NUG With CF Travel Content

[mot]

I thought we would never get to Ireland. Tried to travel standby (for five seats) to get a free flight over to Ireland starting in mid September. Ended up on a flight on a Friday that was diverted to Newfoundland because an avionics fan was having a meltdown. We caught a hop back to the States and started over but stand by flights had dried up from our location. What we should have done was stayed in St. John's and picked up a flight from there.

Ended up paying for some commercial seats. Arrived in Dublin on a Thursday and went by Alistair's on Friday. The rental car for a week in Ireland was double what was expected because I got caught by an insurance/credit card loophole I was too tired to wiggle out of. Like UK, Ireland drives on the left side of the road, so make sure you are awake when driving. Also the speed limit signs are in kilometers in Ireland and in miles in Northern Ireland. There's very little notice at boarder crossing these days, but all of the sudden everything goes from pounds to euros when you stop at a store and not everyone takes credit though most places do. Also it's a bit of an adventure finding the Emerald shop. I got to the general area when my GPS decided to take a break. I took a couple of wrong turns and eventually stumbled onto the correct road after asking at a local shoppette. The attendant knew Alistair and gave me reasonable directions to get his house.

Alistair and Kim were quite gracious and their crew were having lunch and asked if we wanted to join when we arrived. One of the guys was playing guitar, harmonica and singing when we came in. I think we ended up staying about 3 hours. I picked up probably 15 different guitars and probably saw close to a hundred from recently cast to ready to ship. Norman also took me on a tour and I took a few pictures. Kevin was still on his honeymoon, so I didn't meet him until I came by the next week. I don't know that I remember anything too well because it was a lot to take in. Let me know if you want to see any of the pictures. I will need someone to upload them for me as apparently I'm a luddite and can't seem to get my host site to display them properly when I try.

That first day I left the shop with the green Synergy X20 he had for sale. I came close to buying one this past summer, but I had this trip in the back of my mind and waited. It's awfully thick (almost 7 inches at the thickest) and 3.5 feet long, and sounds absolutely wonderful with the guitar back vibrating against me and all that resonance from those open strings. I found I was playing some classical pieces in G to test it out, so I dropped the lowest sub bass string to an E instead of an F. If I could be sure I would have sufficient room I would have kept it with me. However, running around Europe in a small car and already too much luggage I brought it back on Tuesday and swapped it for the Synergy X7 which is just over 4 inches thick and about 3 feet long. I also messed around with old tunes (Dream Lover and World Without Love as examples) and tried other ideas by playing the melody and sometimes double-stops on the guitar neck while plucking the appropriate open string on the harp part. The X7 sounds pretty good too though it is a smaller and quieter version of the X20 and doesn't vibrate my body while I play it as much as the X20 version does. Also, as you can see in the Emerald pictures, the Synergy X7 is about two versions back from the latest regular X7 that's available, but it's still a keeper if you need a travel harp guitar. With either it will be a while before I am up to performance level.

Alistair says he's always tweaking and working to find better sound with his guitars. I couldn't tell if the X20's I played in the shop sounded better than my red Opus X20, but they might have. I tried X30s, X20s, fan frets, Amicus and many others while I was there. I think I played every single one of the select series that recently sold out in a couple of days. I would have been happy with any of them. I was most impressed with the X30, the arch top and the fan fret guitars I played for different reasons though. The X30 had noticeably more bottom than my X20. The X20 fan fret was so easy to play and had better intonation than my X20 IMO - I could be wrong. The arch top guitar was... well... an arch top with a great neck. I liked the neck of the X10, but I pick and strum so it's a little tight for weird fingerings using my clunky fingers. It's fast for basic stuff. I liked the sound of the new X7 too. Really easy to play also. The 12 string was sweet. If I hadn't been on a quest for a harp guitar and only one guitar, I probably would have come home with the 12 string and maybe one or two other of the select series. I didn't play a Chimera. I meant to, but I was limiting my playing time and attention to travel guitars and full scale guitars I would love to keep. Unless I am regularly performing where I need both necks at the same time I don't see getting a double neck. Also, since I am only going to get one high end guitar in the near future I dithered and shilly-shallied on what to do.

In the end and with a little prompting to go for my dream guitar I left both versions of Synergies behind. If it wasn't for space considerations (ferry to UK then rent-a-car to Scotland) and weather worries (had to beat feet in front of a storm) I probably would have taken a new Emerald with me. Got to Scotland and told this sad story to my AirB&B landlord. He happened to be a bit of a guitarist and performs in the local shows. He introduced me to some of his collection from his beloved Martin 35D, old classical and Gretsch to his newest Ibanez soprano and other small guitars. He let me take whichever I wanted to play while I stayed there. That Ibanez soprano is nice for what it's worth if you don't mind a narrow neck! He also recently acquired a Martin Backpacker and decided to let go of his Washburn Rover and guitalele (replaced by the new little Ibanez). He invited me to choose one or both and has his eyes on the CF world now after hearing my testimonial. I ended up getting the Rover for a song (and 50 quid). It's a fun little guitar though a bit light on bass.

So the bottom lines are I have a new-to-me mint condition Rover and am in conversation with Emerald on a custom dream guitar. More details later once I have the dream guitar in hand, so don't hold your breath.

Oh, by the way, the Rover is blue.

[kramster]

Lots more details please... this will be the first novel I have read since...well high school

Mot;

Aristotle noted that envy was not a nice emotion--you're really dishing it out here. But I'd like more.

More about the guitars and their point of origin.

More about where you stayed in the area.

More, more, more..............

And thank you for taking the time and effort to do the report.

Hopefully someone will get busy and get your pictures on line.

[raysachs]

Sounds like a very cool and productive trip, and I look forward to hearing about what you ultimately decide on as a custom dream guitar. BUT, I almost burst out laughing at this next sentence. It may well be a sentence that has never before been uttered or written anywhere in human history. Although, no doubt it if has, it would be on the Acoustic Guitar Forum! Unless there's a "travel harp guitar" forum I'm not aware of...

Originally Posted by mot

Also, as you can see in the Emerald pictures, the Synergy X7 is about two versions back from the latest regular X7 that's available, but it's still a keeper if you need a travel harp guitar.

-Ray

[wickedwahine]

I have had mixed success trying to upload photos to this forum, but am willing to give it a go. Plus, I'm just dying to see photos of the factory.

Sending you a PM with my email address...

[jwellsy]

mot, did you happen to try a fan fret X30?

And if not, why not?

[mot]

Originally Posted by jwellsy

mot, did you happen to try a fan fret X30?

No. I probably would have kept it if there was one available. I think only fan fret he had out was an X20. I can't remember if it was a 6 string or 7 string. I played it and loved it, but I don't think I took a picture.