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  #1  
Old 04-15-2017, 10:41 AM
TheChicagoTodd TheChicagoTodd is offline
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Default NGD!! Emerald Woody X20-12!

Wow! I got super lucky! Sean sent me an email saying the guitar shipped on Friday and this arrived on Thursday....6 days door-to-door!

I'll post some more after waiting the obligatory 48 hours before opening!

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

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Old 04-15-2017, 10:44 AM
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Acousticado Acousticado is offline
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Haha, tear open that sucker and let us see it!
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Old 04-15-2017, 10:55 AM
seamusknives seamusknives is offline
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OK, times up. Let's see that bad boy!
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Old 04-15-2017, 11:38 AM
Carmel Cedar Carmel Cedar is offline
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Question

I'm a bit confused by this thread. I thought the awesome thing about carbon fiber was we could open box quickly, take them out in the snow or desert, use them as a paddle in a pinch on a canoe, etc. etc. is that naïve, or incorrect?

What about opening too quickly after shipping, specifically, will cause a problem?
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Old 04-15-2017, 11:44 AM
sirwhale sirwhale is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carmel Cedar View Post
I'm a bit confused by this thread. I thought the awesome thing about carbon fiber was we could open box quickly, take them out in the snow or desert, use them as a paddle in a pinch on a canoe, etc. etc. is that naïve, or incorrect?

What about opening too quickly after shipping, specifically, will cause a problem?
Carbon fibre is an extremely delicate material. To be honest, I think it's a bit of a risk waiting 48 hours, after spending so much, I would wait another day or two more before opening.
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Old 04-15-2017, 11:52 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carmel Cedar View Post
I'm a bit confused by this thread. I thought the awesome thing about carbon fiber was we could open box quickly, take them out in the snow or desert, use them as a paddle in a pinch on a canoe, etc. etc. is that naïve, or incorrect?

What about opening too quickly after shipping, specifically, will cause a problem?
Todd, and the rest of us are playing along with the joke. Of course, the guitar can be taken out and played immediately...the bloody thing is probably even in tune. I suspect pics are imminent. C'mon Todd, resistance is futile! Ya know ya wannnna!
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'21 Martin D-18 Standard | '02 Taylor 814c | '18 Taylor 214ceDLX | '18 Taylor 150e-12 | '78 Ibanez Dread (First acoustic) | '08 CA Cargo | '02 Fender Strat American '57 RI
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Old 04-15-2017, 12:51 PM
Captain Jim Captain Jim is offline
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I was laughing until I realized you got the guitar on Thursday and here it is Saturday, AND you're just now telling us about it??? And the only photo is that box (with the fun message)???

So... you know you wanna show it. Come on, we're waiting. You planning to make us wait 5 months or something?

Congrats on the new arrival!

Last edited by Captain Jim; 04-15-2017 at 01:21 PM.
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Old 04-15-2017, 01:10 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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Todd, PM sent just now. Congrats! Let us know how you like I when you can tear yourself away again. Your fingers have to get too sore sometime....
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Old 04-15-2017, 01:32 PM
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Nice handwriting on the box. We can admire that at least.
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Old 04-15-2017, 01:57 PM
TheChicagoTodd TheChicagoTodd is offline
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Lol...

Hey folks, sorry for the teaser and thx for playing along.

I ordered my Emerald X 20-12 back on October 26th. Like many others on this forum I was positively influenced by the original beautiful cocobolo veneer that was done some time ago last year. I don't think Emerald was even on my radar before I saw that guitar. I saw that and I said "Oh @#$!" that looks fantastic, I need to read up on this!

I sent my inquiry via the website which then started a long email conversation with Sean, trying to find a veneer that rocked my boat. He sent a few fine examples of burled type woods, but I was too hooked on that gorgeous cocobolo and was looking for a veneer that showed a nice wood grain. Of course Sean offered some cocobolo, but that had already been done, and although the heartwood looks cool, I'm not sure not that was the look I wanted for mine.

Sean is soooooo good! He understood what I was looking for and sent me some pics of two guitars made for a customer in Asia that were done in Ziricote. When I first got that email and opened those two pics, I knew that veneer was the one for me. Sean mentioned that he thought they had enough material leftover to do one more guitar. I asked Sean if they would be able to do it in such a way that there was no heartwood exposed, when he came back saying yes they would be able to do that.....well that was it for me. A deposit was sent on 10/26/16.

I began looking for small tweaks to personalize the build and had some pretty crazy ideas, none of which really panned out , other than having the end of the fretboard cut on a curved angle to mimic the curve on the bridge. I like that. [emoji41]

For this build, I opted for the lower end pickup and the black cosmo Gotoh tuners. I also got the gig bag. Initially we were going to go with the dark Amber for the carbon fiber bits, but Alistair came back and recommended going with the all black carbon fiber for this build (Same as the Captains Louro Preto). I totally appreciated his suggestion and accepted it and it turned out beautiful.

So, I'll say it again....Emerald "gets it". Their strategy of going directly to the customer is a risky one but seems to be working out well. Since they are utizing this model, they can easily build standard models as well as building custom models for customers wanting something special and willing to pay a little bit more and can afford to wait. Their ingenious use of incorporating the wood veneers is I believe an industry first and clearly these are extremely popular models and quite unique in that you can have the top of your guitar using a tone wood that perhaps wouldn't work very well if the whole soundboard was made from that material. I can't say enough how positive my experience was from the very beginning of my sales inquiry on the website to the moment I got my guitar and hit my first chord (and yes! In tune good enough strum out of the box!). Bravo Emerald! And of course at this point it's not as much of a surprise any more, but the extras that Emerald provides inside the case are the best in the industry. Case candy DEFINED!

Huge thx to Sean and Alistair for putting up with my crazy ideas, and for the whole team for crafting an extraordinary instrument. Emerald rocks!

Build:
So I've determined for myself that the urban legend is true....this build is immaculate. I simply cannot find a single physical flaw. Oh...and those bridge pins!! And make no mistake this is a large guitar but certainly doesn't feel that way just like everybody has said. I think the arm bevel and the contours on the back really help to make guitar extremely easy to hold and play.

Sound:
Well folks as I've said before this guitar is way way way above my playing level ( as a side note ask me if I care LOL), I think this instrument sounds amazing. My wife there for the unboxing and she really loved the way it looked and when I stepped away and sat on the sofa and started playing it, she commented that out of all my guitars she thinks this one sounds the best. So there it is. As most of you know wives are absolutely never wrong. [emoji41] I will post a small clip on SoundCloud hopefully later today but I believe others have posted other clips of an x 20 - 12 which would far exceed my ability to do so. And to be fair my wife has never heard a 12-string before and I'm pretty sure that has something to do with her liking the sound of it. Since this is my first 12 string in about 30 years it is very difficult to help describe the tone from anything else that I may have. I will describe the tone as rich and lush. Also I noticed right away that this guitar is LOUD. This could be also due to the fact that the sound hole is geared to let the player hear more.

Value:
To be clear, carbon fiber guitars in general are not inexpensive propositions, and custom Emeralds up the $ further. I do firmly believe however that this is a very very good value guitar it may have something to do with these being made in Ireland, as it seems doubtful to me that you would have the opportunity to have the input for your build like you do with Emerald in the price point they are presenting. Not to mention that anybody else building carbon fiber guitars right now ....I don't believe even offers you those types of options.

Other:
I'm not sure what people think of the Hiscox flight case, but I'm pretty **** impressed. There was no real packing material in the Box other than the gig bag and then the actual Hiscox case itself, which seems to be a very sturdy proposition. As I mentioned previously, all of the extras that Emerald is now famous for are really, really nice and as as a customer makes me feel very special. Who doesn't want to feel special right? The gig bag looks really cool and I like the fact that it's a custom Emerald gig bag. I haven't actually put the guitar in in it yet to see how it all fits but I'm assuming that will be fine.

Overall:
Super happy with this guitar and so far I love everything about it. Not actually having owned and 12 string in about 30 years I was a little hesitant about how I might be able to play it... holding down more strings, spacing, etc., it appears that there is very very little that will need to be adapted, especially for chords. I do feel that for single note and finger-picking I will need to learn to adapt my technique.

Now of course time for the obligatory pics. As you can tell these are from Emerald direct from their photo studio..... but they really do an outstanding job of taking pictures of their customers guitars. I took a few on my own the other day however...finding this very difficult to photograph because it's so glossy and you tend to see reflections of me, which no one really wants to see... lol!

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk

Last edited by TheChicagoTodd; 04-15-2017 at 02:15 PM.
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  #11  
Old 04-15-2017, 02:18 PM
TheChicagoTodd TheChicagoTodd is offline
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Another quick note, the carbon fiber pieces of this guitar are absolutely stunning. It has a very 3D look to it and is very mesmerizing. I could see how people could opt for the Opus line and be completely thrilled with them.

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

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  #12  
Old 04-15-2017, 02:20 PM
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Acousticado Acousticado is offline
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Sweeeet, Todd! Very nice review. I look forward to listening to your sound clips. I quite like the curve on the fretboard end. Was that an upcharge?
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'21 Martin D-18 Standard | '02 Taylor 814c | '18 Taylor 214ceDLX | '18 Taylor 150e-12 | '78 Ibanez Dread (First acoustic) | '08 CA Cargo | '02 Fender Strat American '57 RI
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Old 04-15-2017, 02:31 PM
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Has Emerald slightly modified their bridge design? On Todd's guitar the top curve is shorter than what I've seen as longer on other guitars, with the longer curve now at the bottom, and the long top edge is now straight, whereas it had a curve before...if my description makes sense.

Maybe the bridge designs vary among the models and I haven't noticed. Here's a pic of a Chimaera with the bridge design I'm most familiar with. Note the difference compared to Todd's. One is not better than the other, I'm just surprised I haven't noticed before, unless Emerald has gone to a new design.

Edit: I've just looked at some other Emerald threads with pics and it seems that each model has a unique bridge design based on the Emerald bridge theme.

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'21 Martin D-18 Standard | '02 Taylor 814c | '18 Taylor 214ceDLX | '18 Taylor 150e-12 | '78 Ibanez Dread (First acoustic) | '08 CA Cargo | '02 Fender Strat American '57 RI
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Last edited by Acousticado; 04-15-2017 at 02:54 PM.
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Old 04-15-2017, 02:48 PM
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Truly beautiful. When Emerald's woodies first showed up I was a bit skeptical; I felt that adding wood was somehow a violation of the basic medium. I've turned around in my thinking with the realization that Alistair is showcasing the CF AND a type of wood that would never seen in a traditional acoustic guitar. The veneers are stunning and the blend of mediums is genius.
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Old 04-15-2017, 03:44 PM
Carmel Cedar Carmel Cedar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Jim View Post
I was laughing until I realized you got the guitar on Thursday and here it is Saturday, AND you're just now telling us about it??? And the only photo is that box (with the fun message)???
That's why I was fooled...he claimed the wait, and was holding out on photos!

Seriously, that's one beautiful, amazing veneer. Wasn't 'taken' by the idea of woodies, but now I'm wondering if I should upgrade my pending X7 order....
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