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  #61  
Old 02-22-2021, 10:19 AM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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Originally Posted by steelvibe View Post
Earl-Some people like a bright guitar. Others buying sight unseen have no prior knowledge or experience with Emeralds and therefore no expectation. It certainly isn’t brighter than a RainSong?
Certainly any potential buyer that comes to see my X20 won't get to see (or hear) the other Emeralds or CF's for comparison. We'll meet someplace public like a nearby coffeehouse, and I will only bring along the "for sale" model.

It is FAR brighter than any Rainsong that I have ever played, including the two that I own. My WS-1000 Classic has a crystalline character with lots of overtones, but sounds good. The new Emerald is "ice pick in the ear" bright / harsh / strident and causes near immediate ear fatigue. I cannot describe it any more subtly. My guitar buddies agree and without any coaching. They had been considering Emerald purchases themselves based on the older X20 and my X30, but no more after hearing this one.
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  #62  
Old 02-22-2021, 10:33 AM
steelvibe steelvibe is offline
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Originally Posted by Earl49 View Post
Certainly any potential buyer that comes to see my X20 won't get to see (or hear) the other Emeralds or CF's for comparison. We'll meet someplace public like a nearby coffeehouse, and I will only bring along the "for sale" model.

It is FAR brighter than any Rainsong that I have ever played, including the two that I own. My WS-1000 Classic has a crystalline character with lots of overtones, but sounds good. The new Emerald is "ice pick in the ear" bright / harsh / strident and causes near immediate ear fatigue. I cannot describe it any more subtly. My guitar buddies agree and without any coaching. They had been considering Emerald purchases themselves based on the older X20 and my X30, but no more after hearing this one.
Ouch! Bummed for you Earl and hope you recoup much of your costs. Duds are made in wood lutherie as well but CF I thought would be much more consistent.
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  #63  
Old 02-22-2021, 10:40 AM
Jrh Jrh is offline
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I've been following this thread since the beginning and hoping to see some more positive experiences with the new x20 posted; this as I await my order for a black satin 6 string x20. Ironic that this negative experience popped up after following all of the glowing commentary and after ordering mine. Fingers crossed that mine will sound good to me.
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  #64  
Old 02-22-2021, 11:27 AM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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My fingers are crossed for you JRH. The odds are actually good - I have five wonderful Emerald guitars and this one outlier. Based on my prior experience, and also playing some Emeralds owned by others here, I expected consistency too. But this one example did not work out that way.... As I said earlier, if Emerald were my business, this guitar would not be an example that I would want out there in the world representing my work.
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  #65  
Old 02-22-2021, 01:20 PM
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Earl;

You sure gave the guitar every possible chance.

I had an acquaintance who bought a new Mercedes that ended up in the shop every week or so. He begged the dealer to take the car back, which didn't happen. Finally, in a moment of rage and righteous indignation, he went to the managers office, threw the keys and title on the desk, and declared himself done with the car. The manager gave him a new car.
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  #66  
Old 02-23-2021, 10:15 AM
seannx seannx is offline
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Originally Posted by Jrh View Post
I've been following this thread since the beginning and hoping to see some more positive experiences with the new x20 posted; this as I await my order for a black satin 6 string x20. Ironic that this negative experience popped up after following all of the glowing commentary and after ordering mine. Fingers crossed that mine will sound good to me.
I got my black X20 last July. It’s from the first production run with the pinless bridge, and has a gloss finish. Has plenty of bass, and a nice, balanced sound, not at all harsh or strident. The 25 1/2” scale wasn’t my preference, but I wanted one without having to wait for a custom build. I like everything about it with the exception of the scale length. While the scale length is okay, I just prefer a shorter one like my Martin and RainSong have. So I recently ordered a similar scale length custom X20, with the same black finish. Am also hoping it sounds equally as good.
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  #67  
Old 02-25-2021, 09:36 PM
Goodallboy Goodallboy is offline
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Anyone cheating themselves out of an X30 based on a bad X20 are making a big mistake.
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  #68  
Old 02-26-2021, 07:10 AM
Frettingflyer Frettingflyer is offline
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Originally Posted by Goodallboy View Post
Anyone cheating themselves out of an X30 based on a bad X20 are making a big mistake.
I think the OP has gone out of his way to point out that this guitar is a one off problem evidenced by his other Emeralds, plus some others on here he has played. He also owns an X30, so hopefully this won’t hurt Emerald sales too much. However, it also makes sense that he doesn’t want to spend more of his money after a disappointing outcome. For me, it means not likely to order a custom Emerald that could be difficult to return. Every guitar maker has duds, we had a long thread on here about a Rainsong issue a year or two ago, and that is likely what happened here.
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  #69  
Old 02-26-2021, 10:09 AM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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Originally Posted by Earl49 View Post
.... My guitar buddies ....had been considering Emerald purchases themselves based on the older X20 and my X30, but no more after hearing this one.
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Originally Posted by Goodallboy View Post
Anyone cheating themselves out of an X30 based on a bad X20 are making a big mistake.
Frettingflyer covered this, but to further clarify... my playing buddies loved both my older 2016 stock X20 and the 2019 stock X30, and have offered to buy each of those from me. But after my latest experience and trying the newer custom X20, they will no longer consider any non-returnable custom orders, not knowing for sure what they will actually get. And I'm not willing to risk the "birds already in hand" by selling them, hoping to replace in kind. There seems to be more variability in construction than any of us presumed. I sure wish that I had not rolled the dice this one last time....
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  #70  
Old 02-27-2021, 04:33 PM
Goodallboy Goodallboy is offline
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Originally Posted by Earl49 View Post
Frettingflyer covered this, but to further clarify... my playing buddies loved both my older 2016 stock X20 and the 2019 stock X30, and have offered to buy each of those from me. But after my latest experience and trying the newer custom X20, they will no longer consider any non-returnable custom orders, not knowing for sure what they will actually get. And I'm not willing to risk the "birds already in hand" by selling them, hoping to replace in kind. There seems to be more variability in construction than any of us presumed. I sure wish that I had not rolled the dice this one last time....
I get your point and I’m sorry for your experience.

Like you and others, I’m surprised there’s any “variability in construction” with Emeralds. I can see where there might be with the changing of the bridge, but other than that, I’m lost at trying to figure it out.

Do you have any thoughts on what could contribute to any variability in those guitars?
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  #71  
Old 02-27-2021, 05:40 PM
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Earl;

You've got your teeth in this and not letting go. This can be bad for your mental health to say nothing about the wear and tear on your jaws. I once spent 5 years fighting Ford and Firestone over tires. I won, but at the price of a lot of time.

Now, once in a while I'm willing to make a sacrifice to get something over with and to make a point. I'd ship the guitar to Alistair and see if, in all fairness, he would keep the instrument.

On the other hand. It's possible that someone else might love the guitar as it is. You are in the grips of a true conundrum.
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  #72  
Old 02-27-2021, 06:25 PM
jklotz jklotz is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Earl49 View Post
Frettingflyer covered this, but to further clarify... my playing buddies loved both my older 2016 stock X20 and the 2019 stock X30, and have offered to buy each of those from me. But after my latest experience and trying the newer custom X20, they will no longer consider any non-returnable custom orders, not knowing for sure what they will actually get. And I'm not willing to risk the "birds already in hand" by selling them, hoping to replace in kind. There seems to be more variability in construction than any of us presumed. I sure wish that I had not rolled the dice this one last time....
Have you contacted Emerald about this? I'd be curious to see what they have to say about it.
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  #73  
Old 02-28-2021, 02:09 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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....You've got your teeth in this and not letting go. This can be bad for your mental health to say nothing about the wear and tear on your jaws. .....
I appreciate the thoughts, Evan. It has been a huge hassle, and rather stressful. Definitely no joy in this purchase. Every time I think that some progress is being made with something different in terms of strings, the tone stills grates on my ear. I'm almost desperate enough to make a new nut and try nylon strings on it!

Quote:
Originally Posted by jklotz View Post
Have you contacted Emerald about this? I'd be curious to see what they have to say about it.
PM sent. I am trying hard to be tactful and not air the details and dirty laundry in public. But I am truly at my wit's end.
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  #74  
Old 03-01-2021, 08:16 AM
new2guitar_eh new2guitar_eh is offline
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I've been thinking about this one. If you sell it you would lose several hundred dollars and never know for sure if it was not right from the get-go. If you ship it back to Emerald you will lose several hundred dollars but can get a sense of closure. Either they determine it isn't right and 'make it right' or they say it is fine which then would beg the question of what is 'good' leaving the factory.

In my humble opinion, eat the shipping cost and send it back. Closure can be a priceless thing!
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  #75  
Old 03-01-2021, 10:26 AM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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^^ Sage advice. One more set of strings as a last attempt, then it goes back to Donegal - period. If we are both lucky it will sell via my local CL before then. Kevin has already opined that they "....like the new X20 tone....", implying that something knowingly changed in the construction, so they likely won't see a problem with it.
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