X7 after one month...

[jdinco]

Got the X7 back a couple days ago, it's like a different guitar now. Mainly due to the setup I believe and partly due to different strings being installed. It plays and feels like I expected with the sound being better than I originally expected. I'm really really liking it. I did not care for the Retro's on this guitar, for my tastes, the Martin LS 2.0's are a lot better match with the X7. It takes a couple days for them to settle and sweeten up a bit. I'll give the TI Plectrums a try next time I think. All is well in X7 land.....thanks to everyone for your support thru this crisis.

[GuitarLuva]

Originally Posted by jdinco

Got the X7 back a couple days ago, it's like a different guitar now. Mainly due to the setup I believe and partly due to different strings being installed. It plays and feels like I expected with the sound being better than I originally expected. I'm really really liking it. I did not care for the Retro's on this guitar, for my tastes, the Martin LS 2.0's are a lot better match with the X7. It takes a couple days for them to settle and sweeten up a bit. I'll give the TI Plectrums a try next time I think. All is well in X7 land.....thanks to everyone for your support thru this crisis.

That's good news. Glad it all worked out in the end!

[wickedwahine]

Originally Posted by jdinco

Got the X7 back a couple days ago, it's like a different guitar now. Mainly due to the setup I believe and partly due to different strings being installed. It plays and feels like I expected with the sound being better than I originally expected. I'm really really liking it. I did not care for the Retro's on this guitar, for my tastes, the Martin LS 2.0's are a lot better match with the X7. It takes a couple days for them to settle and sweeten up a bit. I'll give the TI Plectrums a try next time I think. All is well in X7 land.....thanks to everyone for your support thru this crisis.

Wonderful news, I am glad to hear it.

[jdinco]

Thanks! I am still stinging from missing that blue X7 Nylon a certain person just sold though. All my fault....again. What a pair that would have been.

[raysachs]

Glad to hear it! I like my X7 so much it pains me to hear when someone has a lesser experience with theirs. It's my only acoustic now. I agonized about selling my X20. I started playing it again and REALLY liked it, arguably almost as much as the X7, and started thinking maybe I should keep both. But I'd just spent three months with only the X7 and never missed having another acoustic. And I just didn't see needing two guitars of this value if I didn't feel a strong need to. And then I DID sell the X20 and as soon as I packed it up and didn't have it to play anymore vs the X7, I didn't miss it at all. Yet again. The X20 is a wonderful guitar, but the X7 is all I need and when it's all I've got, I'm happy as a clam not having to think about what instrument to play, but just what music to (try to) play.

Enjoy it!

-Ray

Ray,

Good for you. One of my fantasies is to get it down to one guitar. Still not there, but your experience gives me hope.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by EvanB

Ray,

Good for you. One of my fantasies is to get it down to one guitar. Still not there, but your experience gives me hope.

I think if I was mostly an acoustic player, I’d probably want more than one. I’m more of an electric player and I’m happy having three electrics. I could possibly see getting down to two, but probably not one. And since I don’t need to get down to two, I probably won’t... I did only have one with me for three months and I didn’t mind it, but unlike with the acoustic, I was looking forward to having my others available to play when I got home. Different colors that I can just about make use of with electrics, but not really with acoustics...

-Ray

[steelvibe]

Nice John- glad it worked out for you. I personally find the aesthetic of the new X7 the best in the entire Emerald lineup. I was thinking about an X20 for awhile because it is so different than what I have but that quickly disappeared.

There are great (well by YouTube standards great) videos of the X20 and the X30 but the videos of the new X7 just don't sound that great to me. I've been hoping Emerald would post a "studio" version to best capture the sound of the 2.0 but that hasn't happened. I'm sure these guitars sound fine, but on video they sound very bright to me. From a video perspective alone I find I prefer the tone of the older version.

[jdinco]

It's a bit early to say too much Steelvibe, but I don't find the newer X7 bright at all, something I am very sensitive to. To me the X7 version 2 sounds better than the older version. At times I would hear a "toy" like tone from the older version. But there is something about the playing position of the V2 that is taking me some time to adjust to. It's not cramped, but the left arm is a lot closer to the body than I am used to, I need more time with it before stating any solid conclusions, but I will say it has not been a instant bond like the X20 was. The strings are still settling in, so I will comment more later.

Hey Ray, what strings are you using on your X7 ? Thanks !

[Captain Jim]

Glad things are good in X7-land.

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by jdinco

...But there is something about the playing position of the V2 that is taking me some time to adjust to. It's not cramped, but the left arm is a lot closer to the body than I am used to, I need more time with it before stating any solid conclusions, but I will say it has not been a instant bond like the X20 was.

....The strings are still settling in, so I will comment more later.

Interesting. Didn't you mention you have or had a Martin D Jr.? That guitar also has a 24" scale. I really like the D Jr. but it does feel pretty cramped and I wouldn't like it if the nut was 1 11/16 like the Cargo. I'm guessing because the X7 is 12 fret to body and is combined with a 24" scale that it is pushing the bridge into the "sweet" spot of the lower bout. This brings the headstock end tight into your side, almost an inch closer than the Shorty

The Shorty has a 24.875 scale so it never felt too cramped to me. I actually had a love/hate relationship with that guitar. The ergonomics specs wise were about perfect for my tastes but the neck just had too much meat up past the 7th fret and made legato runs more challenging than necessary.

And I totally get that about strings. I've learned to never judge a string until at least 3-4 days have gone by.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by jdinco

It's a bit early to say too much Steelvibe, but I don't find the newer X7 bright at all, something I am very sensitive to. To me the X7 version 2 sounds better than the older version. At times I would hear a "toy" like tone from the older version. But there is something about the playing position of the V2 that is taking me some time to adjust to. It's not cramped, but the left arm is a lot closer to the body than I am used to, I need more time with it before stating any solid conclusions, but I will say it has not been a instant bond like the X20 was. The strings are still settling in, so I will comment more later.

Hey Ray, what strings are you using on your X7 ? Thanks !

So far I’ve played Elixr PB Nanowebs, Martin Monels, and I’m just now trying Plectrums. You already said you didn’t like the Monels (Retros), so we may just like different stuff because I loved them instantly on this guitar, definitely more than the Elixrs, which were an old standby for me. Verdict’s not in on the Plectrums yet - they sound nice, really mellow, but they play and sound really light, so I may try a heavier gauge or I may go back to Monels... if someone finds the X7 tinny sounding, the Plectrums may be a good choice. I don’t find it tinny at all - I sometimes did with the X20 but not at all with the X7. But I think we just all hear things somewhat differently, and my hearing is probably pretty shot anyway!

Your reaction to the feel of the new X7 is one I heard from a number of people and it was my biggest reservation about trying the new one after liking the old one as much as I did. I fortunately didn’t experience that at all, but it’s obviously very real to a number of folks and worth taking into consideration. The body is closer to your left hand, but the overall length is nearly identical and the scale length IS identical, so it’s basically just the soundhole extending farther down the neck to the 12th fret, which is somewhat compensated for with the bigger scoop cut out behind where the body joins the neck. It definitely feels a bit different and some folks adjust to it more easily than others. I’m actually more comfortable with the somewhat wider deeper body because it naturally puts me in a more upright posture, where I could sometimes really scrunch down over the older, smaller one.

[para]

Originally Posted by GuitarLuva

Okay so I guess this post is mostly for Methos I managed to put the wolf to sleep. First, I reverted everything back to stock (saddle, pins, etc.) and with the Anthem back in, everything is the way the guitar arrived to me a few months ago, minus the strings and one other thing. I mounted the tru-mic on the bottom of the guitar where it surprisingly sounds better (not as harsh). Anyway, I took a wooden shim from a kit I bought for laying down laminate flooring, put some sticky putty on it (so I could remove it if need be) and mounted it under the bridge. I went up and down the fretboard, played with a capo everywhere and can no longer find the wolf, and hopefully it stays that way. I dare not make any changes to this guitar now. Here's a pic of the shim. It might look big in the pic but it's as light as a feather:

I installed an anthem into my solid top yamaha f series and I was getting a very intermittent weird problem like you describe. After some back and forth with LR Baggs we determined it was a component defect in the soundhole unit. They sent me a replacement and I never had the problem again. Might be worth a shot.

[GuitarLuva]

Originally Posted by para

I installed an anthem into my solid top yamaha f series and I was getting a very intermittent weird problem like you describe. After some back and forth with LR Baggs we determined it was a component defect in the soundhole unit. They sent me a replacement and I never had the problem again. Might be worth a shot.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll be parting ways with the Anthem anyway in favor of the Schatten HFN.