NGD update - I am a weak, weak, weak man...

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by jwellsy

Ray, that is beautiful! I love Cocobolo! Do you happen to know what they used over the top of the Cocobolo, amber tint or something else?

I really don't have a clue. I know when people order customs and show photos of the bare veneer it doesn't look ANYTHING like the finished product. What they do to make them pop like they do is not something I'm versed on. Mine does have basically amber back and sides - I don't know if it's exactly the same as their bare carbon amber guitars, but it's really close.

But the other thing to be aware of is that they're kind of like their bare carbon guitars in the sense that they look amazing photographed under Emerald's glamour lighting, but in the real world, they really suck up light and don't give much back. As beautiful as this guitar is, if I don't have it in a REALLY well lit spot, it's kind of just another guitar. Sort of like my red X20 is basically a very very dark purple 95% of the time under almost all normal lighting. I'm curious as to whether some of the lighter shade veneers are also like this or if they really pop more in ordinary lighting. Because mine, as gorgeous as it is when you can see it, needs a LOT of light to look great.

So I bought a LOT of light for it!

-Ray

[Earl49]

Ray, that starlet deserves to be in the spotlight! Good call!

[kramster]

My black X20 doesn't change as much in various lighting, so I got that going for me.

[Methos1979]

Great lighting tip! I wouldn't like the little clip on things though. Maybe I'll have to put in some recessed LED lights in the ceiling pointing at the wall the X20 (and soon the X7) hangs on to get that effect!

Like Ray, I'm planning on only keeping two and the battle has been raging in my mind since the day I placed my order back in July. Everytime I think the battle has been won (or lost, depending on the guitar!) I then have second thoughts the next time I pick up the loser, which is usually the Martin.

Ray's early thoughts after first receiving the X7 mirror exactly what I assume mine will be: That the X7 feels and sounds very similar to the X20 and that this will be both a good AND bad thing! The Emeralds are my gigging guitar while the Martin is my choice for intimate unplugged playing.

Like Ray, I'm going to wait until the X7 arrives and then A/B/C the three of them together before making the final choice. The wife did say just yesterday that a third guitar on the wall would be allowed although it would have to be on a different wall.

[raysachs]

I may end up keeping both X7s, but not at the same location. Our older daughter is in the last months of her medical residency up in Maine. When we travel up to see her there, we drive and I take a guitar along. But she's interviewing and entertaining contract offers for a permanent position starting in August or September and while, she MAY stay in the Northeast, it's looking more and more likely she's gonna end up out in the Pacific Northwest, either in Eugene or in the Olympia, WA area. If she ends up in the Northwest, we're going to be going out there at least a couple times per year, probably for at least a couple weeks at a time. And I hate flying with guitars.

So my thought is to just take or ship the older X7 out there, they can hang onto it for me, and when we visit, I'll have a guitar to play. There's an argument for selling the X7 and buying something dirt cheap out there, but any wood guitar is gonna suffer without any humidity management in that area, so a cheap-ish carbon fiber guitar is a better solution and a used older model X7 is selling for about as little as you can pay or a carbon fiber guitar. So, if she ends up out west, so may my older X7. I'm not gonna have an opportunity to sell it until March anyway, and she's going to have to make a commitment by the end of the year, so I'll figure this out before I was going to sell it anyway. It was a solution in search of a problem and I may have found the PERFECT problem for it!

BUT, there's no question in my mind that IF I sell one of my three Emeralds, it would be the older X7. That question was settled within the first 2-3 days of having the new one... They're too similar to have them competing for the same playing time and, between the two, the new one is a clear winner for my wants/needs/preferences...

And, oh yeah, I don't like the lighting arrangement either - I just wanted to see how well it worked and it works quite well. I'll give them some time and I figure I'll eventually not care about lighting the guitar anymore and take them down OR I'll get something nicer and more permanent. This is a cheap test drive...

-Ray

[Methos1979]

Is she in Portland? If she is and you come out I'm only an hour away! Maybe an hour and a quarter, tops.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

Is she in Portland? If she is and you come out I'm only an hour away! Maybe an hour and a quarter, tops.

She's a little north of Augusta. We've been up a few times since she's been there, and if she settles in Maine, we'll be back a lot. But if she heads out west, I don't know when we'll have an occasion to come back up, other than maybe once for her "graduation" from residency. But I swear, we've been to enough graduations for that girl to last a while. You evidently don't become a doctor without a few graduations under your belt!

But, yeah, if you're on the New Hampshire Coast, we drive around Boston and then right up 95, so I'd imagine we pass not far from you. If she stays in the area, I'll get in touch and try to stop by one of these times.

-Ray

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by raysachs

She's a little north of Augusta. We've been up a few times since she's been there, and if she settles in Maine, we'll be back a lot. But if she heads out west, I don't know when we'll have an occasion to come back up, other than maybe once for her "graduation" from residency. But I swear, we've been to enough graduations for that girl to last a while. You evidently don't become a doctor without a few graduations under your belt!

But, yeah, if you're on the New Hampshire Coast, we drive around Boston and then right up 95, so I'd imagine we pass not far from you. If she stays in the area, I'll get in touch and try to stop by one of these times.

-Ray

Yeah, we are about 20 minutes from where 95 goes into Maine. Let me know if you're ever passing through with some spare time on your hands!

Ray;

And you still have money for a good guitar? I've been through the school stuff with myself and my daughter. Sort of leaves you breathless (and moneyless).

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by EvanB

Ray;

And you still have money for a good guitar? I've been through the school stuff with myself and my daughter. Sort of leaves you breathless (and moneyless).

We got her through college, which she finished about 8+ years ago. Then she worked a couple of years, then medical school, for which she went waaaaay into debt. The last three years she's been doing a residency, which she gets paid for. And then starting this late summer, early autumn, she starts an actual medical practice, for which she'll be making the big bucks and the places that are recruiting her will all pay off her med school loans over a period of 3-4 years. But she and her sister have been off our payroll for several years now. So I've been able to feed my hobbies. Not at the top of the food chain, but not at the bottom either.

She's absolutely worked her butt off for as long as I can remember - she's wanted to be a doc since she was about 5 years old. And it's about to pay off. I can't believe how much money she'll be making starting next year. And she's a family practice doc, not a specialist, so she won't make nearly the money of a lot of specialists. But she'll be making more than anyone in my family ever has, as far as I'm aware.

She's not in it for the money, but she's gonna be in the money regardless. She's been so frugal for so long, it's gonna be interesting to see how she handles having those kind of resources. I might suggest she take up guitar!

-Ray

[byudzai]

Originally Posted by raysachs

We got her through college, which she finished about 8+ years ago. Then she worked a couple of years, then medical school, for which she went waaaaay into debt. The last three years she's been doing a residency, which she gets paid for. And then starting this late summer, early autumn, she starts an actual medical practice, for which she'll be making the big bucks and the places that are recruiting her will all pay off her med school loans over a period of 3-4 years. But she and her sister have been off our payroll for several years now. So I've been able to feed my hobbies. Not at the top of the food chain, but not at the bottom either.

She's absolutely worked her butt off for as long as I can remember - she's wanted to be a doc since she was about 5 years old. And it's about to pay off. I can't believe how much money she'll be making starting next year. And she's a family practice doc, not a specialist, so she won't make nearly the money of a lot of specialists. But she'll be making more than anyone in my family ever has, as far as I'm aware.

She's not in it for the money, but she's gonna be in the money regardless. She's been so frugal for so long, it's gonna be interesting to see how she handles having those kind of resources. I might suggest she take up guitar!

-Ray

I'm five years out of residency and I always get a little nervous when I see new residents' eyes go wide for the big bucks. Sounds like she'll have her head on straight, and respect the money, which is great; I've seen soooooo many people making 3-4x family practice incomes blow it all and end up in horrifying debt. So easy to do.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by byudzai

I'm five years out of residency and I always get a little nervous when I see new residents' eyes go wide for the big bucks. Sounds like she'll have her head on straight, and respect the money, which is great; I've seen soooooo many people making 3-4x family practice incomes blow it all and end up in horrifying debt. So easy to do.

The only material goal she’s ever expressed is to live in a place with a door. She and her boyfriend have spent the last three years living in a mother in law unit out on a farm and it’s TINY. And once inside the front door, the only internal door is to the bathroom. She just wants an actual room with a door in the house!

I think her head is on real straight, but I also know most folks tend to “grow into” their incomes. And she’s gonna go from broke student and frugal intern to making about twice what my wife and I have ever made combined. If anybody can handle it, she will, but it’s gonna be an adjustment... But in the range of problems to have, its not a bad one...

-Ray

[kramster]

I actually just installed a door for one of my bedrooms yesterday as it was missing one when I got this place a few months ago so I must be doing ok in her book...first time I ever put a new one in with new hinges and all... I just had a curtain up as that room needed no real privacy. A few guitars are living in there and they are not modest it seems.

Sounds like a fine daughter you have there.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by kramster

I actually just installed a door for one of my bedrooms yesterday as it was missing one when I got this place a few months ago so I must be doing ok in her book...first time I ever put a new one in with new hinges and all... I just had a curtain up as that room needed no real privacy. A few guitars are living in there and they are not modest it seems.

Sounds like a fine daughter you have there.

Yeah, I have two wonderful daughters. Both gave us moments of concern during the years they're supposed to be giving us moments of concern (nothing like what i put MY parents through though). But they're both right around 30 now and they've grown into really solid, great, young women. I obviously love them both but I also really LIKE them both and they've both found really good men too, which is a real comfort to me, because plenty of them aren't. Being their Dad is the best job I've ever had in my life...

And yeah, doors are good. I count 8 interior doors in our condo and there are only 1 or 2 I'd be OK to be without... She should be able to afford some doors soon...

-Ray

[jdinco]

Daughters use their Dad as a role model to look for boyfriends/husbands. So that says a lot about you Ray. Beautiful daughters and beautiful guitars....what more could a man want. :-)