Santa had room on his sleigh...for a blue nylon X7 Emerald (NGD)

[KarenB]

What a great way to start the New Year! Enjoy Enjoy Enjoy!

[ceciltguitar]

Similar story here. Alistair tried to create a sunburst pink & purple woody X7 for my wife last year. The result was sort of a salmon color. (Wicked, I sent photos to you a while back when you asked for photos for your book.) The guitar is beautiful, just not what I ordered. Alistair (sort of) offered to try again. We decided just to live with it. The guitar sits in a corner, unplayed.

Alistair's devotion to custom work, to continual experimentation, continual innovation, continual improvement is legendary.

Thomas Edison once said something like 1000 failed experiments for every success. Alistair's track record is the inverse ratio

[Captain Jim]

Congratulations, Staci - that is beautiful! Looking at the Emerald images, I certainly see ocean waves, in form and color, on the top of that beautiful instrument. Subtle green mixed in with the ocean blue.

Like others have stated, the red on my X10 and the louro preto veneer on my X20 are certainly understated in typical ambient light. I had the opposite concerns with the red: I was hoping it wouldn't be too bright. Turns out the color and edge shading was exactly what my mind saw when I ordered. I think you have a striking veneer with a unique color ... as a retired boat captain, I have seen the ocean tones (and, yes, in the waters around the various Hawaiian Islands) show from black to blue, to a nearly translucent cyan. Looking at your new beauty, I see all kinds of beautiful ocean-like shading. Very rich looking!

Merry Christmas!

[bsman]

To me - that’s one of the issues with ordering customizations that are not quantitative (i.e. specific scale length, radius, width, etc.). There is simply no way to ensure that the customer’s (subjective) desires are going to be exactly matched by the builder’s (subjective) interpretation. I realize that one of the attractions of Emerald is that they are open to customization of so many different aspects, but I also think that greatly increases the risk that the finished product will not meet the exact specification of the customer’s imagination.

[Methos1979]

Ooo, I LIKE that color! The flame top looks like blue waves in the ocean!! Yes, the guitars always look much darker in person. I wish there was a way that these guitars could look in low/normal ambient light they way they do in the flash photos but they do pop in sunlight, flash photo and stage lights.

I get a lot of compliments from people when I come off stage. We played our last Christmas Brunch gig on Sunday and the sun was hitting the guitar body just so and I had more than a few people asking about the guitar and staring at it.

The other thing I love is that slotted headstock. If I ever do another custom, it would have the slotted headstock even though it's got a pretty big price tag. I love the look.

[GuitarLuva]

I honestly think that's an awesome color. Congratulations you will learn to love it!

[steelvibe]

Congrats- that's a fine instsrument! The bluish-green quilted maple veneer is quite fitting for it's home in the middle of the Pacific. Personally I think it looks real good parked between your old X7 and K24. You could always send it my way for a second opinion but I'm not a nylon guy. I could still evaluate the color for you. I know, I know......I'm feeling overly generous- the holiday spirit and all

Love that headstock!

[ac]

It's an absolutely great looking guitar!! Love the headstock!

Let us know how it plays, how you like the sound, etc. . .

[wickedwahine]

The more time I am spending with this guitar, the more I am loving it. For a short person with small hands, the X7 body style is perfect. It sounds closely comparable to my Cordoba, in a nice travel-size package. This guitar has not diminished my desire for my upcoming X7 on order, it has only increased it.

And as far as the color goes, that is my unrealistic expectations, not a failing on the part of Alistair or Emerald. The color in their photos is perfect, a beautiful ocean blue - exactly what I wanted and asked for on the veneer. It just makes me want to play it outside or in bright lights so I can see that color instead of the navy blue it appears as in my music room. But when you are playing, you aren’t really looking at the color, I am too busy concentrating on not screwing up!

I would highly recommend this guitar, just maybe stick to the standard colors. If I knew then what I know now, doing it over again, I would have opted for the green or perhaps a koa veneer with no paint. But on the whole, I am very happy with it and it is a welcome addition to the instrument family.

[Methos1979]

What is the nut width, string spacing and neck scale? Also, any pickup system?

I'd love to A/B a nylon X7 with my steel string X7.

[raysachs]

I have three Emeralds, two carbon, one veneer, and ALL of them need a LOT of light to show their best selves. Even the cocobolo veneer, which I didn't think would eat light like the carbon tops, just went nearly black in normal indoor lighting, except for the really light arrow/stripe down the middle which you could sort of see. But the grain didn't show up without a lot of light. The good news is that in a well lit room, they look much much better. At home, I had to set up some special lights for the veneer X7 so I could see how beautiful it is. Now we're in the place we rent for the winter on the North Carolina Carolina Coast, and the room where my guitars live, there's a LOT of light, particularly in the afternoon, and the guitar looks incredible without any help in there.

I sort of blame Emerald's studio lighting for showing their guitars looking unrealistically amazing, but OTOH, what are they supposed to do - NOT show them in their best light? And, in the end, they DO look that good, but they just need a lot of light to show it.

I think your blue looks great, but not surprising it doesn't come all the way out in a normal room...

-Ray

Wicked;

Since you already have a sweet guitar in hand, why not sell your new guitar and give it another run? My guess is that you would come very close to receiving what you paid and then have the anticipation of a new creation. Just a thought.

[wickedwahine]

Originally Posted by EvanB

Wicked;

Since you already have a sweet guitar in hand, why not sell your new guitar and give it another run? My guess is that you would come very close to receiving what you paid and then have the anticipation of a new creation. Just a thought.

I thought about that, but honestly didn’t want to in the end. I have a steel string artwork painted one on order right now, and truthfully can’t afford another deposit for a third when the final payment on the upcoming one is due within a couple of months.

If I ordered another, it woukd have to be in a few months, and probably would be the koa veneer, or the green, and truthfully, the color change isn’t probably worth the headache to me...or Emerald. (Kevin would probably hire a hitman to kill me). Plus, this one really does have sentimental value for me, due to its timing as to when Alistair built it. I just need a bright light to shine on it so it looks like the photos, haha.

[Tøf]

Funny to see you here, I have a book from you made for Chuck Moore
I also have the pleasure to own one of his fantastic ukes.

I have a custom X20 Ziricote that looks really dark indoor except for its sapwood. I might be the exception here, but I loooove it this way! I know the beautiful veneer is there, I see it in good light if I want to, but the rest of the time the guitar is more discreet.

For what it’s worth the color you went for is my favorite so far, going from a subtle dark blue in low light to a beautiful turquoise-ish in bright light. If I order another Emerald at some point I’ll probably use your X7 as color reference

[wickedwahine]

Originally Posted by Tøf

Funny to see you here, I have a book from you made for Chuck Moore
I also have the pleasure to own one of his fantastic ukes.

I have a custom X20 Ziricote that looks really dark indoor except for its sapwood. I might be the exception here, but I loooove it this way! I know the beautiful veneer is there, I see it in good light if I want to, but the rest of the time the guitar is more discreet.

For what it’s worth the color you went for is my favorite so far, going from a subtle dark blue in low light to a beautiful turquoise-ish in bright light. If I order another Emerald at some point I’ll probably use your X7 as color reference

First off, thanks very much for buying the Moore Bettah book. His ukuleles are just sublime. FYI I am working on the Emerald Guitars book now, I hope it is done by the summer. Like Chuck, Alistair is very innovative and creative.

Thanks for the cool words about my guitar. She is surely blushing to know you think so highly of her.