NGD and short review - Emerald X-20

[KevinH]

As my first foray into the world of carbon, I decided to order an Emerald X-20, thanks largely to the glowing reviews of many in this forum. It showed up yesterday, just 10-1/2 weeks after I ordered it in mid Nov. Impressive considering the holidays and all the pandemic-related problems.

I gotta say Emerald’s online builder is a great tool to design your guitar and Kevin Quigley, their sales contact, was really helpful in picking out a veneer and a lot of the little details. The X-20 shipped from Ireland on a Friday and arrived the following Friday (I paid the extra $100 for expedited shipping).

I, like many people in earlier threads, was on the fence about which model to buy because you obviously can’t go to a store and try one on for size. I teetered between the X-20 and the smaller X-7, which is closer to my sweet spot for size - a 00 body. But a common comment about Emeralds is that they feel much smaller than their physical size because of the ergonomic design – the rounded corners and the sides that slope in toward the bottom. So I went for the larger X-20.

Even though Emerald calls the X-20 their dreadnought body, it’s really closer to an OM. But it really is true that the X-20 feels even smaller than that. Here is my X-20 compared side by side with an Eastman E20OM that I recently sold (because it felt too big):

E20OM_X-20.jpg

And here are the two superimposed:

X-20 over E20OM.jpg

The tails of the two guitars in the above photo are lined up for comparison. The X-20 body is about the same length as the E20OM, but the X-20 is narrower in the waist. Also, even though the scale length of the E20 (24.9”) is less than the X-20 (25.5”), the nuts of the two guitars are at the same place – because the saddle on the X-20 sits back about 0.6” relative to the OM.

But it really is true – the X-20 doesn’t feel nearly as big as the OM. It’s quite comfortable, even for a normally 00 person like me. The rounded organic shape makes a big difference.

I chose a Pao Ferro veneer for the top. A nice thing about the Emerald veneer library is that you can pick one and then ask to have the two halves overlapped in whatever way you want. So there is a fair amount you can tweak with any given piece of veneer. I really like how they fade the Pao Ferro nicely to black at the edges.

front.jpg bevel.jpg

The image on the right shows the generous bevel where your right arm rests on the lower bout, which makes it easier on your picking arm.

I like fret markers, and decided on the Trinity Knots. They did a really nice job on them.

knots.jpg

The back is their amber (standard) weave. The neck/body joint is a work of art and provides easy access to the high frets. And in this photo you can see how the sides of the body slant inwards, which helps the body rest properly on your leg when playing sitting down.

neck.jpg

Interestingly, the guitar was very nearly in tune when I took it out of the case, despite being shipped to the Western US from Ireland in all kinds of weather. I switched out the strings that were on it (Daddario EXP11 80/20 12-53) to my usual Elixr PB Nanoweb 12-53. I liked the sound and feel of the Elixrs better.

The setup was a pretty close fit to my tastes, but I’ll probably tweak it a bit later. I did notice one odd thing – the neck is slightly overset. A straight edge across the frets, with strings tuned to pitch, landed about 0.04” (1 mm) above the bridge:

gap1.jpg

It plays well, the saddle height is good and that gap is small enough I’m not going to worry about it. But I’m curious if anyone else has noticed that on their new Emeralds.

I really like the tone of this guitar. It’s very full (wide?) to my ear. Well balanced. Lots of sustain. I don’t know if it’s the carbon fiber, the body shape, sound hole placement or maybe all of the above, but I’m really happy with it. It sounds different from my other (wood) guitars – which is what I was looking for. And there are no humidity concerns to boot.

Speaking of the sound hole, its placement and shape really pumps the sound up to your ears since the hole is cut into both the soundboard and the side. For example, I notice quite a difference if I tape some cardboard onto the side of the body to cover the part of the hole projecting up. The way they’ve designed the sound hole somehow makes me feel more connected to the guitar – almost like you’re inside it.

The neck profile is a little thicker than the slim ones I like (think Taylor or Larrivee), but not much. For example, here is a comparison of neck profiles for the X-20 and my Breedlove Concertina, which has a slim C neck.

X-20 vs Breedlove neck profile.jpg

After I submitted the order I found a thread where a forum member had Emerald make a narrower neck than their standard, while keeping the 1-3/4” nut. There is little extra room outboard of the low and high E strings. Mine was too far along in the build to modify the neck. But there’s really not a big difference between the Breedlove and X-20 – less than 0.1” in width at the 5th fret. The neck edges are nicely rounded and comfortable.

So that’s about it. I really can’t think of any negatives about this guitar. One thing I wish Emerald would do is to let you order a shorter scale by moving the nut back to the guitar, leaving the bridge fixed. Currently if you request a shorter scale, they move the bridge closer to the nut, which means the nut stays in the same place relative to the guitar body. As time goes on I find it harder to reach my fretting hand out to the nut, which is why I find 00 short scale 12-fret guitars to be so easy to play. So maybe there’s an X-7 in my future as well.

[Rodg]

Congrats on a great looking guitar! Thanks for a detailed review. I enjoy reading about these!

[David Eastwood]

Excellent review, Kevin - thanks for taking the time to put it together!

It's a lovely looking guitar - nice choice of options. I'm happy to hear that it plays and sounds as good as it looks.

[rule18]

Great write-up and congrats on the new addition!

[steelvibe]

This is a fantastic write up Kevin. I especially appreciate the super imposed image of the Eastman and X20. The OM is my favorite all time acoustic body shape for a trade of in sound and focused projection and comfort. But it sounds like with this guitar you basically get the power of a dread but the feel of a guitar that seems smaller than an OM? Hard to beat that!

[Aspiring]

Kevin congrats that looks gorgeous!

[martingitdave]

Very informative post!!! Congrats on the new Irish Axe. I hope to buy one (x30) for myself one day soon.

[Captain Jim]

Very nice - good review! I had started moving towards smaller guitars when I first started down this carbon fiber path. The X7 was my first Emerald, and I really appreciated (and still do) the size. The X20 and the X7 are a nice compliment to each other.

Congrats on that lovely new guitar!

[DownUpDave]

That really was one of the most interesting reviews I have read, well done. I love that veneer that you picked, classy and rich looking. I am happy for you that you like the sound of the guitar as well. The great unknown is buying something like this that is so unconventional and not being able to play one first. Enjoy it for a long time to come.

[jricc]

Congrats on a lovely looking guitar, Thanks for the in depth review.. Ive never seen an Emerald in person. Are there electronics? I would imagine it would be hard to add them aftermarket, since you can't reach in the soundhole.

[KevinH]

Thanks everyone for the nice comments.

Originally Posted by jricc

... I would imagine it would be hard to add them aftermarket, since you can't reach in the soundhole.

Emerald has a few different options for pickups, as well as a HyVibe system. I've heard of people doing aftermarket installations. The sound hole is pretty big, and there is no internal bracing to get in your way. I can easily reach in past the bridge. A thinner arm could probably get all the way to the tail.

[PassingThru]

Appreciate the review. Darned good one. A X20 is definitely in my future.

[Tøf]

Nice guitar and great review
The superimposition X20/OM is a really clever way to compare the size... and I agree that the X20 feels even smaller.

Sound wise Emerald is perhaps a bit optimistic calling the X20 a dreadnought though, at least for the audience.

[jricc]

Originally Posted by KevinH

Thanks everyone for the nice comments.



Emerald has a few different options for pickups, as well as a HyVibe system. I've heard of people doing aftermarket installations. The sound hole is pretty big, and there is no internal bracing to get in your way. I can easily reach in past the bridge. A thinner arm could probably get all the way to the tail.

Thanks Kevin. I didn't think of the no internal bracing. Enjoy your new, very pretty Emerald.

[domen]

BELLISSIMA ! It is a wonderful guitar! to fall in love with it ...
also this is a review full of interesting data.
how did you get the neck shape of the guitars?