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Old 08-15-2020, 12:49 PM
mot mot is offline
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Default 1st World Problem - Choosing a Guitar For a Trip - X20 or Lucky 13

Stealing a comment from another thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Jim View Post
This was the case on the X10 I ordered with a 24.6" scale - it is a "13 fret". I find it very comfortable.
This speaks to the current quandary I am in. I have a Blackbird Lucky13 with 24.75" scale that is very comfortable to play. No heel so I can reach up to about the 16th or 17th fret with no problem. I have an X20 (25.5" scale) that is fun to play too, but I have to do longer reaches on the lower frets. It has a heel and a cutaway, so I can reach into the 20 something frets with no problem.

The problem is that I am going to be on the road for a bit and am trying to decide which guitar to bring along. There can be only one. I go back and forth. Usually the X20 wins, but I am partial to the Lucky 13 at the moment. The Kestrel would be the clear winner (no heel w/ cutaway and it plays/sounds great). It is out because I would have to bring the hard case to protect it and don't won't to have to dedicate that much room in an already forecasted situation where I'm tight on cubic space.

The X20 meets most of my specs, so it will probably be the one once again. It's hard to say though. The Lucky is a hair smaller cube wise and so darn fun to play, but the X20 is the more comfortable guitar hands down for those 2+ hour jam sessions. I would have to stuff the X20 in the Lucky's gig bag too because I broke the Emerald gig bag from hauling it around too much.

So, the question is should I flip a coin or use some pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo to fake a coherent decision? What would you do? Buying another guitar is off the table, though I have considered that too and could be talked into considering it again if you are persuasive enough. I'd just take a baritone uke if it was a weekend, but this trip may last several months and I think I'll need all 6 strings. I expect I should be able to play at least 10-20 hours each week while I am away.
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Old 08-15-2020, 01:49 PM
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Take the X20....
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Old 08-15-2020, 06:17 PM
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The first rule of work: make yourself comfortable.
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Old 08-15-2020, 06:42 PM
Frettingflyer Frettingflyer is offline
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I don’t see the X20 fitting in the Lucky 13 bag, does it? It seems so much shorter than I remember the X20 being, having had both at one time or another.
Great to have such problems, but it the bag is stretched too much with the Emerald in it go with the Blackbird and look forward to reacquaint yourself with the Emerald when you come home.
FWIW- I just brought both my CF’s on my most recent trip, but it was camping not flying.
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Old 08-15-2020, 07:49 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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I have both and they have both gone on road trips. Lucky 13 got a fair amount of play on the back porch last month, but that edge really dug into my forearm after about 30 minutes. I have a John Pearse slim armrest in my parts box, but have not gotten around to installing it. Need to make that a priority. Then the choice would get really tough.... comfort and good sound, or comfort and great sound.
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Old 08-16-2020, 08:46 AM
Captain Jim Captain Jim is offline
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I go through this before each outing with the motorhome. We are two months out on this current trip, and it was the X10 that came along. And I still have those "mind wanderings" if it should have been the X7 or the X20. The smaller X7 is easy to bring. In reality, the X10 size difference... has made no difference.

I have the Emerald gig bag for the X20, but I prefer the size, padding, and storage with the triangle shaped bag for the X7 and X10.

I mention the above as basis for this recommendation: buy a different gig bag for the X20. I have an Access Stage One with an added neck rest that I used for the Shorty when I had it. Something like that would give you a decent size pouch for "stuff" (tuner, capo, cleaning cloth, 1/4" cable if/when you want to plug in).

Which ever guitar you take will do the job. Enjoy the trip!
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Old 08-16-2020, 01:30 PM
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One of the mottos I go by is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!". This applies to my need for a guitar bag. I have already taken the X20 all over the country in the Lucky13 bag. It's definitely fits tighter than the Lucky, but it fits. I like the pouches on the Emerald bag better, but this is a working solution. I only ever take one guitar if I am on a trip. If I am in town I may take several with me. Then space is not an issue and I can leave the Emerald on a seat or just sitting in its original bag with the broken zipper.

I'll likely take the X20 again, but the Lucky is just so much fun to play. However as Earl pointed out, it starts to get a little uncomfortable to hold if I am sitting after an hour or so. I rarely sit that long straight, so this is rarely a problem. Standing up I haven't noticed an upper limit yet. The X20 has only reached an upper limit for playing in wearing out my fretting hand. That's probably sooner than my hand would get tired with the Lucky, but probably not by much.
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Old 08-16-2020, 04:25 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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At the moment I don't have an Emerald gig bag, so no comment there. I could try to put my X20 into the Lucky 13 gig bag, but have not. My upcoming X20 will come with a gig bag because I have two Hiscox hard cases already. In case you wondered, the X20 fits nicely into a Taylor hard bag which has plenty of padding, great carry handles, and voluminous pouches to store things.

I played the X20 for two hours at a backyard jam this afternoon, but I almost reached for the Lucky 13. Thinking about the edge on the lower bout made me grab the one with the bevel. FWIW.
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