Questions for Emerald Owners

[TjthePhD]

I've been away from Emeralds for a couple of years now for various reasons. I'd like to get some input on their current offerings from those in the know.

First, I had an X30 with the pinless bridge, new at the time. I had no trouble stringing it, but de-stringing was a hassle often involving sticking my arm into the guitar (especially for the b-string). Can anyone attest as to whether this design has been improved upon?

Has anyone had much experience with and any observations on the individual graphtech saddles bridge? How is tuning stability, ease of stringing and de-stringing, durability, feel under the heel of your hand, &c.?

Can anyone speak to the pure acoustic tone of the X10? I briefly owned an X7 and acoustically it sounded like a toy guitar to me, where the X20 and X30 (I also owned both in the past) both sounded excellent.

I have finally sold the last of my electric guitar gear, but I still like to play a lot of those old tunes on acoustic. Does the X10 have a good feel for this? Please note that I do not amplify my acoustic guitars, so pickups are not an issue.

If you could have just one guitar to do it all, would you choose an X10 or an X20?

At this point, I'm not interested in other brands or models. I have a Rainsong Concert Series dreadnought that is a great acoustic guitar but I want more flexibility and, frankly, I only want to own one guitar.

Thanks!

[jklotz]

Originally Posted by TjthePhD

Can anyone attest as to whether this design has been improved upon?


If you could have just one guitar to do it all, would you choose an X10 or an X20?

Thanks!

Hi Tom. Can't answer your x-10 questions, as my only experience with Emerald is an X-20. As far as the new bridge design, getting strings out of the slots take a little bit of tugging, but I haven't had a problem with mine. Certianly not to the extent that I had to reach inside the guitar. I don't know if the design has changed since you had yours though.

I chose an X-20. I'm a fingerstyle guy and I often play in drop tunings. There is no way the 1 11/16“ nut could have worked for me, and, at the time, there was a $750 upcharge to get a custom neck, so it wasn't really an option in my case. Don't know if this will help, but the X-20 feels about like a OOO/OM in terms of size and comfort. Hope that helped.

I've had several 10s and a 20. I do not have experience with recent innovations however my preference for the past instruments has come down to size--the 10 is the more comfortable instrument for me. The necks on my 10s have played like electric guitar necks and the acoustic has been solid (my report is based on nylon string instruments).

[Captain Jim]

I currently have an X7, X10, and X20. I have not experienced the "toy" sound with the X7 (previous generation) - it impresses me with how much sound comes out of such a small guitar.

The neck on the X10 is more "electric guitar feeling." It seems slightly less loud to my ear than my X7, but checking it with a decibel meter app, they are very close. The X10 has the most even balance than either of the other two, which are slightly in favor of the bass projection. I do have the level 2 pickups on the X10, and that may make some difference in acoustic sound projection.

I go back and forth, but these days, the X20 is my favorite - it can play quiet, loud, sweet or "growl-ly." If I were to have only one, I think it would be the X20.

Plugged in, the pickups make a difference, and my X7 has the no-longer-available B-Band pickup that really kicks. The X10 is very versatile with the level two pickups, individual piezos and the Krivo humbucking pickup. I have the LR Baggs Element in my X20 and have no problem getting a good sound with my equipment (mostly Bose).

These really are 3 very different guitars, but each could be a "one and only" if it came to that. I enjoy having the variety.

Hope that helps.

[TjthePhD]

Thanks for those who have responded; anyone else have any insights?