First sighting...

[lat18]

Originally Posted by lat18

My blue X20 shipped today.

Wow! My X20 just arrived! That was fast! It arrived more or less in tune and up to concert pitch. Feels small in my lap, but good, loud sound coming out of it. The color is really dark, almost black. Been going back and forth with my RainsongWS1000, pretty similar sound, the Rainsong maybe a little brighter, more piano-y, but not much different. I took the Fishman pre-amp out of the Rainsong leaving a big hole in the side which works as a sound port, so it has that same loud in you ear sound as the X20. Really notice the comfort of the arm bevel. Feels smaller than the Rainsong, but just as loud. So far, so good.

[RP]

Originally Posted by lat18

Wow! My X20 just arrived! That was fast! It arrived more or less in tune and up to concert pitch. Feels small in my lap, but good, loud sound coming out of it. The color is really dark, almost black. Been going back and forth with my RainsongWS1000, pretty similar sound, the Rainsong maybe a little brighter, more piano-y, but not much different. I took the Fishman pre-amp out of the Rainsong leaving a big hole in the side which works as a sound port, so it has that same loud in you ear sound as the X20. Really notice the comfort of the arm bevel. Feels smaller than the Rainsong, but just as loud. So far, so good.

Congrats on the new X20. I agree, the Emerald armrest is pretty darn wonderful....

[Captain Jim]

Originally Posted by lat18

Wow! My X20 just arrived! That was fast! It arrived more or less in tune and up to concert pitch. Feels small in my lap, but good, loud sound coming out of it. The color is really dark, almost black. Been going back and forth with my RainsongWS1000, pretty similar sound, the Rainsong maybe a little brighter, more piano-y, but not much different. I took the Fishman pre-amp out of the Rainsong leaving a big hole in the side which works as a sound port, so it has that same loud in you ear sound as the X20. Really notice the comfort of the arm bevel. Feels smaller than the Rainsong, but just as loud. So far, so good.

Congrats! Enjoy this "honeymoon" period. After playing guitars that have the arm bevel, it is hard (pun intended) to go back to a guitar with a hard edge. Your mention of the X20 "feels small" is interesting. Perspective, of course; the largest acoustic I have is a Taylor 814ce, and although the X20 is close to that in size (and same scale), it feels more like the smaller Grand Concert size because of those ergonomic bevels. Since I spend most of my playing time with the Emeralds, the X20 is my "big guitar."

I look forward to hearing your impressions after you get more time with your X20. I find it to be the guitar I reach for when I need a bigger sound.

[SpruceTop]

My Emerald X-20 Green arrived today and I didn't have a clue it was coming as I didn't receive any tracking information from Emerald or the USPS. After contacting him last night, Kevin sent me the information but it didn't come in my email until after I'd already left for work today. When I got home and opened the door, there was the box that my son had brought in for me. What a relief!

First impressions: My Emerald X-20 Green looks flawless and the neck feels pretty nice, too. One of the most notable things I love about the guitar's looks aside from its cool general aesthetic is its top is not sightly dished-in like every RainSong all-carbon guitar I've owned--Bravo Emerald! I've only had time to tune it and play it for a few minutes but it sounds really nice and it's loud! What brand of strings does Emerald factory-install on their guitars?

One unfortunate thing is that my mug arrived with its handle broken off in three pieces. I've contacted Kevin to see if it's possible to send me another replacement mug.

I'll post more on this guitar in a separate NGD thread on Friday or Saturday with some photos.

Ken

[David Eastwood]

Excellent - what a pleasant surprise that must have been.

Factory strings are D’Addario EXP Lights.

Look forward to hearing more as you get to know it better!

[Captain Jim]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

My Emerald X-20 Green arrived today and I didn't have a clue it was coming as I didn't receive any tracking information from Emerald or the USPS. After contacting him last night, Kevin sent me the information but it didn't come in my email until after I'd already left for work today. When I got home and opened the door, there was the box that my son had brought in for me. What a relief!

First impressions: My Emerald X-20 Green looks flawless and the neck feels pretty nice, too. One of the most notable things I love about the guitar's looks aside from its cool general aesthetic is its top is not sightly dished-in like every RainSong all-carbon guitar I've owned--Bravo Emerald! I've only had time to tune it and play it for a few minutes but it sounds really nice and it's loud! What brand of strings does Emerald factory-install on their guitars?

One unfortunate thing is that my mug arrived with its handle broken off in three pieces. I've contacted Kevin to see if it's possible to send me another replacement mug.

I'll post more on this guitar in a separate NGD thread on Friday or Saturday with some photos.

Ken

Nice surprise!! Pretty much eliminates that "wondering where it is while in shipment" issue!!

Pretty sure Emeralds come with D'addario lights. At the first string change, I switch mine over to Elixir PB Nanoweb, either lights or light-medium, depending on the model.

The mug I got with my last Emerald was a slightly different shape than the first two... and the handle seemed more fragile. Second time it was washed, the handle broke in three pieces - my wife fixed it with green Sugru. Looks like it was made that way and has held up fine. She even made the handle more ergonomic to fit my fingers.

[Earl49]

Congrats on the surprise arrival! Welcome to the green X20 club. Everyone knows that green sounds the best.

We have three mugs. The first two are greenish / gray and look like Jim's post. The last one was a larger mug in a faded denim blue color. That mug came with the X30 last December, like they switched suppliers? My X30 still has the factory strings on it, but to be fair it has not received a huge number of play hours. A few weeks after it arrived I fell and tore my rotator cuff badly and have only been able to play it at all recently. A fried has played it way more than I have, and loves it.

[kramster]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

My Emerald X-20 Green arrived today
Ken

Your are officially one of us!! Yay....Nice to have you in this oh so elite group

I have several Emerald mugs. I also have a CA mug, which is an entirely different ballgame--finer, more porcelain than clay. I like them both.

Does Rainsong do a mug?

[SpruceTop]

Thanks, Folks! Emerald X-20 Review coming up soon.

[SpruceTop]

Hi Folks,

This is only a quick post and not a formal review. This is the first time I've played my new Emerald X-20 Green since playing it acoustically for a few minutes on Tuesday evening of that day that I received it. It's also the first time I plugged-in its LR Baggs Element VTC system. First off, the guitar sounds pretty nice acoustically. Now the hopefully temporary bad news: the Element VTC works but the E-6th-string, G-string, and B-string are not as loud as the other three strings and I'm disappointed in this imbalance. Tomorrow, I'll remove the saddle and check and flatten its bottom, and, if need be, flatten the bottom of the saddle-slot with my Stewart-MacDonald saddle-slot file. I'll also check the snugness of the saddle with the saddle-slot walls; to function best, a UST likes a fit in the saddle slot in which the saddle lightly kisses the sides of the saddle slot can but can remain in the slot when the guitar is turned upside-down. This degree of fit ensures that the entire bottom of the saddle seats on top of the UST without interference for good contact.

A Bit Of A Rant: When Emerald announced a few years ago here on AGF Carbon Fiber forum that they'd partnered with LR Baggs to install that company's systems in their guitars, I commented that Emerald should have considered going with Fishman because of its "harder" Matrix UST, which I've found gives more consistent string-to-string amplification results. Several years ago, I had a similar Element string-to-string imbalance problem in a RainSong DR1000. After screwing around with different things, I finally contacted RainSong and requested they send me a new Element UST, which they did, and I installed it and that solved the problem. I also feel that a Fishman Matrix UST, being harder, just doesn't affect the acoustic tone of the guitar as much as an LR Baggs Element UST. To be fair, an Element will have less affect on the acoustic tone of a guitar the longer it been installed and under pressure.

Another niggling thing about Emerald's installation of the LR Baggs Element VTC system is that, although it's wonderfully neat and tidy, they stick wire guides on the top and back of the guitar. In my book, although the vibrational dampening/resonance-altering effect of top-and-back installation of wire guides may be quite minimal, I believe all wire guides should be installed on the side of the guitar and not on the top or back. Being that there looks like there's enough length in all the wiring, this is something I may also remedy once I get the Element string-to-string imbalance corrected. Taylor Guitars seems to be the only company that knows to keep all electronic paraphernalia and its wiring away a guitar's main vibrating surfaces! The only thing I want to see near a vibrating surface is a lazy loop of pickup lead wire coming from the pickup to the side of the guitar and into whatever the next stage is in the amplification process. End Of Rant.

The string imbalance is bothersome and seems like something that should be resolved before leaving the factory. I don't like the idea of having to fix a new guitar and would rather send it it back because in working the guitar you might well void the guarantee.

That said, I should also note that I have not had this problem with my Emerald guitars.

[jdinco]

Sorry to hear about your PU issues, how do you like the guitar otherwise?

[GuitarLuva]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

Hi Folks,

This is only a quick post and not a formal review. This is the first time I've played my new Emerald X-20 Green since playing it acoustically for a few minutes on Tuesday evening of that day that I received it. It's also the first time I plugged-in its LR Baggs Element VTC system. First off, the guitar sounds pretty nice acoustically. Now the hopefully temporary bad news: the Element VTC works but the E-6th-string, G-string, and B-string are not as loud as the other three strings and I'm disappointed in this imbalance. Tomorrow, I'll remove the saddle and check and flatten its bottom, and, if need be, flatten the bottom of the saddle-slot with my Stewart-MacDonald saddle-slot file. I'll also check the snugness of the saddle with the saddle-slot walls; to function best, a UST likes a fit in the saddle slot in which the saddle lightly kisses the sides of the saddle slot can but can remain in the slot when the guitar is turned upside-down. This degree of fit ensures that the entire bottom of the saddle seats on top of the UST without interference for good contact.

A Bit Of A Rant: When Emerald announced a few years ago here on AGF Carbon Fiber forum that they'd partnered with LR Baggs to install that company's systems in their guitars, I commented that Emerald should have considered going with Fishman because of its "harder" Matrix UST, which I've found gives more consistent string-to-string amplification results. Several years ago, I had a similar Element string-to-string imbalance problem in a RainSong DR1000. After screwing around with different things, I finally contacted RainSong and requested they send me a new Element UST, which they did, and I installed it and that solved the problem. I also feel that a Fishman Matrix UST, being harder, just doesn't affect the acoustic tone of the guitar as much as an LR Baggs Element UST. To be fair, an Element will have less affect on the acoustic tone of a guitar the longer it been installed and under pressure.

Another niggling thing about Emerald's installation of the LR Baggs Element VTC system is that, although it's wonderfully neat and tidy, they stick wire guides on the top and back of the guitar. In my book, although the vibrational dampening/resonance-altering effect of top-and-back installation of wire guides may be quite minimal, I believe all wire guides should be installed on the side of the guitar and not on the top or back. Being that there looks like there's enough length in all the wiring, this is something I may also remedy once I get the Element string-to-string imbalance corrected. Taylor Guitars seems to be the only company that knows to keep all electronic paraphernalia and its wiring away a guitar's main vibrating surfaces! The only thing I want to see near a vibrating surface is a lazy loop of pickup lead wire coming from the pickup to the side of the guitar and into whatever the next stage is in the amplification process. End Of Rant.

Ken,

I agree on all points. I ordered my X20 with no pickup installed so I could put my own as I'm not a fan of what that element UST does to the tone of the guitar unplugged. I did install an Anthem SL temporarily while I was (at the time) waiting for my Schatten HFN Artist to show up. I had the string balance issue as well but my saddle was completely flat. Long story short my saddle slot was uneven so I ended up filing it down myself and problem solved. I had a bunch of other issues as well which I won't revisit here but I also fixed them all myself. I was irritated by the whole scenario, as anyone should be when buying a guitar at that price point from a reputable company such as Emerald.
I was close to selling it just to rid my mind of the sore spot it created.

Here I am some months later with all my issues solved and the guitar is strung up with D'addario XT strings and I'm loving every minute of it. The X20 really is a good all arounder and I'm quite happy with mine right now and have no more intentions to get rid of it. It seems Emerald still needs to tighten up their QC. Pickup systems should be tested for string balance issues as its a common problem with them. Clearly yours was missed. Hopefully you get it resolved.

[SpruceTop]

I've just completed my easy fixes on the Emerald X-20 and I'm about to test my results by plugging the Element VTC into my LR Baggs Synapse. I leveled the bottom of the saddle slot, and also leveled and squared-up the bottom of the bridge saddle. I removed about .002" from the saddle slot and about .005" from the bottom of the bridge saddle. Results to come in a bit ...