Wait time for Emerald?

[brahmz118]

Anyone else waiting on an Emerald? I've been waiting since February for a T8. I've already emailed Alistair about it and he said it was in production in May. I've noticed some postings about new Emeralds - just wondering if they were ordered before February. I don't want to rush Alistair - last time I inquired about a late order he sent a different guitar, and it was too much of a hassle to send back so I kept it.

[paganskins]

Originally Posted by brahmz118

Anyone else waiting on an Emerald? I've been waiting since February for a T8. I've already emailed Alistair about it and he said it was in production in May. I've noticed some postings about new Emeralds - just wondering if they were ordered before February. I don't want to rush Alistair - last time I inquired about a late order he sent a different guitar, and it was too much of a hassle to send back so I kept it.

My X-20 12 string was a bit later than expected, about 4 months - ordered end of March and arrived a week or so ago. It may have been pushed up the queue though as it was replacement.

Being charitable I think he's a victim of his own success, that and rolling truss rods out across the X-20 and other models seems to causing delays this spring/summer.

The custom projects must be very time consuming too.

[ac]

It does seem to be an extremely long wait, much longer than normal.

I've ordered two Emeralds at different times, once direct from Ireland and once through a US dealer. My experience was that buying through the dealer, if possible, is better without question.

The exception may be when you have special customizations and changes that would require correspondence throughout the process--then direct may likely be better.

[CFW]

I ordered in January, at the time the estimated completion date was in May. I went direct to Alistair.

Mine is a custom though, and a nylon string, which Alistair stated he is reworking the tops for. My last communication with him was in June, and I have no current ETA. I told him to take his time.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Originally Posted by brahmz118

Anyone else waiting on an Emerald? I've been waiting since February for a T8. I've already emailed Alistair about it and he said it was in production in May. I've noticed some postings about new Emeralds - just wondering if they were ordered before February. I don't want to rush Alistair - last time I inquired about a late order he sent a different guitar, and it was too much of a hassle to send back so I kept it.

Which model did you order? I ask because I just got in a mint T8 Artisan Woody with B Band.

Edit: Oops, just noticed you ordered a nylon string.

Originally Posted by ac

...My experience was that buying through the dealer, if possible, is better without question...

Ideally what manufacturers like Emerald want, and need is a dealer base that stocks their guitars allowing folks to try and buy their guitars without a wait as well as working with customers on custom orders freeing them up to concentrate on building guitars, but when a builder chooses to sell direct it can severely limit their ability to sign new dealers.

[P_K]

Alistair Hay has been doing a lot of changes to improve the guitar production in every single little detail during this year. I can tell you that he is absolutely focused on making the best guitars possible. All those changes on the manufacturing process took a lot of time, but they where needed to rise the quality even more

as far as i know, most of the changes are done successfully and the production is catching up right now

keep in mind that the custom models have a huge lot of hand work done by Alistair Hay himself and are extremely time consuming

[CFW]

I'm perfectly happy playing my X7os while I wait.

[Alistair Hay]

Sorry about the delays but all i can say is thats its been worth it.
A switch flipped in my brain over Christmas possibly as a result of taking 2 weeks off and having time to think and I came back to work in January with the intent of making everything better. The moto for 2013 is "make the best guitar tomorrow"
So it started with taking 2 weeks modifying and enhancing the factory and then we started to identify all the little issues that bugged me and indeed bugged a few of you.
Firstly we switched to a completely new resin compound which has much less shrinkage properties and higher heat distortion properties. It was a big step forward but integrating that isnt as easy as just ordering new resin. I knew it would be a challenge for way too many reasons to go into but I knew the end result I wanted to achieve and it was worth overcoming the hurdles and now accuracy is enhanced and temperature resistance is enhanced although that was never really an issue before.
Next up was truss rods. The T8, T20, X30 and X-B bass all have truss rods and its something we have been doing since 1999 so its nothing new but it did take alot of tooling modification to add truss rods to the X20-OS and X7-OS but we decided it was something that needed to be done and it was.
Then we realised the X7-OS mould was coming to the end of its life and accuracy was starting to suffer so the X7-OS was taken out of production in April and a new mould was made with some new modifications to the design. This has just been complerted and took longer than planned but the first batch of guitars are coming through this week and we are just about to announce the X7-OS MK2. It was not on our plan for the year but needed to be done, so it was.
Then on top of this we decided to put the short scale X5-OS 12 string into production and that also is just about to be announced. Its an incredibly cool instrument.
On top of all this we made a lot of cosmetic changes with changing to Gotoh tuners across the board and some other little details like the new logo, and we also invested in upgrading the finish quality of our paint finishes.
Oh and I almost forgot we launched the Synergy harp guitar which has been a great success and we have also been upgrading the Chimaera a little bit and furthering its development.
Also I have been working on new approaches to the tops of the Nylon guitars which has just been so hard to get time for.
Its been an incredible year so far, We have truly transformed our product this year and the customer feedback has been the thing thats made it sooo worth while.
Its been painful financially and a drain on my time and energy and its been painful for customers whose deadlines have been pushed back again and again but I think everyone agrees that the pursuit of building a better guitar is worth a little pain.
Its been an ever changing and moving target and thats why its been hard to give proper production times and with a small team of just 4 we are all impacted and involved in R&D projects.
So far this year sales are up by 50% and quality has increased by 50% but thats also increased wait times by about 50%
Thanks for the understanding and thanks for all being part of my dream
Alistair

[new2guitar_eh]

Alistair,

Thanks for taking the time to post and explain all the changes. It is great knowing what you and your team are up to. All the more interesting to me as you and I have exchanged emails about you completing an amber Artisan for a customer in Calgary and then linking me up with him so I can see one in person.

Can't wait to see it!

Robert

[Acousticado]

Alistair, IMO, you are THE guitar builder among guitar builders, from so many perspectives. With posts such as this, thanks for allowing us to enjoy your ride.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Alistar, sounds like you have a lot going on, perhaps it's time to train some more guys. BTW, just took in a used Woody T8 with the new Artisan finish, I love it.

[Alistair Hay]

Ted I am training a new guy at the moment and thankfully he is an incredible talent. Expansion means new staff and new Staff mean untrained hands and Untrained hands can so easily reduce quality. Thats one thing we cant allow to happen so its probably going to be slow sustainable growth rather than trying to take over the world.
At the end of the day Ill be judged on the quality of my work not the quantity.
Its a balancing act

[stonebridgian]

Alistair

Your philosophy is bang on for a highly specialised niche market product. I too waited an extra month for my x20-os (artisan) but it was worth every second! It truly is a top class instrument. High-end spec boutique guitars have lengthy waiting lists and imho would be pushed to stand next to your instruments. You are marketing to a discerning market and I believe most of these customers appreciate your work and are prepared to wait for something this special. May you go from strength to strength and may your growth be steady, controlled and as you say, sustainable. I will be back for that 12 string x20 in a few months.
Best wishes
Ian

[Doubleneck]

The problem with Alistair is there is no one else like him. So if you want a doubleneck carbon, a carbon harp guitar, where else can you go? Like said before he is a product of his own success and I would add genius. But if you look at some of the great wood guitar makers their wait period is measured in years not months. Maybe we are lucky? At least we got a shot for some of these treasures, and at prices a little more reasonable than their long wait wood brothern.

[fazool]

****, now *I want one.....

stupid GAS

bad, BAD gas