NGD - Emerald X20 with some issues

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by GuitarLuva

I thought he meant it as a joke...maybe I'm wrong.

Yes, I can see that possibly being the case but it sounded kind of serious on his part. I would never threaten to call the Monitor on anyone, even jokingly. Thanks for your input.

[GuitarLuva]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

Yes, I can see that possibly being the case but it sounded kind of serious on his part. I would never threaten to call the Monitor an anyone, even jokingly. Thanks for your input.

Yeah I should say I originally thought it was a joke now that I look back on it I'm not so sure. I wouldn't worry though I don't see anything wrong personally. As someone else pointed out this thread could certainly use some humor.

[Kindness]

Originally Posted by GuitarLuva

Yeah I should say I originally thought it was a joke now that I look back on it I'm not so sure. I wouldn't worry though I don't see anything wrong personally. As someone else pointed out this thread could certainly use some humor.

Humor YAAAASSS! Let's play our guitars and celebrate 2019!!!

[steelvibe]

Totally a joke guys. Evan said “one more pun”. Clearly he thought Spruce was making a pun regarding the truss rod being stripped when Spruce used the word “relieved”. I thought Spruce was using a play on words as well and Evan is just lightening up the mood of this thread. I then posted “trusst” (misspelled on purpose) .

Happy New Year !

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

Totally a joke guys. Evan said “one more pun”. Clearly he thought Spruce was making a pun regarding the truss rod being stripped when Spruce used the word “relieved”. I thought Spruce was using a play on words as well and Evan is just lightening up the mood of this thread. I then posted “trusst” (misspelled on purpose) .

Happy New Year !

I guess I took it the wrong way upon seeing Evan's comment, and apologies to Evan for any misunderstanding. Thanks for helping clear it up.

[ceciltguitar]

I'm just now catching up on this thread.

Since I use this forum to help make decisions about products, I suppose that other folks also use this forum to help make decisions about products.

Warning: This is a lengthy post.

So I will contribute my experience with 2 custom order Emerald guitars, a X7 woody received in November 2017, and a X10 cocobolo nylon string guitar.

First, the X7. Here is most of my email to Alistair after I received the X7:

"I would like to return this guitar, since it is NOT what I ordered. Rose does NOT want it, because it is NOT pink, as ordered. Even our grand-daughters, ages 2 and 4, both say that the guitar is brown. The emperor's new clothes are not pink. Neither is this X7.

It is a beautiful guitar. I am still completely in love with your work. I am looking forward to the custom nylon X10 that I ordered in April (2017).

But this X7 is NOT pink, it is not what I ordered, Rose does NOT want it. She likes the size and ergonomics of the guitar. She does not care for the tone. I think that the unplugged acoustic tone is great! She said that if the guitar were pink, OR if she liked the plugged in sound, that she would want to keep it. I agree with her that the amplified tone is muddy and nothing like the sparkling clear sound of her Taylor.

Do you want to try a pink build again? Maybe with another electronics package? Or what do you suggest? Maybe pink - purple sunburst is not possible? Rose wants me to get the money refunded and buy her a Louis Vuitton bag. I think that is insane. She thinks that me buying all these guitars is insane. Our 31st anniversary is next month."

Alistair IMMEDIATELY sent me a return label, along with this email:

"Hi Tom
Im sorry your wife didn't like the guitar but I understand. The Pink definitely came out very subdued. I did do the purple pink but over this specific veneer the colour just didn't pop.
I can give it another go for you if you would like and I would take a different approach this time and dye the veneer pink before moulding which would allow the colour to penetrate deeper into the grain making it more vibrant. Our process make normal staining procedures a bit different and some colours can be more of a challenge.
We have indeed started your X10. The body is done and I just need to finish the neck and headstock design. Sorry Ive been slow on this one.
I have been hoping I would have this completed by Christmas but it may now be just after.
Would you like me to give you a call to discuss these guitars and options.
Regards
Alistair "

So I bought Rose a Loius Vitton bag (holy tulip bulbs) and the guitar sits in a corner. I could have returned it - the guitar, that is. (It would make a lot more sense to return the bag). I chose not to return the guitar. Alistair is the only guy in the world that will build to my exact specifications and I had the X10 on order, and although I was ticked off that Alistair sent the guitar even though the color was off, I put myself in his shoes: He is an inventor, a creator, an experimenter boldly trying what no one else would try. The fact that he IMMEDIATELY sent the return label and offered to try again.......heck, it might not work on the second try either. Hey, Edison had a thousand failed attempts before he got a light bulb to work.......It's a good guitar....something good will come of this guitar some day...I'll live with it and move on. Rose did not want a new guitar anyway. She wanted the Louis Vitton bag (now it usually sits in a closet.....)

BTW, we are NOT wealthy, we live in a modest townhouse, I don't normally make these extravagant purchases, and I still drive the 1994 Corolla that I bought in college. I do own a few nice guitars.......not super high end.

Now for the custom cocobolo nylon string X10:

First off, Alistair and I went round and round about what this guitar body would be. We exchanged at least 20 emails. Thin body? Archtop? Inward "dip" on the body towards the bridge, like a Soloette? scale length? What pickup system to use? I changed the neck specs and string separation specs at least twice. Alistair and I were both drowning in these emails. I'm surprised that he didn't fire me as a customer. If I hadn't put a hefty down payment down, maybe he would have fired me..........

As you might have noticed in Alistair's email above, the body of the X10 nylon string guitar was completed in late November, 2017. But Alistair was not happy with it. He decided to go back to the drawing board and completely re-design the body of the X10. He could have just shipped this guitar to me, but he didn't. He started all over. He wanted this guitar to EXCEL!

In early June, 2018, Alistair emailed me that he expected the guitar to ship soon.
Usually, Emerald sends an email with a tracking number when the guitar ships. This guitar shipped without me being sent that email. The guitar was shipped to the wrong address, and returned to the post office to be sent back to Ireland. By the end of July, I was emailing Alistair: "Where is my guitar?" Alistair did not know that the guitar was shipped to the wrong address (a stone's throw away from our house, the postman should have known where to deliver it since the label had my name on it). I went to the post office, and there was the guitar, sitting behind the counter (still in the box, of course) where it had sat for a month, in spite of the fact that the official policy of the post office is to return packages to sender after 5 days. Crazy.

A couple of days after receiving the guitar, I sent Alistair an email. The first paragraph was full of thanks and praise for all that I LOVE about this beautiful guitar. Maybe Alistair never got to the second paragraph of my email. Maybe he was so tired of my emails that he never read this email. Maybe he was inundated with other orders. Maybe.......who knows...probably all of the above? He never replied to me. Anyway, here is the second paragraph of my email to him on July 31, 2018, entitled "New Nylon String X10 feedback":

"There are a few little nicks on the neck of the guitar, 3 that caught my eye right away, and I have only spent 20 minutes with the guitar and I have NOT given it a detailed inspection. I have bought a couple of "factory seconds", "blemished" models, and I am sure that if this were a factory guitar, it would be a factory second. The nicks and dings on this guitar are more in number, and they are more noticeable than they are on my factory second Cordobas. This is not really a big deal to me, but it should be to you, and it probably would be to some of your other customers. These days some people make a huge stink over blemishes that are hardly even visible."

Upon further inspection, the dots on the 24th fret of my guitar are JUST LIKE the dots on the OPs guitar. There is a 2 mm blemish in the veneer near the 23rd and 24th frets on the body. The truss rod works fine. The fretwork is fine. The electronics ribbon inside the guitar was dis-attached when I received the guitar. I still have not even plugged the guitar in, so I don't know whether or not the electronics even work. (I work way too many hours these days. I have played the guitar a fair amount, just not plugged in. When I have time to play the guitar, it is usually only 10 - 30 minutes, no time to mess with pulling out an amp, I just want to PLAY).

The problems with this thread's OP far exceed the minute problems with my custom designed cocobolo X10. I strongly suspect that the publicity of this thread will immediately result in improved quality control at Emerald. In my experience with Alistair for the past 10 years, he is devoted to quality and customer satisfaction. That devotion is what has resulted in innovative ergonomic design in the 2nd generation of all models: X7, X10, X20, X30.

[TheChicagoTodd]

Here are some rather poor shots unfortunately...but I do not seem to have any problems in the depicted areas on my x20-12.

Holiday cheers...

Todd in Chicago

[gerardo1000]

It looks perfect, and I do not see flat top frets!

[Hinto]

I ended up keeping mine but wish I had returned it. Not for cosmetic flaws but because of poor playability and tone.

[mountainmaster]

Originally Posted by Hinto

I'm one. I ended up keeping mine but wish I had returned it. Not for cosmetic flaws but because of poor playability and tone.

As I have stated in my NGD post I also have issues with playability and tone. I would not call them "poor" but certainly not quite what I expected based on the rave reviews here.

Mine was a custom order though and I blame myself for not specifying exactly what I wanted. Lesson learned: When ordering a custom guitar be as precise as possible and do not make any assumptions.

I for one encourage sharing of disappointments (in a polite and respectful way of course) so that we can all learn from them.

[new2guitar_eh]

I too have an issue with my Emerald...the stick on label inside the soundhole is every-so-slightly crooked.

Seriously, after this post I had a very good look at my X10 and cannot find any flaws of any kind. In my case Emerald did great work.

[Tøf]

Haha I had the same reaction when I discovered this thread, I grabbed my X20 and checked every single detail

Good luck to the OP, hopefully things will get solved quickly.
And happy new year to all!

[wickedwahine]

Wow I guess I am lucky then. I love both of my Emeralds and am eagerly anticipating the arrival of the third that I have on order. I fully admit there are different strokes for different folks though and what I like, another may not as far as playability and tone - both of which I think are highly subjective. After all, some people prefer Pepsi and Audi to Coke and BMW, though for the record that is NOT entirely subjective. Pepsi is gross! Haha.

But seriously, if some of you folks have Emeralds just sitting around unplayed, you should sell them. A lot of us like them. An Emerald unused is just sad. Win win there I say, you recoup some cash and someone gets an Emerald without the wait.

Spruce;

No need to apologize. I was punning on the fact that relief is accomplished by adjusting the truss rod--sometimes I get carried away by my delightful sense of humor. I'm sorry for any discomfort my wit (or half-wit) may have caused.

Also, just so I get full credit for my humor, Monitor is a big lizard, and I have never called him in on anyone on this forum--not even my nephew Kramster.

And by the way, happy new year everyone. We are living in a perilous world and sometimes it's hard to step back and see the good stuff. For example, in this case, I think we know that Alistair will make this good in any way the suits Melt. That's a good thing.

[jdinco]

When I see folks saying they have bad tone and playability, it makes me wonder if I'm missing something or if all CF guitars are NOT created as equal as I think. Or is it just a difference in taste? I don't doubt them at all, if they don't like them, they don't like them, so why do they keep them and why haven't they sold them and moved on? Just wondering in this New Year.