Review: Emerald X-20

[Rampant]

First of all, don't expect a video, I've been out of music for a while, used to play rock electric, and am not someone worth watching. So take all that for what it's worth.

Also, I'm coming from a Taylor 310CE, an older one before their 3 knob expression pickup system.

Anywho...

TONE
The x-20 isn't that far off from my Taylor with a few caveats. The 310 is bigger, and sounds it, but the difference is small. So, if you like the brighter taylor sound, you'll probably be pretty happy. The difference I notice the most is percussiveness. I have some percussive riffs I play from my rock days that sound great on acoustic and not so much here.

I've narrowed the percussiveness down to the E string just not having much thump. Looking visually I think the X-20 just ships with a lighter set of strings. Something about my taylor always made it very "easy to play" even with heavier strings. I think - from feel and looking at em - that these are lights.

Volume is good. Strumming sounds VERY good. This was an issue for me when I looked online for soundclips. If you like the brighter sound of a taylor strumming with good note definition, the x-20 has you covered. I'm sure plugged in it's even better. So it's a good sing and play guitar. I wish it had more "thump" but I"ve played plenty of acoustics that don't have that - most really, that's part of why I like my taylor so much (but I'm selling it if anyone wants it- $650+shipping, cause i'll be moving to the tropics).

TONE UPDATE:
After some testing I've discovered the tone to the player and the tone to the audience are pretty different, which is surprising given the location of the soundhole. The volume to the audience is MUCH louder than to the player and has MUCH more low end richness. Despite the soundhole location, you might need to mic these things as if it were a normal acoustic or something. I'm honestly not sure where you would put the mic... That might be something for more recording-oriented people to discover. Certainly the recordings I've heard are usually doing it wrong - they sound more like what you hear as the player than what you hear as the audience, which is too bad because the audience tone is substantially better. Still no thumb, but I haven't updated strings yet.

TONE UPDATE 2:
Installed light 12-53 D'Addario flat tops. MUCH more balanced, but no top end. These miss the shimmering highs, so while I like them I don't LOVE them. If you like Martins maybe you'll like them. Replaced them with 12-56 "bluegrass" phosphor bronze D'Addarios. EXCELLENT. These really make the guitar sing. The stock strings SUCK. But I can say the guitar is VERY responsive to string changes. They should really ship with some other string selection cause the stock ones... ew. Especially now that I can hear the difference. I'm VERY happy with my guitar now that I have new strings. Enough that I'll probably shell out for a custom x-20 to get a neck shape I like better.

TONE UPDATE 3:
The electronics (b-band) are not in the same league as the Fishman electronics in my Taylor. The built in tuner is nice, but the tone through an amp is just not... great. Really kinda meh. I'd suggest something else if the electric output is important to you.

ERGONOMICS
The X20 is really comfy. The bevel edge is nice. The neck is good. Everyone has preferences for necks, what I will say is that the X20 isn't my preference but is still good. I like my necks with a V shape (soft), this is a big "modern" C type of neck. I don't know why these are popular but they are. People are weird, cause if I give people lightly V'd necks they always love em. Go figure, Must be harder to mass produce. But despite being against my preferences it's still comfortable enough. It's not a thin neck, nor is it a large 50-s gibson neck - sadly, I like big necks too :/

Not sure what the fingerboard radius is, but it's flat, probably 20" cause I've played 12-16 and this feels flatter. I like 12/14 personally. Again, don't know why this is so normal especially with acoustics but that's the thing. I think it's silly. But it's not bad, just different. And flat.

It's also lighter than my acoustic. Which is lighter than my electric, which is very light for an electric. You do not care about the weight with this thing, and if you do, please see a doctor if you haven't already. Seriously.

Despite the way the ergonomics look and 24 frets, it's harder to access the higher frets than on my Taylor. This is a silly oversight because the cutaway isn't as deep. Makes me wonder if Rainsong would have been a better choice for high-fret access.

FINISH/LOOKS
The red is dark. Darker than expected. But, that means it probably looks great under stage lights. That's something people often don't consider - stages are BRIGHT. So what is vivid under normal lights is probably garish under stage lights. When I hit this thing with brighter lights or go outside it's brilliant.

Bottom line: you will not be disappointed unless they sent you the wrong color.
But that other color will probably look great.

Finish: I have the opus with electronics. I like the texture finish. It's very subtle. There is no reason to spend the $200 on the shiny finish on the rest of the guitar. Spend it on a custom neck or what have you. Other than that the finish is pretty much flawless. The dots on the neck are not flawless. But... meh. slightly smudgy and not perfectly aligned with each other. It's a very very small detail and the only thing that I've noticed that is off.

On the whole it's very very well appointed. They use the small strap buttons that look clean and nice but don't work that great as strap buttons. They'll be replaced with straplocks at some point.

CONCLUSION:
I don't have other CF guitars to compare to. But, you probably won't be disappointed if you are a taylor guy.

Good stuff:
Finish is gorgeous
Very comfy
Sounds good if you like brighter guitars
24 frets if you can reach em.

Fix it:
Heavier strings or work on the deepest resonance to boost that a bit.
less flat fingerboard
If you are gonna have 24 frets make sure I can reach all of them.
more of a V neck plz. (yes, I could custom order but why wait 6months)
light cleanup on the neck fret markers.

Of all these things the cutaway and the deep-thump bother me the most. Part of why I chose emerald is because I come from electric. But, the way the ergonomics are, the 24 frets are basically just for tapping, you can't actually reach them easily at all (at least not with my hands.

I'm also torn about the offset sound hole. Not sure how I feel about it Aethetically. It's not bad, just different, and that's either cool or weird depending on the moment. But I'm never dissatisfied with it. I never had any issues hearing my normal acoustic and it's better that projection go to the audience. Who knows.

Still, it will be a conversation starter if I'm out, which is cool.

Doing it all again, I wish I had access to a rainsong shorty, as that was my other guitar in the running. They cost similar amounts, most people would be happy with both.

UPDATE after 2 weeks:
I've been playing this guitar for a good while every day for 2 weeks. Post-string change it REALLY sings and I adore it. I'd still tweak the neck, but I'm more used the very wide and flattend C shape neck and it's now comfy for me. The fact that this shape is comfy at all and not causing cramping when doing barre chords is a testament, as that is why I normally hate that shape. No idea what the difference is between emerald's neck and all others, or maybe I'm just older and better adapted? Who knows.

In any case, with the right strings this thing sounds gorgeous and loud. It's a keeper. I want a custom emerald now. I still want to try a rainsong but I suspect I'd just come back to emerald cause this thing is GREAT.

[Bluside]

Thanks for taking the time to post a very nice review.

I just picked up a used X-20 a couple weeks ago from a forum member. We (the guitar, not the forum member) are still getting acquainted. I'm enjoying it so far. This CF stuff is all new to me.

[ac]

I think all Emeralds have 16" radius fretboards unless custom ordered.

Rainsong have 20" radius, I believe, unless there have been changes recently.

[Rampant]

Either way it's flatter than I like. I really like 12", and I'm ok with 14". the 20" on rainsong was one of the negatives when choosing with what to go with.

Rampant;

Really nice review! Thank you!

In my X20 I liked the offset sound hole, but I also felt that the hole was good for the player, not so good for the audience.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to give us your thoughts.

[Rampant]

Added tone update from some testing.

[Whaleblue]

Rampant, thanks for the review. I'd really appreciate some pictures in varying lighting if you could possibly provide them as I'm going for red, and not sure on which finish to go with.

And can't we tempt you to post some sound clips?

[Rampant]

Not likely to get sound clips because I don't have much in the way of recording setup or skills. And honestly, all I can say is that I've come to the conclusion that recordings aren't all that much help.

Strings
Mic
mic position
pre-amp
recording skills
playing skills
your ears (people have different frequency responses)

All radically affect how things sounds. given that I don't have any recording skills and I'm a mediocre player after years out of the game, I'd almost certainly do a terrible job.

I can say it's not radically different to my ears. I can only say that it's similar to my taylor but not quite as balanced and the E string doesn't have the thumpy punch of the taylor. It's a bit weak, and the high E stands out a bit more than it should. This is likely just a case of changing around stings.

this isn't problematic, and it may also be my ears.

As for how it looks the red is DARK. If I was out in the sun it would be brilliant, in moderate light it's like a blood red. In bright light it's a deep metallic red.

[Whaleblue]

Thanks, you're right on the sound side of things I'm sure, so I'll just have to wait and see, and like you expirement with strings.

I like that the colour varies under light, and most of the time indoors will be less in your face than some of the pics I've seen suggest.

[Rampant]

Originally Posted by Whaleblue

Thanks, you're right on the sound side of things I'm sure, so I'll just have to wait and see, and like you expirement with strings.

I like that the colour varies under light, and most of the time indoors will be less in your face than some of the pics I've seen suggest.

in normal light, indoors, think of it as a reddish black, or a blackened red. It won't be in your face in the slightest.

[Whaleblue]

Originally Posted by Rampant

in normal light, indoors, think of it as a reddish black, or a blackened red. It won't be in your face in the slightest.

Perfect, thanks.

[Rampant]

Updates: Tone update 2 and 3.

Worth reading for those interested. The string changes REALLY woke this thing up.

[tdq]

I know for me, (with a CA, not an Emerald), string selection made a huge difference. I didn't really bond with the guitar until I got the strings right.

[Whaleblue]

Thanks for the updates. So, what strings are fitted standard?

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by tdq

I know for me, (with a CA, not an Emerald), string selection made a huge difference. I didn't really bond with the guitar until I got the strings right.

While I love carbon fiber tone, particularly the very pristine and piano like highs, I find that I want to cut some of that top end sizzle for my style of play. It makes sense to me that the only way to tame this other than my own playing dynamics is to select the right strings for my guitar. I'm on the quest for the best possible string for the RainSong that will bring the best combination of playability and tone. I'm also finding that squeaky strings do not pair up well with at least my CF.