What's an opus X7 emerald

[KarenB]

There's a story of the first page of the Emerald website that talks about an opus x7. Is that different than a regular X7?

[Captain Jim]

Originally Posted by KarenB

There's a story of the first page of the Emerald website that talks about an opus x7. Is that different than a regular X7?

Prior to the change in the X7 that happened in late May, 2018, the Opus line was a black model, with Crystal Ice back and sides, glossy top. A pickup was optional. Emerald's Artisan line would upgrade that to color tinting, full gloss (back, sides, top) and their base level pickup. A veneer could be added to the Artisan line (extra cost, of course).

When Emerald made a change in the X7 (2018), and offered the X10 (with different levels of pickups), Alistair said that 90% of their sales were Artisan, favored over the Opus line... so, they eliminated those names and levels.

For the record, I still like the Crystal Ice finish on the back and sides, and ordered my X10 in June of 2018 with that finish.

[KarenB]

Thanks Captain for the interesting information. Would you like to post a photo of your X10 with Crystal Ice finish?

[Acousticado]

Further to what Jim said, the Opus version of various models of Emerald guitars also had the crystal ice finish on the front and back of the headstock.

Fundamentally, the standard artisan and opus were the same...one piece construction with stainless steel frets. Initially the Opus could be had in various colors, but later they were limited to black. Other than that, the artisan had Gotoh 510 tuners and the Opus had a slightly lessor grade tuners, but still excellent. The other differences were the artisan came with a hardshell case, opus a gigbag...artisan came with electronics, opus electronics were optional.

I have a 2018 X20 “Custom Shop Opus”...gloss black “vertical” weave, crystal ice back and sides, gloss front of headstock (appears as an Artisan from the front). After owning some Artisan Emeralds, I specifically asked for the crystal ice finish on my X20. It is not inferior, it is nice looking and is far tougher against marking than gloss. A real no fuss, no muss guitar.

[KarenB]

Thanks for the info, Acousticado. Can we see a pix of your X20?

[KarenB]

Nice looking guitar, Tom. Thanks for the photos. I like the vertical weave, which I've never seen before.

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by KarenB

Nice looking guitar, Tom. Thanks for the photos. I like the vertical weave, which I've never seen before.

Thanks Karen. As you may know, for a while until not that long ago, Emerald was producing the “Select Series” where each month, they would build a half-dozen or so models with a theme. The guitars of the June 2017 Select Series were all black with vertical weave. I quite liked that and the crystal ice, so in 2018 I asked Alistair if he would do it. He agreed. It’s quite possible that my X20 may be the only other X20 with a vertical weave and the only one with vertical weave and crystal ice combo.

[KarenB]

Originally Posted by Acousticado

Thanks Karen. As you may know, for a while until not that long ago, Emerald was producing the “Select Series” where each month, they would build a half-dozen or so models with a theme. The guitars of the June 2017 Select Series were all black with vertical weave. I quite liked that and the crystal ice, so in 2018 I asked Alistair if he would do it. He agreed. It’s quite possible that my X20 may be the only other X20 with a vertical weave and the only one with vertical weave and crystal ice combo.

Truly a unique guitar!