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  #16  
Old 12-22-2018, 02:56 PM
mountainmaster mountainmaster is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CFW View Post
Hmm. I never paid much attention the the back of the headstock on mine...

There’s definitely a joint/overlap of fibers, mine does not have the clear line that yours does.

Curious why you chose a 12 fret? I think mine was the first 12 fret nylon emerald made, and the bass overpowers the trebles by a long shot. Alistair confirmed this.
The change of the bridge placement is not advisable in my opinion. Unless there’s been some changes to the bracing to compensate.

My hope was two things- classical guitars are supposed to be 12 fret and I wanted to stay with that tradition. Somewhat irrational, since I have a radiused fretboard and a 1 3/4 nut.
I was also hoping that the nylon trebles would be more pronounced on a carbon guitar, which it appears to be, but the benefits that may have been gained were lost due to the overwhelming bass.

Did I mention the bass was overwhelming? Yes, that much.
My guitar is well balanced. The X7 is a 12-fret by default which seems to work fine for a small body guitar.
I merely specified a longer scale and in this case Alistair chose to stick with the 12-fret design. So the neck was extended but the bridge was moved by an equal amount towards the edge, pushing it out of the sweet spot at the far end, which is rather unusual.
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Emerald X30
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Recording King RK-G25 6-string banjo
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  #17  
Old 12-22-2018, 03:19 PM
CFW CFW is offline
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I didn’t realize the x7 was a 12 by default.

My steel string x7 is joined at the 14th. It’s an older model before they started adding truss rods too.

(edit - it joins at 14 1/2)

Last edited by CFW; 12-22-2018 at 03:25 PM. Reason: Closer inspection
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  #18  
Old 12-22-2018, 03:27 PM
ceciltguitar ceciltguitar is offline
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That's a beautiful guitar! Thank you for sharing the pics and your experience with the guitar so far. My 2018 X10 cocobolo nylon string has amber sides and back.

Does the guitar have a truss rod? If so, perhaps tweaking the truss rod could achieve the string height that is ideal for you? My 2018 X-10 nylon string guitar came with the action set really low, which was SO wonderful to play, but had a lot of string buzz, especially on the lower strings. I got rid of the buzz by adjusting the truss rod to raise the action a bit. Fretting the guitar is no longer a perfect dream, but is still very good, especially because of the custom neck parameters that Alistair .

Interesting to compare your custom scale length new X7 to my custom scale length X10. By extending the standard X7 scale length, Alistair moved your bridge down. By diminishing the standard X10 scale length (from 650 mm to 640 mm), Alistair had to move the bridge on my X10 up.

My new X10 nylon string guitar is quieter than all of my wooden classical guitars. I really like the tonal qualities of both of my nylon string X10s (2008 and 2018), especially the new one. The tonal qualities of carbon fiber are just different from the tonal qualities of wood. I appreciate both.

My new X10 is ergonomically perfect for me sitting down, but I would like to move the upper bout strap button for standing up.

If you're up to a few questions: (And if not, that's fine)

Does your X7 have a flat fretboard or a radiused fretboard? Thin neck or thick neck? nut width? string separation at the nut and at the bridge?

I hope that your new X7 gives you many hours of enjoyment!
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  #19  
Old 12-22-2018, 04:26 PM
Captain Jim Captain Jim is offline
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Beautiful new guitar, MountainMaster! That slotted headstock is a thing of beauty!

After reading about your observation of the CF weave where the neck joins the headstock, I looked at my X10 - there is a slight variation in that same spot, but with the red (my color choice), you'd have to really be looking to notice it. In fact, I've had the guitar since October and that is the first I've seen that. There's quite a change in the curves there and I don't find it objectionable. I looked at my X7 and X20 (both with standard scale necks, the X10 has a custom scale of 24.6") and there is no variation in the weave in that area. Perhaps a different layup technique to achieve a non-standard scale?

Anyway you look at it, that is a beautiful instrument.

When my X10 arrived, there was no doubting the sibling similarity to my other Emeralds, but... it was different. (scale, nut width, body size, electronics) Didn't take me long to start appreciating those differences.

Enjoy that new beauty! Congrats!
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  #20  
Old 12-22-2018, 05:06 PM
kramster kramster is offline
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Oh geesshh...now I gotta go look at my X10s
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  #21  
Old 12-22-2018, 05:12 PM
mountainmaster mountainmaster is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ceciltguitar View Post
If you're up to a few questions: (And if not, that's fine)

Does your X7 have a flat fretboard or a radiused fretboard? Thin neck or thick neck? nut width? string separation at the nut and at the bridge?

I hope that your new X7 gives you many hours of enjoyment!
The fretboard is radiused. The usual Emerald 16" I believe.
Thin neck and a 1 7/8" nut. I am not sure how to measure string separation (Edit: figured it out).
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Emerald X30
Emerald X20 Nylon
Emerald X7 Nylon
Rainsong Smokey SMH
Outdoor Guitalele
Taylor 522e 12-fret ✝
Gitane DG-560 nylon ✝
Alhambra 3C CW
Eastman AR910CE
Recording King RM-991 tricone resonator
Recording King RK-G25 6-string banjo
Thomann Irish Bouzouki M1089

Last edited by mountainmaster; 01-07-2019 at 12:43 AM.
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  #22  
Old 12-23-2018, 03:32 AM
Tom2 Tom2 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ceciltguitar View Post
Interesting to compare your custom scale length new X7 to my custom scale length X10. By extending the standard X7 scale length, Alistair moved your bridge down. By diminishing the standard X10 scale length (from 650 mm to 640 mm), Alistair had to move the bridge on my X10 up.
Did you ever do an NGD post for this guitar? I don't recall seeing one. I'm slowly designing my own custom nylon.

I also prefer a 640mm scale, and the size of an x10. I prefer a 41.5mm string spacing at the nut. This puts the 1st and 6th strings very close to the edge of the fretboard, since I also prefer a narrower neck, and poses a problem with the 1st string slipping off the edge. A flat or 20" radius would reduce this problem, relative to a 16" radius. I currently have a crossover with a 16" radius and a 1 7/8" nut, and it's a problem. I addressed it by creating my own offset nut, giving more space to the 1st string and less to the 6th.

My current design is for a 49mm nut, offset to give the 1st string a 4mm gap to the edge of the fretboard, a 41.5mm string spacing at the nut, a 20" radius, and a 640mm scale. I would also prioritize positioning the saddle in the center of the lower bout, for tone, regardless of where the frets landed relative to the body of the guitar.
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  #23  
Old 12-23-2018, 01:47 PM
GuitarLuva GuitarLuva is offline
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Congratulations on the new nyloner!
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  #24  
Old 12-24-2018, 08:40 PM
ceciltguitar ceciltguitar is offline
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Tom2, My 2018 X10 nylon string has string separation at the nut of 41.5 mm. There is still plenty of space between the outer strings (1st string & 6th string) and the edge of the fretboard though, because the nut width is 2 inches. The fretboard is flat.
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  #25  
Old 12-28-2018, 10:02 PM
ceciltguitar ceciltguitar is offline
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Tom2, I did not do a NGD thread for my new X10, but there is a picture on post 33 of this thread:

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...65#post5827165
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  #26  
Old 12-30-2018, 06:35 AM
mountainmaster mountainmaster is offline
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My string spacing appears to be 41.5 mm as well. There is some slipping at the first string when I am not very careful with my legatos.

And speaking of legatos... they don't sound great on my X7 anyway because it is an extremely punchy guitar due to its unusual bridge position. Most of its volume goes into the initial attack and is already gone when the next legato note hits. It feels like picking very close to the bridge all the time, even though I am not.

I guess lower tension strings should reduce this punchiness somewhat (as well as the overall volume).
__________________
Emerald X30
Emerald X20 Nylon
Emerald X7 Nylon
Rainsong Smokey SMH
Outdoor Guitalele
Taylor 522e 12-fret ✝
Gitane DG-560 nylon ✝
Alhambra 3C CW
Eastman AR910CE
Recording King RM-991 tricone resonator
Recording King RK-G25 6-string banjo
Thomann Irish Bouzouki M1089
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  #27  
Old 01-06-2019, 03:41 PM
mountainmaster mountainmaster is offline
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The story of my X7 continues. In order to investigate if lower tension strings will have any negative effects I simply tuned down to D# and... yes! The guitar was suddenly very comfortable. I did not think a small step like this would make so much difference, but there it was. No fret buzz, no tone loss. In fact the guitar seemed louder and more resonant. So far so good.
Now let's try tuning down to D... Nope. Way too flabby and the frets are starting to buzz.

Next step, new strings: Carbon trebles just as before but a different brand this time. Savarez 500AR Alliance Corum, normal tension. I also decided to boldly sand down the saddle even though I have no spare. Just a tiny bit for now. A little goes a long way.

While removing the old strings I noticed that the A-string tuner was rattling. One of the screws had come loose and it refused to fasten because the screw hole was too wide. The usual trick is to put a small wood splinter inside the hole so that the screw can get a grip again. Since I don't want no stinkin' wood in this carbon fiber guitar I used a piece of the old 1st E-string instead. All fixed! No points for Emerald though.

Final verdict: Mission successful! Playability improved AND tone improved.
I love those Savarez Alliance trebles! Now my X7 has the clarity I expect from a CF guitar. Hopefully this does not wear off too much as the strings age.
The bass strings are clear as well but their tension feels lower than the trebles. If I pick loudly they will slap. While this can be used in a musical way (hello, flamenco players), next time I may try the Savarez mixed set 500ARJ with high tension basses and normal tension trebles.
__________________
Emerald X30
Emerald X20 Nylon
Emerald X7 Nylon
Rainsong Smokey SMH
Outdoor Guitalele
Taylor 522e 12-fret ✝
Gitane DG-560 nylon ✝
Alhambra 3C CW
Eastman AR910CE
Recording King RM-991 tricone resonator
Recording King RK-G25 6-string banjo
Thomann Irish Bouzouki M1089
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  #28  
Old 01-06-2019, 11:36 PM
Tom2 Tom2 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mountainmaster View Post
My string spacing appears to be 41.5 mm as well. There is some slipping at the first string when I am not very careful with my legatos.
Is the fretboard flat or radiused? If radiused, what is the radius?
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  #29  
Old 01-07-2019, 12:45 AM
mountainmaster mountainmaster is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom2 View Post
Is the fretboard flat or radiused? If radiused, what is the radius?
16" radius.
__________________
Emerald X30
Emerald X20 Nylon
Emerald X7 Nylon
Rainsong Smokey SMH
Outdoor Guitalele
Taylor 522e 12-fret ✝
Gitane DG-560 nylon ✝
Alhambra 3C CW
Eastman AR910CE
Recording King RM-991 tricone resonator
Recording King RK-G25 6-string banjo
Thomann Irish Bouzouki M1089
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  #30  
Old 01-07-2019, 08:28 AM
DownUpDave DownUpDave is offline
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Glad to hear your string experiment was a success. Nylon/florocarbon strung instruments can be very picky about what sounds best on them, as you well know. But it is certainly satisfying when you find the right combo. Congratulations on a beautiful looking and now sounding instrument
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