X30 - Curly Tineo veneer - It arrived!

[ZebraKing]

Originally Posted by mountainmaster

I ordered long before Emerald decided to cut down on custom orders. There was some misunderstanding though.
I had actually specified 670 mm, but 664 mm turned out to be a better choice for drop D tuning. If the scale had been any longer it would have forced me to drop down even lower to get a tension I am comfortable with.

Ah so the longer scale increases the tension? I guess that would make sense.

[casualmusic]

Originally Posted by mikealpine

I will, if I can get that tinny sound worked out. It is pronounced enough that my wife asked me about it as as I was playing some open chords. I don't think that should be a stand-out sound.


.... Hoping my guitar tech can figure out what that "ting" is, though. As I mentioned above, when my wife easily points it out from being out in front, that's not a sound that I think should be present in a guitar of this price range. I'll update after he has had a chance to look at it. I am dropping it off on Tuesday afternoon.

Congrats on the new X30.

FWIW my CA-Cargo went tzing on the B string after accidentally changing from x-light to ultra light strings. Putting couple of layers of printer paper in the B slot didn't work. Ended the tzing by laying a 1/2" length of E string in the B slot to raise the new skinny B string (the ultra lights didn't sound good anyways).

So yeah fixing slot depth/angle is a likely fix.


For those still chasing a ping on B or E there are threads on AGF about causes and fixes. Many of them can be retrieved by searching for keyword "sitar" as in tsing, ping, sitar string sound. A leading culprit is nut slots. And a few other things.

Frets.com has a section about buzzes with a long diagnostics list known to guitar techs.


Cheers.

[boneuphtoner]

Originally Posted by mikealpine

Thank you for this info. I was hoping to go with 13s, just because the size of the guitar almost seems to warrant it. Not sure what it ships with. Whatever the strings are, they don't feel like my usual Elixirs..

The D’Addario EXP19s (coated PB, medium bass strings, light trebles) are the stock strings on the X30. I had been playing mediums prior to this, and I was impressed how full the trebles sounded with the light gauge strings and lighter tension on the unwound strings was a relief. I’ve been so impressed with them that I’ve since switched to the uncoated EJ19s (the EXPs have been discontinued) on all my guitars, including the new Sable.

[mikealpine]

Originally Posted by casualmusic

Congrats on the new X30.

FWIW my CA-Cargo went tzing on the B string after accidentally changing from x-light to ultra light strings. Putting couple of layers of printer paper in the B slot didn't work. Ended the tzing by laying a 1/2" length of E string in the B slot to raise the new skinny B string (the ultra lights didn't sound good anyways).

So yeah fixing slot depth/angle is a likely fix.


For those still chasing a ping on B or E there are threads on AGF about causes and fixes. Many of them can be retrieved by searching for keyword "sitar" as in tsing, ping, sitar string sound. A leading culprit is nut slots. And a few other things.

Frets.com has a section about buzzes with a long diagnostics list known to guitar techs.


Cheers.

This is great info, thank you! I will mention it to my tech. I’m a little bummed that a guitar of this cost and caliber would be sent out with that obvious a flaw. I heard that on the first strum. Shouldn’t that have gotten caught in QC? Am I being harsh?

[mikealpine]

Originally Posted by boneuphtoner

The D’Addario EXP19s (coated PB, medium bass strings, light trebles) are the stock strings on the X30. I had been playing mediums prior to this, and I was impressed how full the trebles sounded with the light gauge strings and lighter tension on the unwound strings was a relief. I’ve been so impressed with them that I’ve since switched to the uncoated EJ19s (the EXPs have been discontinued) on all my guitars, including the new Sable.

Thanks for this. I may look for similar coated Elixirs. I like Elixirs and use light top/heavy bottoms on my electrics.

[casualmusic]

Originally Posted by mikealpine

This is great info, thank you! I will mention it to my tech. I’m a little bummed that a guitar of this cost and caliber would be sent out with that obvious a flaw. I heard that on the first strum. Shouldn’t that have gotten caught in QC? Am I being harsh?

Going forward, Allistair's last video spoke of taking time to expand the shop and "improve some processes" which indicates doing more QC.

[mikealpine]

Originally Posted by casualmusic

Congrats on the new X30.

FWIW my CA-Cargo went tzing on the B string after accidentally changing from x-light to ultra light strings. Putting couple of layers of printer paper in the B slot didn't work. Ended the tzing by laying a 1/2" length of E string in the B slot to raise the new skinny B string (the ultra lights didn't sound good anyways).

So yeah fixing slot depth/angle is a likely fix.


For those still chasing a ping on B or E there are threads on AGF about causes and fixes. Many of them can be retrieved by searching for keyword "sitar" as in tsing, ping, sitar string sound. A leading culprit is nut slots. And a few other things.

Frets.com has a section about buzzes with a long diagnostics list known to guitar techs.


Cheers.

My tech said the nut slots were cut a little higher than he'd like, but he thinks it might just be the timbre of the guitar. I left it with him. We're going to try light strings instead of mediums and he'll do whatever else he does. I can always switch back to mediums, if I want to. We'll see what happens when he's done with it. And if it doesn't go away, I may get a second opinion. He didn't think it would bother him. It bothered me from the first strum, and especially after my wife picked up on it, meaning it can be heard by others.

[nootis]

Hi Mike,

Congratulations on a beautiful guitar. While I don't have a steel string Emerald, I do have a nylon string X10. Being used to wood guitars (mostly boutique/luthier built), I noticed right away that Emerald carbon fiber guitars have an other-worldly reverb to them (at least my X10 does). I'm curious if that holds true for steel string X20's and 30's? Perhaps your "tinny" sound is completely different than the "reverb" sound I'm describing, or maybe they are one in the same? Your comment from your tech suggesting it may be the timbre of the guitar is what caused me to think of my experience. After owning mine and playing it for almost a year now, I have grown to love the different pallet of sound that I can get from my Emerald. So much, that I'm thinking of ordering a steel string X20 Baritone. While I'm not ready to give up my wooden guitars, I'm enjoying the carbon fiber world.

Dan

[mikealpine]

Originally Posted by nootis

Hi Mike,

Congratulations on a beautiful guitar. While I don't have a steel string Emerald, I do have a nylon string X10. Being used to wood guitars (mostly boutique/luthier built), I noticed right away that Emerald carbon fiber guitars have an other-worldly reverb to them (at least my X10 does). I'm curious if that holds true for steel string X20's and 30's? Perhaps your "tinny" sound is completely different than the "reverb" sound I'm describing, or maybe they are one in the same? Your comment from your tech suggesting it may be the timbre of the guitar is what caused me to think of my experience. After owning mine and playing it for almost a year now, I have grown to love the different pallet of sound that I can get from my Emerald. So much, that I'm thinking of ordering a steel string X20 Baritone. While I'm not ready to give up my wooden guitars, I'm enjoying the carbon fiber world.

Dan

Hey Dan, thanks for the nice comments. "Other-worldy reverb" is a good way to describe the guitar, but yes I think it is not the same as, or the cause of, the tinny sound. The good news is, for now, the tinny noise has been tamed. My tech filed down the nut slots on both the high E and B strings. In addition, we changed out to Elixir 80/20 12s instead of the PB (?) 13s that came on the guitar. The guitar is much more evenly balanced now, and I don't notice any loss of volume overall. Prior, as I mentioned, I thought the low E was totally dominant, and while I can easily make it so, it isn't jumping out anymore during a typical strum. I may play with string gauge or try Elixir PBs again at some point, just to experiment and see what the differences are, but if this is how the guitar sounds and plays going forward, in this configuration, I'm fine with that. It is louder than my Sable (makes sense due to the size) and nearly as warm sounding.

I will share a disappointment with my rep, Davy, from Emerald. His last e-mail to me asked me to let him know when I got the guitar and what I thought of it. I reached out when the shipping seemed to be a bit wonky, in that the days kept shifting, asking how long it typically takes a guitar to get from Ireland to NY. I heard nothing back. Fine. The guitar arrived shortly enough afterward. I then reached out to ask about the tinniness, looking for suggestions or help in some way. Crickets, as they say. No reply, not a "I'll ask my tech" or anything. Just silence.

Anyway, at least I have a lovely instrument. Can't wait for the first opportunity to gig with it!

Have a great evening,
Mike

[David Eastwood]

Glad you’ve got your setup sorted, Mike! Look forward to hearing about your experience as you get more playing time in.

[mikealpine]

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

Glad you’ve got your setup sorted, Mike! Look forward to hearing about your experience as you get more playing time in.

Thanks David! I will be playing it as much as I can over the next few days. I may take it to a very small gig (almost too small to call it that, lol) in early June. I'll be accompanying a Bar Mitzvah ceremony on maybe half a dozen songs, playing through my Fishman Loudbox Artist. If I set up early enough, I'll play some songs as background music for the pre-event cocktail hour.

[StringMeUp]

I am glad you got this worked out Mike! I hope all is well.

[Goodallboy]

Your guitar is stunning, great choices you made on that one.

I’ve never heard those tones form my X30 and I’m glad you’ve tamed it. I’ve no plans to use Elixer strings on it, I only use PB Light qauge strings with one experiment with mediums. If ever a guitar didn’t require Mediums, this one is it. Great with them and great without.

Hopefully you can now enjoy your X30 as much as I have been over the past few months.

[waterboy]

You got a great looking X30 there Mike. Glad you got the setup sorted out.

[mikealpine]

Originally Posted by StringMeUp

I am glad you got this worked out Mike! I hope all is well.

All good, thanks! We’ll see how things go over the longer term, but for now, she’s a keeper.

Originally Posted by Goodallboy

Your guitar is stunning, great choices you made on that one.

I’ve never heard those tones form my X30 and I’m glad you’ve tamed it. I’ve no plans to use Elixer strings on it, I only use PB Light qauge strings with one experiment with mediums. If ever a guitar didn’t require Mediums, this one is it. Great with them and great without.

Hopefully you can now enjoy your X30 as much as I have been over the past few months.

Thank you! Your commentary on yours helped me decide it would be a good guitar for me. I think, now that the pinginess has been mostly eliminated, it will remain so. It really holds up well when playing with other guitarists, and that was a concern with the Sable.

Originally Posted by waterboy

You got a great looking X30 there Mike. Glad you got the setup sorted out.

Thanks very much! It looks huge on me when I play it, lol, but it feels comfy and sounds really nice, so I’m ok with that.