Emerald X7 vs. CA Cargo

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by jdinaz

I did own a Shorty, it was very comfortable for me to play.

I thought so. Bummer that the X7 didn't work for you but I'm betting that if you can get along with the 22.75" scale of the Touring you would love it. It does sound amazing for it's size. I just personally did not find it comfortable with how it sat to my frame, but it doesn't strike me as a "main" guitar for most CF enthusiasts.

[StevieMar]

I’ve had both a Cargo and an X7 v3. Had the Cargo for about five years. Liked it, and sounded better to me than a guitar that size should have sounded. But I started to dislike the 22.8 in scale, and eventually I found myself playing my CA OX more than the Cargo. I sold the Cargo to help finance the X7, which I got in September. Thus far I really like it, sounds very good to me and is really comfortable to play. So now the OX isn’t getting played much.
I’m finding that I don’t miss the Cargo with the X7 around.

[Jim in TC]

As Earl has pointed out in other threads, I have taken the same path he and his sweetie did - GS Mini to Cargo to X7. The Mini was my gateway to small body/short scale but the Cargo beat it out side-by-side for tone and the 1 3/4" nut was the final selling point. Well, not to mention the carefree carbon material. The Cargo was purchased a few years ago, probably in the last year or two they were available new. I will admit, when I first saw it at Elderly I thought it way too small to take seriously, and instead took it home.

I custom ordered a wider-yet nut X7 last spring and have found it to be an improvement on the Cargo tonally, my wife referring to it as "warmer." It is not orders of magnitude better, just (very) noticeably so. It is also bit less confining especially up the scale a ways, where the Cargo gets pretty thin between frets.

I find both extremely comfortable to play, with the Cargo maybe edging out marginally since it is such a wee thing, but that makes it less comfortable for some so, as in all other considerations, YMMV.

[Acousticado]

Thanks everyone for the thoughtful replies. I won’t be getting rid of my Cargo unless I can somehow try an X7 in the wild which isn’t very likely, or I buy a used one where I wouldn’t lose much if deciding to resell. For the difference in cost between what I paid for a new Cargo in ‘08 and what I’d pay for a used X7, the X7 would have to blow the Cargo out of the water to unseat it. Might be fun to give it a shot though. Time will tell.