NGD: Emerald Chimaera 6/12 Doubleneck - Page 4

Acousticado · #46 02-02-2017, 03:12 PM

My 6/12 Chimaera has the Gotoh Stealth tuning machines @ 11.9g each, x18. They are the lightest conventional tuners available and offer good overall balance even with Emerald's change from hollow necks without truss rods, to solid necks with truss rods.....initially titanium, now steel.

Emerald has discontinued using these Stealth tuners, apparently due to failures. Mine have not failed, but athough they hold tuning well, I do find them a bit 'spongy' (for lack of a better term) while tuning. I could be wrong, but my take on this is perhaps they are under their upper range of tension @ 44 lbs max. which may be a reason for some failures.

As a result, Emerald now equips Chimaeras with the beautiful Gotoh 510s (1:18) @ 33.2g each, I believe. I have no experience with these much heavier tuners, but I can only speculate that they must create neck heaviness/dive by comparison. Perhaps this is not an issue at all for buyers of these 3rd generation Chimaeras, but having experienced the perfect balance, it would be hard for me to go with heavy tuners.

All this said, I like the guitar so much that if the Gotoh 510s are the best option for the foreseeable future, I would not hesitate to buy one.

AcouStickistNS · #47 02-02-2017, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark L

.....
So, my question for you owners of Emerald doublenecks and 12 strings, and possibly Baritones as well: what would you do (or not do) differently now in ordering a Chimaera, with respect to what you have in hand?

.

Maybe fly out to Ireland and pick it up at Emerald, seems it would be a worthwhile trip.

Perhaps give more thought into some way of customizing it. If I had ordered a harp guitar, I can think of numerous ideas, but the doubleneck not many. Take a look at what is in the custom section of their website for inspiration. Some of those customs with electric guitar pickups on them has me curious of what's possible for a hybrid electric/acoustic.

studioman001 · #48 02-02-2017, 06:10 PM

I like this idea of gathering feedback from owners of earlier instruments to see what they would have done differently...

Mark L · #49 02-02-2017, 11:51 PM

I love the idea of a trip to Ireland to pick it up! One of the best times in my life was my 2 week walking tour of the Kerry Way (Ring of Kerry) back in '91. A beautiful land and wonderful, soulful, musical people. My wife and I often discuss a return trip. Hmmmm.

As for tuners, Gotoh 510's have a stellar reputation, and I really like the ones on my McIlroy. Gotoh has some other tuner choices, including open back. Not sure how that'd look on a modern CF guitar but they might be lighter.

For me, string spacing at both nut and bridge is a big deal on a 12 string. I play both fingerstyle and flatpick. While I'm pretty adaptable I like a wider spacing than is standard on many modern guitars. I'm fond of 6 string 12 fret slotheads with 1 13/16" nut and 2 5/16 or 2 3/8" bridge. I do live happily with 1 3/4 X 2 1/4 as well. It's the 12 string spacing where I need/like a bit more than usual at the bridge for clean finger style.

Another important area is the pickup. While I will use the Chimaera for personal pleasure, I am excited at the possibilities with a solo and small group situation I have fairly regularly away from home. I want to be able to loop 1-3 tracks and play over them on either neck. That's one of the reasons I thought Bari/12, for the bass line. I'll likely loop with a simple boss single pedal looper. I use either a Schertler Unico or a Fishman Loudbox Mini. I might also like a micro pedal board with a reverb/delay pedal or similar.

Anyhow, thanks for any and all continued discussion. I'm already considering what to let go of to finance this. Heck, maybe I'll get ambitious and think about a stand alone Bari or Amicus.

AcouStickistNS · #50 02-03-2017, 05:12 AM

My Helix has a looper in it, but sadly not long enough for one of my chord progressions I wanted to do on the doubleneck. My other looper, the TC Ditto X4 failed me on stage with the Chimaera

. Still out at the repair shop, being fixed under warranty. So in the meantime it's still great fun looping one neck and playing on the other. Makes the loops more interesting. He length of the loop time is my only beef with the Helix. But having a doubleneck somewhat makes up for that as well - for me sometimes looping can be boring having short loops replaying, so the more variety the instrument can provide on its own, the more inspiration I can draw out of the looper.

Doubleneck · #51 02-03-2017, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark L

Thanks for the discussion here gentlemen!

I've been desirous of either a Chimaera or an X20 12 for quite some time. I even began to spec out a Chimaera 12/Bari doubleneck, but had to back off of that due to several considerations at the time.

Now I'm lusting after a Chimaera again, likely just a 6/12 rather than Bari/12. I've noted theat Emerald, to their credit imo, continues to evolve many design and component elements - truss rod composition, tuners and pickups, for example.

So, my question for you owners of Emerald doublenecks and 12 strings, and possibly Baritones as well: what would you do (or not do) differently now in ordering a Chimaera, with respect to what you have in hand?

Thanks for your replies. If this turns out to be an unintended thread hijack, I'll gladly repost. M.

This is a great question. I had one of the first doublenecks, hollow neck, and spertzel tuners and have watched it evolve with fascination. Allistair is always pushing the boundaries and the doubleneck is a perfect example. First is it's a wonderful guitar amazingly resonant given it thinner body. I actually love just playing the 6 side, the sound hole right by your ear gives you a sound port experience. The addition of the truss rods was probably a necessity given two necks and players wanting to fine tune setups. My first advice is just to buy one, it's totally worth it and I don't think it will ever be duplicated by another maker. The one thing you may want to think about is I have found a "Neckup" leather knee brace really helps to position the two necks perfectly on my knee. These attach with suction cups and will only work I believe with a gloss side finish. Good luck.

gearhound · #52 04-11-2017, 12:06 AM

Nice guitar OP!

Fellow Chimaera owner here, for the B-Band owners I did a mod where I put in a 3 way switch that switched between the 6 mono/6 and 12 stereo/12 mono.

Made it much more convenient for whatever situation I was in playing than taking along a footswitch/y lead etc.

Is there a way I can attach photos?

I'd love to know how the new pickup compares with the b-band.
I wonder if it is two pickups or a pickup/mic? Some internal pics would be awesome!

AcouStickistNS · #53 04-11-2017, 10:48 AM

Thanks!

No mic. The 12 string neck has most of the tone controls. I've been running it in mono, as I have it tweaked where I like it. I've got plenty of CBI stereo cables as I also play Chapman Sticks, I have tried it out in stereo a few times where the necks go out in their own channel.

For mono I turned up the bass a bit on the 12 and dialed back the bass a bit overall at the amp or through the Helix. That helps equalize the low end between the two. The 12 has lighter gage strings, so having pickup with the bass control on the 12 helps.

Amplified acoustics is something new to me coming from an electric bass, guitar, and Stick background where everything uses typical pickups found in hard bodied instruments. Look up the LR Baggs Imix, the only difference is the stereo switch in the Chimaera.

gearhound · #54 04-11-2017, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AcouStickistNS

Thanks!

No mic. The 12 string neck has most of the tone controls. I've been running it in mono, as I have it tweaked where I like it. I've got plenty of CBI stereo cables as I also play Chapman Sticks, I have tried it out in stereo a few times where the necks go out in their own channel.

For mono I turned up the bass a bit on the 12 and dialed back the bass a bit overall at the amp or through the Helix. That helps equalize the low end between the two. The 12 has lighter gage strings, so having pickup with the bass control on the 12 helps.

Amplified acoustics is something new to me coming from an electric bass, guitar, and Stick background where everything uses typical pickups found in hard bodied instruments. Look up the LR Baggs Imix, the only difference is the stereo switch in the Chimaera.

Very nice!
Is it possible to get a picture actually inside near where the bridges are?
I'm curious to see what is going on there. My Chimaera had a backplate with 4 screws...maybe that has changed though.

I'm wondering if they are using two under saddles? Because the pack shows this ...I actually think I have on on my Larrivee....I'll have to dig it out lol

The Helix would be great, I'm using an AX8. The dual inputs on both allows a lot of flexibility between the necks!

Doubleneck · #55 04-11-2017, 02:20 PM

I have to believe they have wired two undersaddle pickups to the Imix. This is the difficulty with two necks. Typically on dual preamps one is for undersaddle and the other is for SBT transducer like the Ibeam. I assume they are wiring another UST to the Ibeam port and making due with EQ controls.

AcouStickistNS · #56 04-11-2017, 09:54 PM

... I opened the hatch and there's nothing to see for taking pictures, just two wires going through the top of the body under the bridge.

gearhound · #57 04-11-2017, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AcouStickistNS

... I opened the hatch and there's nothing to see for taking pictures, just two wires going through the top of the body under the bridge.

Tha'ts actually an interesting thing! They must be using two undersaddles.

I'd love to see how the two compare. Definitely more flexibility with the Lr Baggs.

Jimmy Koh · #58 04-12-2017, 06:26 PM

And if Jimmy Page can do a Stairway with this on stage unplugged style...

Doubleneck · #59 04-13-2017, 01:03 PM

Do the two necks sound the same with the IMix? You really have one undersaddle going to a undersaddle designed preamp and a second undersaddle going to preamp designed for the soundboard IBeam pickup?

AcouStickistNS · #60 04-13-2017, 03:44 PM

Having the 12 string going to the side with the tone controls was the correct way to do this. The 12 string does not have as heavy of a bottom end sound as the six. What the gain and mix controls do not accomplish, the tone controls will fill in. Takes some practice and I used a looper to judge by as the natural acoustic sound tends to get in the way of tweaking. By using a looper I can conveniently judge what's going on without playing. I'm good with the balance between the necks.

The major benefit of going mono output is to run it all through my Zoom A3. Certain amps and PAs feedback more than others. The A3 is more convenient than the feedback knob on the Fishman. I may have to work with that more.

Funny, with my Fishman Loudbox 100 I easily feedback with, but hardly anything with my QSC K12's.