New Emerald Archtop video

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by Tøf

From the info I received from Kevin, the archtop is not as loud or deep as the X10 due to the slimmer body. The main use for this archtop is probably amplified, otherwise for acoustic use it seems the most versatile instrument is the X10. But it’s true this new Emerald looks fantastic!

The favorable comments in my post above were with this in mind.

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

I've always thought of an archtop as a semi-acoustic guitar (yes, I know there are pure acoustic archtops, although I haven't seen/played one), needing an amp to complete the sound. What I hear on that video sounds great. I've also been around long enough to know that any particular amp colors the sound... so, as to not come across as "irrational," let me say: That sounds like $999,000 with $1,000 left over for an amp. "Million bucks" is a favorable descriptive term, not the amount I would be willing to pay. Sheesh.

Your judgement call doesn't make me irrational, nor change my opinion of the great tone I hear on thar video.

For the record, I have a Gibson ES335 (semi-hollowbody) that sounds great... but only when plugged in. I don't judge it on its "only acoustic sound."

In the spirit of the season, I wish you peace.

Well, archtops come in different flavors, and there most definitely are pure acoustic archtop guitars--they can be quite lovely.

As soon as you see something like this, with a set humbucker pickup, you're dealing with an electric guitar essentially--although it might be an electric guitar that gives a pleasing voice unplugged as well. For example, a Gibson ES-175 is a very different guitar than a 335, both plugged in and unpluged. The fully hollow body is not for naught--it dramatically effects how notes attack, bloom, and decay. That's why folks still play 'em...because there's nothing quite like 'em.

[raysachs]

I think a fully hollow jazz box is a great application for carbon fiber, even if we assume it's gonna be played amplified. Hollowbodies sound different than semi-hollows and solid bodies, neither of which would really benefit that much from carbon fiber because humidity concerns aren't that great for a guitar with a solid block of wood in the business portion of it. If I ever learn to play jazz worth a small slice of a damm, maybe I'll look into one.

One detail I dug is the carbon fiber trapeze tailpiece. They didn't need to do that - there are plenty of metal ones available that would have worked fine - but I think it's really cool that they did.

But the tucking the pick away for finger style sections really isn't all that hard. I learned to do it before I even began to learn finger style, which I'm still quite new to. But I was learning some rock guitar parts that were played with a pick, but lead into some octaves that could only be played with fingers, and I got pretty unconscious pretty quickly about stashing the pick between a couple of fingers to play the octaves. So if I could learn to do that, someone who really knows how to play should certainly be able to pull it off...

-Ray

[GuitarLuva]

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

I've always thought of an archtop as a semi-acoustic guitar (yes, I know there are pure acoustic archtops, although I haven't seen/played one), needing an amp to complete the sound. What I hear on that video sounds great. I've also been around long enough to know that any particular amp colors the sound... so, as to not come across as "irrational," let me say: That sounds like $999,000 with $1,000 left over for an amp. "Million bucks" is a favorable descriptive term, not the amount I would be willing to pay. Sheesh.

Your judgement call doesn't make me irrational, nor change my opinion of the great tone I hear on thar video.

For the record, I have a Gibson ES335 (semi-hollowbody) that sounds great... but only when plugged in. I don't judge it on its "only acoustic sound."

In the spirit of the season, I wish you peace.

Agreed. I have a Godin Montreal Premiere that is a semi-hollow. It is an awesome guitar. Unplugged it sounds maybe twice as loud as a normal electric guitar as it's meant to be plugged in. I would imagine by the specs of the Emerald it would be louder unplugged but I would assume that it's meant to be plugged in. I'm also going to assume that the intent of this guitar is more for archtop/semi lovers to add some carbon flavor to their arsenal.

[Tom2]

Back in the day, I always played my electric guitar on the edge of feedback, but didn't like playing loud. So I propped up the amp to the level of the guitar, aimed the amp straight at the guitar, and stood 3 feet away from the amp. Then I set the volume so the guitar did not feed back, but it would if I leaned in a little closer, to about 2 feet from the amp. This allowed me to play very quietly while going Hendrix whenever I wanted to.

When using a hollow body guitar, the interaction of the guitar cavity with the near-field acoustic energy of the amp produced tones that I couldn't even dream of with a solid body guitar. It was great.

Now I sit on the floor, half lotus on a pillow, playing nylon string acoustic completely unplugged, so this guitar is no longer relevant to me. But if I ever felt like going back, this instrument would be a wonderful choice.

[tdq]

I'd love to see a fully acoustic CF archtop.
FWIW I thought the attached, electric demo, sounded terrific.

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by tdq

I'd love to see a fully acoustic CF archtop.
FWIW I thought the attached, electric demo, sounded terrific.

Emerald developed a fully acoustic bass with the Balor, so why not a fully acoustic archtop based on this new one? If anyone can do it, it’s Alistair. That said, if it couldn’t rival the terrific tone of what we’re hearing with this one through an amp, then it might not be worth the attempt.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by tdq

I'd love to see a fully acoustic CF archtop...

If memory serves me correctly Martin Lewis was building 17" cutaway all-acoustic archtops in a vaguely Benedetto style about 5-6 years ago, right there in Oz - so you may want to start your search close to home; although his FB page is still active he seems to have dropped off the radar - shame, because from what I heard of his instruments they incorporate all the desirable qualities of an archtop (quick response, volume, punch, string-to-string balance) with none of the drawbacks (harshness, limited frequency range, lack of stylistic versatility) associated with lesser examples of the breed. FYI Rainsong also produced an ES-175 style CF electric archtop during the '90s, that had viable acoustic qualities; these are exceedingly rare, though - I've only seen one in my life, and they appear to have been discontinued in fairly short order. Quite frankly I'd like to see them revive the concept, based on the Concert Series WS (16") and JM (17") bodies and equipped with the NS1 neck and "acoustic" (Fishman, LR Baggs, et al.) amplification - with the availability of a traditional sunburst finish as on the Concert Series they could attract a fair share of traditionalists, who appreciate the tonal advantages of CF but are put off by the high-tech aesthetic...

[kramster]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

Quite frankly I'd like to see them revive the concept, based on the Concert Series WS (16") and JM (17") bodies and equipped with the NS1 neck and "acoustic" (Fishman, LR Baggs, et al.) amplification - with the availability of a traditional sunburst finish as on the Concert Series they could attract a fair share of traditionalists, who appreciate the tonal advantages of CF but are put off by the high-tech aesthetic...

I like where this is going...Ill give Ashvin a hint

[jwellsy]

I wonder if a tailpiece affects tone (compared to bridge pins). I've only seen them on jazz boxes and old gits like Stella's.

[kramster]

[QUOTE=jwellsy;5925193 like Stella's.[/QUOTE]

A Harmony brand??

[jwellsy]

Did someone else make Stella's other than Harmony?

[mot]

I played it acoustically when I dropped by to see Alistair and the gang a couple months ago. Just fingerpicking though. I thought it was on the same level loudness wise as the X7 or maybe X10 (also just fingerpicking). I think both the X20 and X30 were louder.

I really liked the tone of the arch top. The X20 is a better strummer, but the arch top had really sweet notes across the fret board. Completely different animal than the other guitars from Emerald and just as incredible if not more so.