Check out the new "Standard" Emerald models

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

Seems the last week or so, most of the posts in this CF sub-forum have been regarding Emerald...

I thought I was the only one who noticed that, Jim.

Originally Posted by EvanB

This is hot stuff! Rainsong is sort of stogy, takes its time and goes for a long run. Peavey is still living in the past, Blackbird is creative as all get out, but takes its time. Alistair is running free...

Really, Evan? Rainsong is "stogy" (whatever that means) CA lives in the past, and Joe, like Rainsong takes their time? All this while Alistar is "running free"??

[steelvibe]

stodg·y
ˈstäjē/Submit
adjective
1.
dull and uninspired.
"some of the material is rather stodgy and top-heavy with facts"
synonyms: boring, dull, uninteresting, dreary, turgid, tedious, dry, unimaginative, uninspired, unexciting, unoriginal, monotonous, humdrum, prosaic, staid, heavy going;.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

stodg·y
ˈstäjē/Submit
adjective
1.
dull and uninspired.
"some of the material is rather stodgy and top-heavy with facts"
synonyms: boring, dull, uninteresting, dreary, turgid, tedious, dry, unimaginative, uninspired, unexciting, unoriginal, monotonous, humdrum, prosaic, staid, heavy going;.

So you think Evan meant stodgy, not stogy. Thanks for clearing that up, Sean.

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

So you think Evan meant stodgy, not stogy. Thanks for clearing that up, Sean.

Well I looked up "stogy" and he certainly can't be talking about cigars

I also don't think he meant it as a dis toward RainSong, he owns a P12 nylon. Correct me if I'm wrong Evan, but I assume you meant that, in comparison to Emerald, RainSong is merely less adventurous?

I always thought that pioneers were always the most adventurous?

[Acousticado]

Alistair seems to have figured out a proprietary method to economically produce molds and forming/injection of materials and finishing that other composite guitar builders have not. This has to give him a big leg-up on the competition. Combine this with the new direct sales, road trip business model and the sky appears to be the limit. Good on him. Others better be paying attention...hope so, it'd be good for us players.

[Purfle Haze]

Originally Posted by Acousticado

Alistair seems to have figured out a proprietary method to economically produce molds and forming/injection of materials and finishing that other composite guitar builders have not. This has to give him a big leg-up on the competition.

How can you tell? How does that effect the guitar, or price, or availability?

Combine this with the new direct sales, road trip business model and the sky appears to be the limit.

Acousticado, I don't see this. The direct-sales method seems to be a retreat, making Emerald Guitars less available, not more. I can drive over to Guitar Center and see a Composite Acoustics guitar. I can drive to the Music Emporium and see a Blackbird. I have never seen an Emerald.

How many Emerald guitars exist in the world? Hundreds? Last February I posted here, asking if anyone in the Boston area had an Emerald X7 I could demo. I did not get one reply of any kind. I guess with the road-trip model, I might eventually get to play one. But this does not seem to be a market-leading business model. Carbon fiber guitars are a niche in the guitar market, and Emerald is a niche within that.

This is not to knock Emerald. I'd like to own (pending an audition) one of the new X10s with a woody top and headstock in green, thanks. I think these guitars are artwork, and are unique in the guitar world. But artwork has never been a sky's-the-limit business. And with a 4-month or more wait for a guitar, Emerald seems much closer to a boutique business.

[Doubleneck]

A full size Harp Guitar in the pipeline!! Incredible! You can talk about marketing strategies, availability, compare vendors etc. But you forget there is just a magic in the Emerald City. With a 4 month wait it kind of tells you "if you build it they will come".

[Uncle Pauhana]

I would say that yes, Emerald is a boutique business. But I think that is perfectly fine. And it's pretty cool,not to mention unique, for a guitar builder to be boutique in volume and customization options, but mainstream in price. Think about how many guitars they would need to crank out to feed a dealer network. Emerald would need to be an entirely different kind of business, with many more builders and a much larger facility, and probably not in their lovely Irish countryside, either. Alistair and his crew have plenty of orders coming in to keep them busy, and a lot of variety to keep them interested. And, as Alistair said, they like the direct customer interaction. Sounds good to me!

BTW, Emerald has over 24,000 followers on Facebook. Only a tiny fraction of those people would have to actually become customers to keep Emerald thriving.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Originally Posted by Purfle Haze

Acousticado, I don't see this. The direct-sales method seems to be a retreat, making Emerald Guitars less available, not more. I can drive over to Guitar Center and see a Composite Acoustics guitar. I can drive to the Music Emporium and see a Blackbird. I have never seen an Emerald.

How many Emerald guitars exist in the world? Hundreds? Last February I posted here, asking if anyone in the Boston area had an Emerald X7 I could demo. I did not get one reply of any kind. I guess with the road-trip model, I might eventually get to play one. But this does not seem to be a market-leading business model. Carbon fiber guitars are a niche in the guitar market, and Emerald is a niche within that.

This is not to knock Emerald. I'd like to own (pending an audition) one of the new X10s with a woody top and headstock in green, thanks. I think these guitars are artwork, and are unique in the guitar world. But artwork has never been a sky's-the-limit business. And with a 4-month or more wait for a guitar, Emerald seems much closer to a boutique business.

Well put, PH.

[Alistair Hay]

The website is back. Apparently that whatdoyacallit was disconnected from the thingamebob. Merlin has it all sorted now.
On the website note.... Please bear with our website over the next few weeks. We are developing a completely new one but it will take another couple of months. The existing website can't really handle our current offering but its patched up and will hobble along for another while.
I don't think Evan or anyone else disrespects Rainsong or any of the others. This is a very complicated business and we have all chosen different paths based on various experiences and strategies.
I just do what I do and try to not look over my shoulder too much. We are all apples and oranges or maybe in my case Im a Pineapple.
Alistair

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by Purfle Haze

How can you tell? How does that effect the guitar, or price, or availability?



Acousticado, I don't see this. The direct-sales method seems to be a retreat, making Emerald Guitars less available, not more. I can drive over to Guitar Center and see a Composite Acoustics guitar. I can drive to the Music Emporium and see a Blackbird. I have never seen an Emerald.

How many Emerald guitars exist in the world? Hundreds? Last February I posted here, asking if anyone in the Boston area had an Emerald X7 I could demo. I did not get one reply of any kind. I guess with the road-trip model, I might eventually get to play one. But this does not seem to be a market-leading business model. Carbon fiber guitars are a niche in the guitar market, and Emerald is a niche within that.

This is not to knock Emerald. I'd like to own (pending an audition) one of the new X10s with a woody top and headstock in green, thanks. I think these guitars are artwork, and are unique in the guitar world. But artwork has never been a sky's-the-limit business. And with a 4-month or more wait for a guitar, Emerald seems much closer to a boutique business.

Just consider that everyone's sky limit is unique. Uncle has stated the niche, location and customer interaction model that Emerald is happy with, and I totally get that which is at the heart of my comments. Not everyone wants to own a mega-business. Perhaps Emerald may one day choose to expand their sky into a full dealer network and if so, what they are doing now is establishing the foundation to do whatever they want.

P.s. I never said that Emerald's business model is market-leading in terms of quantity manufactured and local dealer availability. Arguably, their flexibility, innovation, extent of customization, very reasonable pricing and delivery times, and the road trip offering, is. Like I said, as a foundation, their sky's limit is up to how they define success.

[Earl49]

Glad to see the web site back, Alistair. I have a small simple business web site, and also a ukulele club website. These are sometimes not trivial efforts. And my web sites are WAY simpler than yours. As a CF fan, I would love to try an Emerald. They look wonderful and get glowing reports here, but not being able to test-drive one is a real hurdle to laying down the money.

Regarding "stodgy" may I suggest that Rainsong is a bit like Martin, with a more conservative, traditional approach. Emerald would be more like Taylor - innovative, willing to think outside the box a bit and try new things.

OK, I misspoke myself. What I was trying to get at is that I believe Rainsong has been fairly traditional in its instruments. This is not a slam; my RS 12 fret Parlor is pretty much a traditional instrument--one that has been refined to an incredible level of excellence.

And yes, I do believe that Peavey's CF offerings come from past CA creations--refined and excellent, but no longer fresh innovations. And I believe that Blackbird and Emerald are the best innovators of composite instruments.

Based on my ownership and experience I believe that all the CF makers are producing worthy instruments. Alistair's willingness to customize appeals to me the most.

[RustyZombie]

Originally Posted by Alistair Hay

There are a few others in the pipeline also including the X10 and a new full size harp guitar.

full size harp guitar

full size harp guitar

And there's my GAS again.

[RustyZombie]

I think it was at another forum, but someone was wondering why Rainsong didn't have more contemporary features on their guitars, so he sent them an e-mail. Rainsong responded that since most acoustic guitarists tend to resistant to anything new or different, they tried to make their guitars fairly traditional, other than the carbon fiber.

I personally find Emerald's designs more interesting, but I don't have an issue with Rainsong trying to be a gateway for the hide-bound traditionalists.