New redesigned Emerald X20!

[jdinco]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

I've always thought there were only 2 versions of the X7- apparently I've been wrong?

I think Version 1 was a center hole...

[RP]

Originally Posted by eatswodo

According to the comments on the release video, these changes are confined to the 6-string version only. No 'for now' qualifier...

Chloe concurs....

The X20-12 strings remain the same as they have been with only the standard 6 strings having the new changes.

[Earl49]

Originally Posted by jdinaz

I think Version 1 was a center hole...

V1, V2, V3 is not an "official" Emerald term.... I may have started this nomenclature just to be more precise here. Or perhaps I just jumped on the bandwagon.

Version 1 is the older center sound hole model. Version 2 replaced that a few years ago and has the forward-facing sound hole. Version 3 was introduced in the summer of 2018, IIRC. Version 3 of the X7's are a little larger than the older ones (more like the body size of the X10) and has the upward facing sound hole like all the other Emerald models. People have reported here that V3 sounds bigger than V2, almost as full as an X20. We only have the V2 because that is the size that my wife likes, and she sees no need to upgrade from her current guitars.

[seannx]

My new X20 Black 5955 (one marked sold on Emerald’s site) is scheduled for UPS delivery tomorrow!

[bsman]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

I've always thought there were only 2 versions of the X7- apparently I've been wrong?

Probably? I have an old (2010) X7 with a round soundhole in the center.

[RP]

Originally Posted by seannx

My new X20 Black 5955 (one marked sold on Emerald’s site) is scheduled for UPS delivery tomorrow!

Yay! But this news needs a thread of its own....

[ac]

Originally Posted by bsman

Probably? I have an old (2010) X7 with a round soundhole in the center.

I think 2010 was the beginning of the end for the center hole X7s (v1). I had one, sold it, and very shortly after they announced the front-facing offset soundhole X7 (v2), I ordered one and received it in 2011. For some time, they were described on the website as X7-OS. Later, without other changes, the "OS" was dropped and it became the standard X7 model for Emerald. OS was no longer part of the name.

I recall they continued to produce and offer both the center and the off-set on their website at the same time for a period, but later, the center hole was removed and produced only by special request for fold dedicated to center holes. Guessing that once it was removed--there was no reason to designate the off-set version with "OS" anymore--so it was shortened to just X7.

Ordering the center hole by special request may still be possible for all I know, but for the most part, people liked the off-set version so much the center hole has just faded away.

The latest version of the X7 is actually a fairly radical step forward compared to v1 & v2. Those two sounded very much the same. But the newest version has significant changes in the sound hole, body size, construction, etc.

I would expect I would like current version more than either v1 or v2 from years past.

[seannx]

Originally Posted by RP

Yay! But this news needs a thread of its own....

Stay tuned...I'll do a proper NGD post with pics.

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by seannx

Stay tuned...I'll do a proper NGD post with pics.

I'm excited for you and look forward to your review!

[futboljim]

Originally Posted by seannx

My new X20 Black 5955 (one marked sold on Emerald’s site) is scheduled for UPS delivery tomorrow!

woohoo, congrats!

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by Earl49

Version 3 of the X7's are a little larger than the older ones (more like the body size of the X10) and has the upward facing sound hole like all the other Emerald models. People have reported here that V3 sounds bigger than V2, almost as full as an X20.

I had a V2 and V3 for a while. The V3 definitely sounds bigger than the V2, to the PLAYER. Lots bigger. But there’s not much difference out front for a listener. Not much difference between the V2 and the X20 out front for that matter, but a vast difference to the player. That offset soundhole makes an enormous difference at the player’s ear...

-Ray

[Earl49]

Thanks for that commentary, Ray. There aren't many who have had both X7 versions in hand at the same time. And also for the comment for the X7 V3 versus X20 comment too. I was likely recalling your previous comments, but could not remember the source. We can only directly compare the X7 V2 and my X20 directly. X7 sounds good on its own, but not as rich and strong as the X20. No real surprise there - comparing the parlor sized X7 to a GA sized X20.

These days 95% of my playing is indoors and solo, or with my wife playing her flute too. The rest is outdoor backyard jamming at social distance as long as our summer weather holds up. Either way, it has been a long time since I plugged in. Player perspective counts for a lot......

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by Earl49

Thanks for that commentary, Ray. There aren't many who have had both X7 versions in hand at the same time. And also for the comment for the X7 V3 versus X20 comment too. I was likely recalling your previous comments, but could not remember the source. We can only directly compare the X7 V2 and my X20 directly. X7 sounds good on its own, but not as rich and strong as the X20. No real surprise there - comparing the parlor sized X7 to a GA sized X20.

These days 95% of my playing is indoors and solo, or with my wife playing her flute too. The rest is outdoor backyard jamming at social distance as long as our summer weather holds up. Either way, it has been a long time since I plugged in. Player perspective counts for a lot......

I remember when I first had the X20 and then bought a used X7 V2 and it never even remotely occurred to me that they were anywhere close in volume. The X20 just seemed overwhelmingly louder. But then I remember a sound clip or Youtube that Captain Jim posted with recordings of his various Emeralds. And there was so little volume difference between the X20 and the same V2, I couldn't believe it. Yeah, the X20 is a different sounding guitar, but it wasn't really notably louder. I was stunned. So I did an experiment with my wife listening and she thought the X20 was a little louder, but not by much. And then I taped them myself and measured them with an iPhone decibel meter a few feet in front and the difference was NOT large. Which I recreated when I got the v3 X7 (I had all three for a few months). The V3 sounded as loud as the X20 at the player's ear and both sounded unbelievably louder than the V2. But recorded and with the sound meter, there's just not much difference.

That whole experience really opened my eyes, (or more precisely, ears) to the difference that offset soundhole made.

But then, oddly, I added a Martin 000-15SM and it sounded just as loud from my players perspective as the V3 and then I got a CEO-7, which is classified as an 00, and it's as loud or louder than either. Both Martins having just a front facing soundhole. I couldn't figure that one out at all. And then I ended up selling all but the CEO-7, basically for a number of ergonomic reasons, not because I didn't like the sound of the other two as much - I loved the sound of all three.

-Ray

[Earl49]

Ray, your experiment just points out how difficult it is to quantify "perceptible loudness". Human subjective judgement is different than what a sound meter will display (I do this for a living). The best we can do is A-weighted decibels or dBA. Other rating schemes exist but are way too cumbersome - even I cannot use them effectively after 37 years in the business. I have several acoustics textbooks on my desk, each of which has multiple chapters on loudness ratings of varying complexity. Ears have a very complicated computer backing them up, whereas a sound meter is pretty stupid.

The sloped sound hole of the Emeralds indeed directs more sound up toward the listener essentially providing a monitor for the player. But sound radiation from a guitar is actually pretty complex. The sound does not exclusively come out of the "sound hole". That hole exists primarily as a port to affect the Helmholtz frequency and fill out the lower end, like for a bass-reflex speaker cabinet. There is a brand of acoustic guitar out there (the name escapes me) that does not even have a sound hole or a side sound port.

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by Earl49

The sound does not exclusively come out of the "sound hole". That hole exists primarily as a port to affect the Helmholtz frequency and fill out the lower end, like for a bass-reflex speaker cabinet. There is a brand of acoustic guitar out there (the name escapes me) that does not even have a sound hole or a side sound port.

I guess it is too much of a mouthful to call the holes on our guitars "Helmholtz frequency port"? Or even worse it could be called the "Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz frequency port". So, we went with "sound hole" instead. Make sense to me