X30 - Curly Tineo veneer - It arrived!

[jdrnd]

Originally Posted by mikealpine

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.

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Did this cause any change in the action?

[mikealpine]

Originally Posted by jdrnd

.

Did this cause any change in the action?

Good question...it might have. I apologize for the strange answer. The action feels low, almost too low. Moderate strumming now gets a very slight buzz, so it probably could be raised a bit. Whether that is because he filed the nut slots down or tweaked the truss rod a touch to get closer to my usual preference (and maybe going a touch too far), I don't know. I was thinking of micro adjusting so I can attack the strings a bit more. Even with light strings and a fairly light attack, the guitar has plenty of volume.

[jdrnd]

Originally Posted by mikealpine

Good question...it might have. I apologize for the strange answer. The action feels low, almost too low. Moderate strumming now gets a very slight buzz, so it probably could be raised a bit. Whether that is because he filed the nut slots down or tweaked the truss rod a touch to get closer to my usual preference (and maybe going a touch too far), I don't know. I was thinking of micro adjusting so I can attack the strings a bit more. Even with light strings and a fairly light attack, the guitar has plenty of volume.

Well I took the plunge. I brought the guitar to a Luthier. So lets see what he thinks.

[rdamato]

Let me pose this:

I would be LIVID if, after spending upwards of 3K on "Custom guitar, the nut had to be addressed by a luthier! That said, I could almost accept a bit of squirreliness happening during shipping given the temperature changes. But, with a carbon fiber guitar that is not supposed to happen, period!

Am I wrong in saying that Alatair gets a pass on consistency?

BTW, I would absolutely ask for a refund of your luthier costs.

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by rdamato

Let me pose this:

I would be LIVID if, after spending upwards of 3K on "Custom guitar, the nut had to be addressed by a luthier! That said, I could almost accept a bit of squirreliness happening during shipping given the temperature changes. But, with a carbon fiber guitar that is not supposed to happen, period!

Am I wrong in saying that Alatair gets a pass on consistency?

BTW, I would absolutely ask for a refund of your luthier costs.

Has every guitar you’ve ever purchased arrived set up exactly to your specification, to suit your playing style, with the string gauges of your preference, in the primary tuning that you use?

[Tøf]

To be fair, with standard gauges the nut set-up is less dependant to playing style than the saddle height or even the neck relief, and it seems the nut wasn’t cut as precisely as it should have been here.
On the other hand try to find a custom guitar handmade in Europe or in the US for the same price regarless of its material… good luck with that! And as long as it’s for minor tweaks I don’t think a visit to the local luthier is a reason to send back a guitar that sounds good otherwise. But as usual your mileage may vary

[rdamato]

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

Has every guitar you’ve ever purchased arrived set up exactly to your specification, to suit your playing style, with the string gauges of your preference, in the primary tuning that you use?

At 3K???? The nut better be cut correctly! Is that a fair staement??

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by rdamato

At 3K???? The nut better be cut correctly! Is that a fair staement??

I think that’s a reasonable expectation, but if you allow that any guitar (regardless of cost) might need some tweaking to get it to your personal specifications, I don’t really see why the nut should be excluded from the equation. Martin, for example, is notorious for delivering guitars with the nut slots cut too high.

Of course, if I'd had the chance to work with the luthier on every other aspect of the build, I’d expect the setup to be perfect - for me.

[jdrnd]

Originally Posted by rdamato

At 3K???? The nut better be cut correctly! Is that a fair statement??

Its funny you should bring this up. I have been implying similar thoughts on various threads.
What I realized is that for many of the people that post here, a $2,000 to $3,000 guitar is your standard guitar, kind of like a Chevy or Ford. A $10,000 plus, luthier made guitar is an up-market guitar like a Mercedes or Lexus. You expect more from the Mercedes than the Chevy.

I noticed that for some people, a guitar is not just something to play, its also something to tweek.

[rdamato]

Originally Posted by jdrnd

Its funny you should bring this up. I have been implying similar thoughts on various threads.
What I realized is that for many of the people that post here, a $2,000 to $3,000 guitar is your standard guitar, kind of like a Chevy or Ford. A $10,000 plus, luthier made guitar is an up-market guitar like a Mercedes or Lexus. You expect more from the Mercedes than the Chevy.

I noticed that for some people, a guitar is not just something to play, its also something to tweek.

Excellent points! As the Emerald is essentially a "Custom" Guitar, why not get those details right from jump street?

[boneuphtoner]

The X30 I had was set up perfectly for my fingerstyle. Having said that, because Emerald only sells direct to the consumer from Ireland, I can understand how people might feel a large degree of unease when in a situation like this comes up. If my RainSong or McPherson had an issue after buying from my local shop, I would take it to their tech and they would take care of it. Call it peace of mind, etc., but as someone who only is competent enough to change guitar strings, even if it only cost me a few dollars to have it set up, I can understand the frustration

[mikealpine]

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

Has every guitar you’ve ever purchased arrived set up exactly to your specification, to suit your playing style, with the string gauges of your preference, in the primary tuning that you use?

Hey David, hope you're enjoying the weekend. In my mind, this was more than "preference". The metallic "tzing" was evident to a non-player, albeit one with many years of listening. I'd never complain about having to tweak the action a bit, or changing to my choice of string. That some nut slots were cut better than others speaks more to consistency than preference, in this case.

Originally Posted by Tøf

To be fair, with standard gauges the nut set-up is less dependant to playing style than the saddle height or even the neck relief, and it seems the nut wasn’t cut as precisely as it should have been here.
On the other hand try to find a custom guitar handmade in Europe or in the US for the same price regarless of its material… good luck with that! And as long as it’s for minor tweaks I don’t think a visit to the local luthier is a reason to send back a guitar that sounds good otherwise. But as usual your mileage may vary

I would have pushed for some other resolution had the tinniness not gone away. Since it has mellowed out with a visit to my tech, I'm not going to make any waves.

Originally Posted by rdamato

At 3K???? The nut better be cut correctly! Is that a fair staement??

I believe so. As I mentioned above, this was more about consistency than preference, at least to me, and I think they could have caught this with a little QC time. I heard what I heard on the very first strum. At least this was easily corrected.


Overall, I am very happy with the guitar. I think I will still reach for my Rainsong OM more often because it is a little smaller and easier to hold, but I'm glad I have the X30 for when I play with others and want that big, bold sound. I'm headed to a party tomorrow, and the X30 will be the guitar that I bring, playing alongside a buddy with a old, killer Guild dread. The X30 will be able to keep up with that beast.

[mikealpine]

Originally Posted by jdrnd

Well I took the plunge. I brought the guitar to a Luthier. So lets see what he thinks.

Please let me know how this works out and if you have similar results. Good luck!!

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by mikealpine

Hey David, hope you're enjoying the weekend. In my mind, this was more than "preference". The metallic "tzing" was evident to a non-player, albeit one with many years of listening. I'd never complain about having to tweak the action a bit, or changing to my choice of string. That some nut slots were cut better than others speaks more to consistency than preference, in this case.

I'd agree for your case, Mike - I was speaking (or attempting to ) in more general terms about what is reasonable to expect for setup for 'out of the box'. Yours clearly missed a step in QA.

Hopefully Emerald's expansion, with its focus on 'efficiency and quality' will make occurrences like this even rarer. I'd say 'non-existent', but with the best will in the world, where there are humans involved, every so often one is bound to slip through the net.

And I'm having a lovely weekend, thank you

[Tøf]

Originally Posted by mikealpine

I would have pushed for some other resolution had the tinniness not gone away. Since it has mellowed out with a visit to my tech, I'm not going to make any waves.
.

I was wondering if you had some sort of wolf tones around open D/D#?
I ordered a custom X30 a couple of years ago, slotted headstock and many custom options, and I ended up sending the guitar back to Emerald to investigate and try to fix it. The guitar came back to me with a new set-up, bone saddle… and the exact same problem of wolf notes. Quickly traded to someone who liked the guitar as it was, but I ended up quite frustrated (and poorer!)
Other than this problem I found the X30 extremely comfortable to play for its size, with a cool bold voice strummed. i’m still tempted to order a new one at some point, but I want to make sure the problem has disappeared on newer models.