NGD Emerald X20 Nylon Amber Weave

[steelvibe]

I installed a Zero Glide on my OF660 and I have mixed reviews. I don't dislike anything but question some of the claims about improving your guitar. My Journey was set up so well that I cannot tell any difference in playability (and like you I did not glue anything down and can thus go back and forth with the original nut between string changes). I also didn't notice an improvement in tone. What I really do like though is that you can run any gauge/set of strings you pretty much want since the strings rest on the fret before passing through over the nut and then to the peg heads. That is a great feature of the Zero Glide I don't even ever hear discussed.

BTW, gorgeous Emerald. That custom headstock has got to be the most gorgeous in the business.

[seamusknives]

That really is a beautiful guitar. Great job of planning and ordering a unique guitar. I've seriously been thinking about going the nylon, X20 route. In fact, that's what I nearly ordered instead of my steel string X20 a few years ago. I keep hoping that with more time and further development that Emerald would be able to get the projection issue solved since it seems to be the most common critique. With the strength of carbon fiber I mistakenly thought it would be easy to accomplish but it appears that it isn't.

[jwellsy]

Is this the silver weave underlayment?

[mountainmaster]

Originally Posted by jwellsy

Is this the silver weave underlayment?

Yes, it is. You know what I would actually love to see? A silver weave Emerald with a plain colorless finish. I bet that looks just as spectacular.

[bsman]

That's right purdy!

[ceciltguitar]

Such a beautiful guitar that I open this thread every now and then just to look at it. For some odd reason, the photos in the initial post do not appear today.

[mountainmaster]

Almost a year later: In spite of its beauty my X20 was not getting played anymore.

Then one day I noticed the D string had snapped. So I decided to restring the guitar with Thomastik KR 116 rope cores and... Yes! There is that projection I was missing!

Suddenly I can hardly bring myself to put the darn thing down.

These rope cores have a nice clarity and separation.
The trebles are brighter than the original nylon strings, perhaps a little too bright in the B and high E. I am hoping this is going wear off once the stings have settled.
The bass strings are somewhat less bright though, but in a good way.

The feel of these strings is pleasantly smooth, not that different from nylon.

Technically this is not an X20 nylon anymore now, but who cares? Surely not me. It's the honeymoon period all over again.

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by mountainmaster

Technically this is not an X20 nylon anymore now, but who cares? Surely not me. It's the honeymoon period all over again.

Excellent! So glad you found a potential solution. Strings make a huge difference on CF guitars, more so than their wooden counterparts.

[Aspiring]

Hmm are you saying the Thomastik KRs gave you significantly more projection? That is the main piece that my X7 Nylon has been missing for me.

[mountainmaster]

Originally Posted by Aspiring

Hmm are you saying the Thomastik KRs gave you significantly more projection? That is the main piece that my X7 Nylon has been missing for me.

Yes, they do. Be aware that they also change the tone significantly, to something halfway between steel and nylon.

But to be honest, Emerald nylon guitars already have a sound of their own that does not compare to any wooden nylon guitar.

[121]

IMHO Amber weave is the best color choice and also looks much better than any wood veneer I've seen so far.

[PassingThru]

She is a winner. Looks great. Lot of thought went in to ordering this one. Well done.

[KevinH]

Originally Posted by mountainmaster

...Technically this is not an X20 nylon anymore now, but who cares? Surely not me. It's the honeymoon period all over again.

Good to know. Are you going to put the same strings on your X7 now?

[mountainmaster]

Originally Posted by KevinH

Good to know. Are you going to put the same strings on your X7 now?

I might do that later. First I am going to try this set of Aquila sugar strings I have on the X7.

[string1399]

Visually stunning!