I had a classical guitar approach, as a boy I did not deepen and I have always considered the guitar only a support to be able to sing, which it was more natural and effortless for me. I was a singer more than a guitarist. In the 90s I was pushed to more extreme musical genres and more than anything else I used my interest for music to charm girls. Then life goes on. Now, past 50, I have learned to appreciate the instrument itself and I have started playing for the simple pleasure of playing and seeing some improvement. This is the first fine workmanship guitar I give myself. Some health problems frightened me and convinced me that time flies, that I couldn't wait and that it was time to play a beautiful custom guitar. This wait probably gave even more flavor.

I chose a CF guitar because, having to invest money in a musical instrument, I preferred to do it on a guitar that does not have to remain protected in the case for almost its entire existence being sensitive to humidity and temperature. I want a guitar to have next to me and to be able to take quickly and easily every time the inspiration touches me, without wasting even a second.
I chose Emerald, among the CFs, mainly because of the customization possibilities but a lot because of your reviews and the sound I was able to hear. Ergonomics is another essential point, it is for those who are totally healthy but even more so for me since I have joint issues, especially the right shoulder which embrace the guitar. I had to stop playing a dreadnought I have to switch to smaller guitars. What other guitar adopts all these details to allow comfort while playing? What other guitar could allow my shoulder to go back in time and play a bigger guitar? I peeked at this forum without being registered for a couple of years (complete the registration was impossible due to some problem with my IP address) then I finally get registered and, in these months, I have been able to read and enjoy all your comments related to guitars you own. I admired all Emerald's shipping videos, I became addicted to your opinions and meanwhile the salivation increased.

I would like to thank Kevin, the other day I realized that from November to today we have had an email exchange of almost 100 messages (50 + 50). He had a lot of patience with me and supporting me when I changed ideas on what I asked previously. I want to thank him publicly, he is a polite man and he knows about guitars and his job. It seems to me that I almost know him by now and I assure you that, once the pandemic is finally over, I would very much like to visit Donegal and meet those people whom I have learned to recognize and appreciate through videos over the past months. I would also like to thank Alistair, although I have not had direct contact with him, I know that my guitar was made by him in person, like all the custom ones up to now. Considering all the changes in Emerald that have taken place, and that will come, I understood that soon Alistair will delegate some of his responsibilities in the direct creation of the custom instruments so most of the guitars will no longer be created personally by him. I am really proud to own and play this instrument created by the mind and hands of this talented person.

After this very long introduction, of which I apologize again, I start with the only and simple negative points:
-Some problems with UPS (fast shipping option), like everyone else, but living in Europe the guitar arrived in 5 days instead of 2. UPS call center, in any case, is designed only to give impersonal and standardized answers without ever really helping the customer. But this is UPS's problem and not Emerald's.
-I sent, weeks ago, specific strings (Thomastik Infeld Plectrum 11-50) so the initial setup could have been done on the strings I would play later, I sent them to Cavanacaw directly from a german store and then asked if they had arrived and if everything was ok, positive feedback but the guitar came to me with strings that were not the ones I sent and the setup was then done on standard strings. Said this about this inconvenience, which has already been partially fixed, now I only have kind words.
The guitar immediately gave me the impression that I ordered exactly what I was looking for. it is not such a foregone conclusion: How many times have you bought something imagining it one way and then discovering that it was different? I like my X20 from all points of view. The short scale allows me to have a lower tension, 24" instead of 25.5" means a lighter tension on average of 11.4%. Compound radius facilitate 'barrés' on the first frets even if honestly 12-16 is not very marked, you only realize it by paying attention. My left hand immediately felt comfortable with the neck which seems to me similar to the Taylor's ones, even if the shape is slightly more flattened, but the feeling 'in the hand' is not so different (as some of you had already told me). It is not a big and bulky neck nor a thin or small one. I have never loved glossy necks, I have always perceived them as sticky, but here my left hand slips without obstacles even if I still don't love glossy necks Nut width is 1 3/4, greater than the guitars I have played till yesterday, nice but sometimes I realize that I have to get used to it when I place my fingers on the frets without looking. I know it will happen in a short time. The tuners are precise and pleasant to the touch and the eyes. The hole, moved to the shoulder, throws all the sound in your face and it is a pleasant sensation, it seems to me that it pushes me to play a little more delicate. I would like to hear someone else play my guitar standing in front of him, in a spectator position, to understand if the sound projection really has the same strength for the listener. Every little detail of this guitar appears to be of a high standard and well assembled. What I did not expect (but which certainly makes it more solid) are the screws that lock the bridge to the top, invisible until if you insert an arm in the guitar and touch the inside with your fingers. The smell someone is talking about it is not intrusive, I find it almost as pleasant as the smell of a new car. After 24 hours it has already totally disappeared. Maybe it comes from the case more than the guitar. I played the X20 with the standard strings for a few hours, the guitar sounded immediately pleasantly, but that same evening I decided to change them. My fingers are no longer what they used to be (unfortunately) and, accustomed to flat wounds and a lighter tension, I needed to make the guitar immediately more familiar. And so it was. The replacement operation took place without big issues even if keeping the strings under tension during assembly seems complex at first as hands must be placed to kept tension on both sides to prevent the string jump out of the bridge and it is not immediately easy to understand how do it. it is always better to bend every string one cm before the ball end before inserting it. In any case, this operation only lasted about fifteen minutes and I think it will be easier next time. Once I put on my Thomastik Infeld Plectrum strings the guitar became perfect. I think these strings are an experience that everyone should try. The X20 that already sounded good now takes my breath away. Enriched with color, the harmonics became a riot full of emotions. The notes are more precise and recognizable and the tension is more pleasant. I have to better understand the difference in the attack and possibly understand which pick is best suited, even though I don't normally use a pick but I play with my fingers. Mostly fingerpicking (nothing extremely difficult ) but I also do strumming without a pick. if fingerpicking immediately gives a very pleasant sound I still have to adapt to strum on this X20, for each song I have to adapt in a different way. Obviously this need for adaptation I suppose happens with all the guitars with which you are not used to play. I will probably have to go to a luthier anyway to define a perfect setup, these strings have less tension and I notice it thanks to a little buzz but only when I play a very strong strumming.
In terms of tone, I was very tense after Earl's experience. I have no other Emeralds to compare this one of mine, so I have no way of understanding how much my guitar has a higher or lower tone than the others. What I can say is that I don't have the feeling of lack of bass, despite putting on lighter strings, and that my ears and belly feel satisfaction by the sound of my new guitar. My wooden acoustics are not in the same 'category' as an Emerald and in any case they don't sound as good and full as this X20. One last thought related to pinless bridge: sometimes I'm used, while playing, to rest part of the palm of my right hand on the bridge. Probably, in some cases, I will have to change this habit since now I would lean directly on the strings and then make them sound 'muted'.

(I am really sorry for my 'spaghetti style' english )

[David Eastwood]

Great review, domen - thank you for taking the time to write it and share it here. Very happy for you!