NGD - another X20 royal ebony

[kramster]

Originally Posted by jdinco

I see a Butterfly under the bridge. I was in Canada once.

See you get it... nice. If I squint just right I too see a lion of sorts. I ate some Canadian bacon and have a Gumby and Pokey presented to me by an actually member of the up North country...(you know who you are).

Well it sure isn't me. My family didn't raise me on Gumbys and Pokeys. And if they did, we wouldn't be just giving them to or taking them away from strangers. Are you sure we're related?

I can see the lion, but prefer the polar bear. Did you notice the Gin bottle on the face? The photos bring great satisfaction since I too have the Royal Ebony in my stable.

[Fixedgear60]

Originally Posted by EvanB

Well it sure isn't me. My family didn't raise me on Gumbys and Pokeys. And if they did, we wouldn't be just giving them to or taking them away from strangers. Are you sure we're related?

I can see the lion, but prefer the polar bear. Did you notice the Gin bottle on the face? The photos bring great satisfaction since I too have the Royal Ebony in my stable.

I'd be careful gentlemen this feels like a carbon Rorschach test ... you might be revealing more than you wish ;-)

[TheChicagoTodd]

That veneer looks amazing! I also love the subtle end of fretboard modification....very nice and Congrats! I'm sure it will make you happy once you get it dialed in. Well done!

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

[Melt in the Sun]

Some backstory:

This is my second X20. I bought the first one in December 2018, a stock model w/ royal ebony veneer. That guitar had a couple of serious problems and numerous minor fit-and-finish issues. The story is told in this thread; I won't re-hash it all here. I'll slap an update into that thread as soon as a mod unlocks it for me:
https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=532906

I had been considering a CF guitar on and off for a few years, so when I finally took the plunge and ordered my dream guitar I was pretty crushed to receive one that was defective. It was like I was living in bizarro world. I did really like the feel of the body and the sound, but couldn't get past the problem with the fretboard coating. I decided to send it back to Emerald.

Shipping it back to Ireland was an adventure in itself. I ran into two issues at the post office:
- the maximum value that USPS will insure on a parcel to Ireland is $650. Kevin and Alistair told me not to worry about the disparity - they would back me up no matter what happened. I shipped it w/ $650 insurance.
- a declared value of >$2500 apparently requires registering as an exporter and doing a whole bunch of other crap. So, I shipped the guitar with a declared value of $2500, even though the price paid was $2800. Maybe I broke some laws? Not sure.

The guitar arrived in Ireland without any problems. From Tucson it cost me $110 to ship.

While the guitar was in transit I had a decision to make - repair that guitar (Alistair assured me all problems could be perfectly repaired), build a different one, or take a refund. I was impressed enough with the feel and sound (and loved the look) that I decided to have them build another for me. At the time I felt that getting the guitar repaired would always leave some emotional baggage attached to it.

My return shipping was credited toward my new build. The original guitar was repaired and sold to someone else - it showed up in a shipping video with a reworked fretboard and looked perfect from here.

[Melt in the Sun]

Given that I effectively had a very short trial period with an X20, I knew I wanted a couple extra customizations on my new build:

• I previously considered myself to be indifferent regarding neck profiles - I have played a Taylor for a long time, a slew of different basses, a bunch of electrics, tried the infamous N2-neck Rainsongs, etc. I never thought twice about neck thickness, width, or profile. Nevertheless, I immediately did not like the standard neck on the X20. I ordered this custom to mimic a Taylor standard carve neck, which is a soft V. There are measurements and drawings of the Taylor carves available online, so I didn't bother with the clay mold process that's been shared here in the forum.
• While having 24 frets on an acoustic is cool, I didn't like having the end of the fretboard so close to my strumming spot. I decided to have a contour done to the end of the board. I sent a crude sketch over to Emerald and told them I wanted to be able to play the 24th on the high E and B, and left the details of the curve for Alistair to decide. Plus, not having double dots at the 24th fret means they can't be crooked...
• I didn't like the Baggs Element pickup, so I decided to not have anything installed and I'll tinker with it later. I asked for the prep for a soundboard transducer and a hole drilled for a UST and jack separate from strap button.
• Luminlays are fun. It's been a long time since I played in a dark club but I wished I had them back then. Into the specs they go.
• I like satin necks given a choice, so picked that no-cost option.

Choosing a veneer was tough. By the time I was looking, most of the veneers shown in the website videos were no longer available. Kevin told me to sit tight - new shipments were coming in a few weeks. I pored over those unboxing videos for a while before narrowing it down to a few finalists. I was pretty sure I wanted something light in color. If they had spalted maple, I would have picked that. I chose the erratic royal ebony over ziricote and macassar ebony (beautiful but too dark), pao ferro (not variegated enough), padauk (concerned about fading to brown) and black limba (almost picked this one).

The build spec was finalized on 2/12. Alistair told me he wanted to do it quickly since it was a re-build for my purchase gone wrong. That was very appreciated...sorry to all you chumps who I cut in line! It still took a long time, because of the custom work on the neck and fretboard. From 2/12 to 7/26 delivery is about 5 1/2 months, which is less time than similar customs seem to be taking these days.

It showed up in the 7/12 shipping video, in which Alistair took a few minutes to describe the new unidirectional fretboard they've developed. I had seen these fretboards showing up in stock guitars and a few recent customs, but I wasn't aware that my issue with the original guitar was the catalyst for that development. Not sure if I'm honored or embarrassed, honestly.

[Melt in the Sun]

The guitar shipped on Friday 7/19 after a final check, and arrived in 7 days. I knew what to expect re: the top veneer and the fretboard contour, but there were a few things I didn't know yet:
- I hadn't gotten a good look at the headstock, since Alistair held it at an angle for the entirety of the video
- I wasn't quite sure where they had drilled the hole for the input jack
- They have shipped guitars with at least 3 styles of soundboard transducer prep, and I didn't know which kind to expect.

My first impression was that I couldn't get the darned thing tuned. The string action was so high that tuning open strings left first-position chords noticably out of tune - it shipped with pretty high relief and the previously shown tall saddle. The kids were bugging me to strum a few chords so they could sing a church song they like, and I wasn't able to get it tuned well enough to do that. Commence panic. No time to troubleshoot, we had an urgent trip planned to Bed Bath and Beyond...

Later that evening I flattened the relief, popped out the saddle, and took nearly 3mm off the bottom. Well, that was a bit too much! The strings are all clanging against the frets a bit now, but nothing is buzzing out anywhere - impressive! If I can reign in my pick or thumb enthusiasm, I could get used to having it this low...

With a packed weekend I only got to spend a couple hours in total with it so far. I like it! The neck profile is close enough to my Taylor that I don't notice a difference. I love the satin neck. The Luminlays are slick. The much-lauded curves and bevels are just as I remembered (and loved) on the first one.

I'll swap out the strings soon. If I recall correctly they ship with uncoated D'addario 12-53 80/20s. Whatever's on there sounds a bit dull to me, which doesn't mean much coming from a guy used to a Taylor w/ elixirs. They do have some visible corroded spots so I expect a substantial brightening with new strings, which is what I experienced with the first X20.

During the process of choosing a veneer, I asked about partial coverage. If you watch the royal ebony videos on the website, you can see that the black spalted areas are sometimes completely disintegrated, leaving holes in the veneer. I asked if using one of those would yield a partial woody top with the weave showing in the black areas. Alistair wasn't keen to try it. On this guitar, you can see some small windows into the weave where the beetle tunnels are, which gives a little of the effect I was asking about. It still seems like a cool idea...someone should try it for real!



Overall I'm pretty excited about it. There's always second-guessing to be done, especially re: the veneer. I like it. There are too many others I also like!

[Melt in the Sun]

Here's the soundboard prep I got. It appears to be a ~2mm slab of carbon fiber that's bonded to the inside of the top. Is this a 4th type of prep, or have anyone else's looked like this?



I think it's too small for a K&K, which is fine with me because I hate those things. I picked up an open-box Anthem while I was waiting, and the prep looks to be too small for the mic. I'll have to try sticking it somewhere else, which is fine - lots of people do that anyway. Given the success that people have had by just lightly sanding the normal carbon fiber, it doesn't seem necessary to have this done and has the potential to cause some issues...if I wanted to put a K&K in there, I'd be pretty unhappy right now. I'll likely end up trying the PUTW Dynamic Duo, which would fit on my little rectangle.

EDIT - I guess I was overestimating the size of the K&K heads. Looks like they would fit. Maybe the mic will fit too. It's hard to get a good sense of scale just sticking my phone blindly into the soundhole and hoping for the best.

[Melt in the Sun]

And, more photos of course...the rest of the glamour shots:











And, lounging at home:

[Melt in the Sun]

Reading through my slew of posts again, I'm noticing that I don't sound very happy.

That is not quite accurate. I guess it does accurately reflect residual stress from the whole thing...but I am stoked to have the guitar and stoked to continue the tweaking until it's totally perfect for me.

Just need more time to play, I think!

[kramster]

Originally Posted by Melt in the Sun

Reading through my slew of posts again, I'm noticing that I don't sound very happy.

That is not quite accurate. I guess it does accurately reflect residual stress from the whole thing...but I am stoked to have the guitar and stoked to continue the tweaking until it's totally perfect for me.

Just need more time to play, I think!

All I can say at a time like this is...cool couch.

Yeah, you do sound a bit negative. There is a quite a distance between the idea and the reality.

My Rainsong Parlor nylon string guitar was a much better guitar when it was just virtual, I had to lower the set up on my Emerald 7, and that Cargo never quite sounded like a full sized guitar.

However, you seem to be recovering. Hopefully, in the end, your work equity will lead to the guitar of your dreams. Then, the only problem is playing to the level of the instrument.

[Melt in the Sun]

Put in the pickup over the weekend. While I was waiting for this build I grabbed an Anthem for a steal on Reverb.

I asked Emerald to drill the hole for a UST as part of the pickup prep, but that didn't happen. So, I had to drill a hole - no big deal. Nice to not have to worry about hitting braces.



The mic kind-of fits on the flat prepped area. The sticky pads are completely on but the mic itself partially hangs off the edge. I don't think this matters, but haven't had a chance to plug into a PA yet. Seems to sound good in headphones so far!



It is a pretty big system, lots of stuff in there and the guitar is noticably heavier than before. Saddle height is better now with the UST in there, but I'll have to get a new one if I want to try an OTSS or Pick-up-the-world system.



I had some trouble placing the big control unit - the inside of the guitar right inside the sound hole is not flat, so I had to add a couple more layers of sticky foam. Now it's a bit...floaty for lack of a better word.

Still haven't changed strings yet. It's playing and sounding great as is. Now I just need to retire so I can play a bit more...

[GuitarLuva]

Originally Posted by Melt in the Sun

Put in the pickup over the weekend. While I was waiting for this build I grabbed an Anthem for a steal on Reverb.

I asked Emerald to drill the hole for a UST as part of the pickup prep, but that didn't happen. So, I had to drill a hole - no big deal. Nice to not have to worry about hitting braces.



The mic kind-of fits on the flat prepped area. The sticky pads are completely on but the mic itself partially hangs off the edge. I don't think this matters, but haven't had a chance to plug into a PA yet. Seems to sound good in headphones so far!



It is a pretty big system, lots of stuff in there and the guitar is noticably heavier than before. Saddle height is better now with the UST in there, but I'll have to get a new one if I want to try an OTSS or Pick-up-the-world system.



I had some trouble placing the big control unit - the inside of the guitar right inside the sound hole is not flat, so I had to add a couple more layers of sticky foam. Now it's a bit...floaty for lack of a better word.

Still haven't changed strings yet. It's playing and sounding great as is. Now I just need to retire so I can play a bit more...

Did you notice a tonal change after you installed the Anthem? I'm still yet to find a guitar that didn't change drastically (for the worse) after I put that pickup in it or just the element UST on its own. Not trying to knock the wind out of your sails its just what I've noticed. It's not my favorite pickup tonally either but different people have different tastes and that's cool! I could manage to deal with it plugged in if I ever could get past what it did to the unplugged tone of the guitars I've tried it in, including an Emerald X30 & X20.

[Melt in the Sun]

Originally Posted by GuitarLuva

Did you notice a tonal change after you installed the Anthem?

Hard to say. I certainly didn't notice a night-and-day difference, and I was listening for it. If I can't tell for sure, it's probably close enough for me.