Reflections on my Sable, 3 years later

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by GuitarLuva

Thanks for the clarification, and I'm glad you circled it as I might not have seen it in that particular picture

I'm guessing you like yours better?

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by ed62

I looked at the pictures when he put it up for sale and it didnt have a kevin michael logo on the headstock...It did have a white nut and saddle though which he said he colored in with a black sharpie .

My 2018 Sable has a white nut and saddle. My 2019 Sable has black. Different labels and serial number schemes. Saddle shape is different too.

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

I'm guessing you like yours better?

The reason I recently bought a new Sable (then shortly after bought another used one to leave at my place in Florida) is because I played one of the Kevin Michael versions when Sam Ash was blowing them out some years ago and the sound haunted me. It was just SO much better than my Rainsong.

Got a great deal on the brand new 2018 and an even better deal on the 2019 used one (thanks Dave!). Sold my X20 after I got both and no regrets here.

[GuitarLuva]

Originally Posted by DavidE

My 2018 Sable has a white nut and saddle. My 2019 Sable has black. Different labels and serial number schemes. Saddle shape is different too.

Just curious are there any noteworthy tonal differences between your two Sables?

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by GuitarLuva

Just curious are there any noteworthy tonal differences between your two Sables?

Nope. One is honeycomb and one is the regular weave.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by eatswodo

This highlights how difficult it is to talk about this stuff. The evidence you cite is not easy to find, and I’ve spent a while searching for it.

One man’s ‘tinny’ is another’s ‘bright’ and yet anothers’s ‘clear as a bell’.

I own two X20s, made about a year apart. Neither of them, by any stretch of my imagination, could ever be described as ‘tinny’, which I think is an unnecessarily pejorative adjective. My first was a tad bright with the supplied D’Addario EXPs (which are among my least favourite strings) - but sounds beautifully warm and balanced with the D’Addario Nickel Bronze strings it’s worn ever since.

The second, which also arrived with D’Addarios, was maybe a tad warmer out of the box, but it’s a 7-string, fan-fret, so a rather different configuration. I’m using a custom Newtone PB string set on it now, and, again, it’s very well balanced, and not the slightest ‘tinny’ or ‘shrill’ in any register.

In addition to the sensitivity of CF to string type, I’ve also noticed that my Emeralds, at least, are much more sensitive to my right hand. Generally, I play with thumb and fingers alone; if my nails get a little too long, things can start to sound a little crystalline at the treble end, but a little clip’n’file easily takes care of it and restores the balance.

I hate to see the only permanent outcome of this discussion be that Emerald X20s sound ‘tinny’.

That’s grossly unfair.

I said my X20 sounded “tinny to my ears”, so clearly qualifying it as one opinion only. I have seen others say similar things. It’s obviously not objective fact, but it’s an opinion I’ve held and heard more than once. But my point was MUCH less about my impressions of my X20 than what I’ve read of people who’d had more than one X20 and loved one and didn’t much like the other. It was more of a comment on perceived inconsistency within the same model of carbon fiber guitar. Look at GuitarLuva’s different experience with two X30s - I never heard anything but praise for his first one, but he had issues with wolf notes from day 1 with the replacement.

I had two X7 models, the pre-summer of 2018 version with the really small body and forward facing soundhole, and a late 2018 version with the offset soundhole and larger body. I thought they both sounded great, both warmer to my ears than the X20 I’d had, but the later/larger one notably louder and more resonant to the player - less different out front...

My ears, at this point in my life, clearly like warmer fuller sounding guitars and dislike brightness and what I perceive as fizziness or tinny sounds. I don’t mean to be overly pejorative, others will hear the same things I hear that way and consider them “shimmery” and beautiful. I suspect I might love an X30, but I’m very happy just having one guitar that works for everything for me right now (which happens to be wood), was a little scared off by the sheer size of the X30 despite all the reports of how comfortable it was to play. So for the foreseeable future, I’m not shopping for an acoustic.

I don’t deny that some people would play the X20 I had and love it - the guy I sold it to let me know more than a year later that he really likes it, and he’s a guy with an amazing collection of high end instruments. But I also don’t deny how it sounded TO ME, which was initially impressive but then it wore on me pretty quickly. I never tired of my later model X-7, just had an issue with how it physically fit me as I spent more time fingerpicking.

-Ray

[David Eastwood]

I know very well that much of what we all say about the characteristics of our various instruments is subjective and personal.

But, no-one likes having their babies called less than attractive, and, I think there’s sometimes a line crossed in the language used, either unwittingly, or in a way designed to get a rise.

There are way too many things these days that folks get overly twitchy about, and I apologize for being over-sensitive and contributing to exactly that.

Let’s move on.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by eatswodo

I know very well that much of what we all say about the characteristics of our various instruments is subjective and personal.

But, no-one likes having their babies called less than attractive, and, I think there’s sometimes a line crossed in the language used, either unwittingly, or in a way designed to get a rise.

There are way too many things these days that folks get overly twitchy about, and I apologize for being over-sensitive and contributing to exactly that.

Let’s move on.

No problem man, I get it. My acoustic now is a Martin CEO-7 - it seems to be a love it or hate it guitar. I love it, the sound, the v-neck, the wide string spacing. But lot's of people really dislike it for some of the same reasons I love it. Ce la vie. There are some few objective facts when it comes to guitars, but 90% of what we read and write here are just our own subjective opinions. I never intend my opinions to be taken as insults (unless we're talking sports - then I probably do sometimes, but hopefully taken as good natured trash talk) and I try not to get my back up when people don't like what I like.

-Ray

[GuitarLuva]

Originally Posted by raysachs

I said my X20 sounded “tinny to my ears”, so clearly qualifying it as one opinion only. I have seen others say similar things. It’s obviously not objective fact, but it’s an opinion I’ve held and heard more than once. But my point was MUCH less about my impressions of my X20 than what I’ve read of people who’d had more than one X20 and loved one and didn’t much like the other. It was more of a comment on perceived inconsistency within the same model of carbon fiber guitar. Look at GuitarLuva’s different experience with two X30s - I never heard anything but praise for his first one, but he had issues with wolf notes from day 1 with the replacement.

I had two X7 models, the pre-summer of 2018 version with the really small body and forward facing soundhole, and a late 2018 version with the offset soundhole and larger body. I thought they both sounded great, both warmer to my ears than the X20 I’d had, but the later/larger one notably louder and more resonant to the player - less different out front...

My ears, at this point in my life, clearly like warmer fuller sounding guitars and dislike brightness and what I perceive as fizziness or tinny sounds. I don’t mean to be overly pejorative, others will hear the same things I hear that way and consider them “shimmery” and beautiful. I suspect I might love an X30, but I’m very happy just having one guitar that works for everything for me right now (which happens to be wood), was a little scared off by the sheer size of the X30 despite all the reports of how comfortable it was to play. So for the foreseeable future, I’m not shopping for an acoustic.

I don’t deny that some people would play the X20 I had and love it - the guy I sold it to let me know more than a year later that he really likes it, and he’s a guy with an amazing collection of high end instruments. But I also don’t deny how it sounded TO ME, which was initially impressive but then it wore on me pretty quickly. I never tired of my later model X-7, just had an issue with how it physically fit me as I spent more time fingerpicking.

-Ray

Sorry Ray, just to make sure the right info gets out there, my first X30 did have the same wolf note. There's like 14 pages of info in that other thread so I wouldn't expect someone to read it all. It wasn't enough of an issue to prevent me from getting another one and I still love the X30 model anyways. I would like to have it gone of course and we're trying to zone in on the cause in the other thread.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by GuitarLuva

Sorry Ray, just to make sure the right info gets out there, my first X30 did have the same wolf note. There's like 14 pages of info in that other thread so I wouldn't expect someone to read it all. It wasn't enough of an issue to prevent me from getting another one and I still love the X30 model anyways. I would like to have it gone of course and we're trying to zone in on the cause in the other thread.

Oh, OK, my bad. I just remembered how much you loved that first one when you gave it to your uncle, and then when you got another, I was aware that you had issues with it. I had the impression it didn't live up to your experience with the first one. Was the wolf note more prominent with the second one?

I haven't actually read much of that other thread - I just kept seeing how long it had gotten and how long it's been going and I'd check in and read a couple of posts and then decide that since I wasn't in the market for either, that I couldn't get interested enough to keep reading the level of detail I was seeing. But it's become an quite the epic thread so I've been sort of aware of it.

-Ray

[GuitarLuva]

Originally Posted by raysachs

Oh, OK, my bad. I just remembered how much you loved that first one when you gave it to your uncle, and then when you got another, I was aware that you had issues with it. I had the impression it didn't live up to your experience with the first one. Was the wolf note more prominent with the second one?

I haven't actually read much of that other thread - I just kept seeing how long it had gotten and how long it's been going and I'd check in and read a couple of posts and then decide that since I wasn't in the market for either, that I couldn't get interested enough to keep reading the level of detail I was seeing. But it's become an quite the epic thread so I've been sort of aware of it.

-Ray

Ray, no worries. Yes I absolutely loved the royal ebony veneer on the one my uncle has. My newer one is still nice but that original one was jaw dropping (for me) but the wolf was exactly the same. Because I use that guitar as a strummer, the wolf doesn't have an impact in that regard. My new one came with 2 pitted frets which doesn't usually cause me grief but certainly shouldn't have came like that and it bugs me that it did .

[mot]

I tried two CEO-7s. I really wanted to like them. Compared them to my Lucky13. The 13 sounded more 'alive'. One of the CEO-7s was noticeably quieter than the other. I figured it was the strings. Maybe true for both. I just couldn't justify it, so they stayed there though I am still thinking about getting one someday.

Just because I keep going back to the carbon fiber guitars I already have doesn't mean I haven't stopped looking whenever I have an opportunity. I find the Kestrel is growing on me more and more each day, and I end up sneaking in about two hours a day on guitars even though I am working a 60+ hour work week at the moment. The Kestrel has a weak bottom, but that's not meant to be it's strong point. It's a sonic cannon with an extremely strong directional mid range when played acoustically and shines in other ways on or off the amp. I am just looking at all this work as saving up for the next GAS and have been eyeing Emerald's summer sale. I am still considering getting an X30 and letting my X20 go, but I am not convinced it's worth the change.

If I were to lose them all today and had to start over, I'd probably get the Kestrel first and then maybe an X30 or a Sable. Maybe I would get the X30 first because I've tried it and know it's a great strummer. Don't know what I would do after that, but with path dependence it's all somewhat of a moot point at the moment.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by mot

I tried two CEO-7s. I really wanted to like them. Compared them to my Lucky13. The 13 sounded more 'alive'. One of the CEO-7s was noticeably quieter than the other. I figured it was the strings. Maybe true for both. I just couldn't justify it, so they stayed there though I am still thinking about getting one someday.

There are too many great guitars out there that each one of us would find a subset of to love, I wouldn't spend much time thinking about one that didn't move you. I initially bought the CEO-7 based on specs and hoped I'd like the sound. The specs work perfectly for me and I DO love the sound, so it worked out great, because guitars with that combination of dimensions, scale length, string spacing, and neck profile are hard to find these days. If I ever decide I want a second acoustic, it would probably be mostly for strumming and I'd be OK with a skinnier string spacing, longer scale, etc, etc. And I'd be real open to Carbon Fiber again. But if I'd wanted a second acoustic, I'd have probably just kept the X7 I had. But when I have an all rounder that works for me for everything I like to do with an acoustic, I'm usually good with just one. Which is where I find myself now. So I'm not in the market now or in the near future, but I never say never, because so far whenever I've said never, I've generally been wrong.

-Ray

[Carmel Cedar]

Just tried the McPherson Sable this afternoon (along with the entire McPherson line) at their Sparta, WI plant and showroom. There are a few guitar benefits from living in Wisconsin!

I must say, I was more impressed than expected with the Sable. Good tone, impressive projection (just from a few minutes of play, unplugged). Will be assessing more closely, and appreciate this thread's debate as part of that.

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by Carmel Cedar

Just tried the McPherson Sable this afternoon (along with the entire McPherson line) at their Sparta, WI plant and showroom. There are a few guitar benefits from living in Wisconsin!

I must say, I was more impressed than expected with the Sable. Good tone, impressive projection (just from a few minutes of play, unplugged). Will be assessing more closely, and appreciate this thread's debate as part of that.

Yeah, I found one in a local showroom and was floored for 2 reasons; I found one in the wild I could test drive, and I loved the guitar. I spent years trying to hunt down just one single RainSong at a GC before finding an independent dealer and trying a Shorty back in 2013. To walk in a local store and see both a Sable and Touring in the same stop made me pretty excited. I think the shop owner must of have thought I was a bit weird with my enthusiasm with CF. I played them both but spent about 20 min with the Sable- it is a great guitar and the best sounding one I've gotten my mitts on to this day. I would want to play an Emerald X20 before dropping that kind of quid tho.....