How would a fan fret x20 compare to L13?

[sirwhale]

I have this idea in my head:

Fan fret x20 24.75 - 25.4 inches. This idea won't go away. I prefer short scale, I'd have to pay for the upgrade, so why not go for fan fret? Are those prices in dollars or euros?

I play fingerpicking; blues, Joseph Spence, Bert Jansch, John Fahey stuff. I strum when with a friend or playing with my wife while she sings. I'm bad at strumming.

How would this guitar compare to what I have now? Remember that my L13 is a pre-revoicing L13; it doesn't have a bridge plate and doesn't have a sound port.

[Earl49]

In the intersecting set of all those who have played both guitars - neither being very common - you might hope to get an answer from all three players.
Not much help, I know. Maybe Sean from Emerald can shed some light when he sees this.

I want a Lucky 13, but have never played an older one from before re-voicing. And I have never been able to play any Emerald. I have minimal experience with fan fret necks, but the big advantage seems to be a longer scale length when you down-tune the bass strings. What am I missing?

[sirwhale]

Yes its true, we have so little access. I live in Spain and so I can't get on the road trip either.

I play a lot in Drop D, would like to try some drop-G (tune the A down to G) to play some ALi Farka stuff transcribed by Derek Gripper. And will eventually get some songs down in other tunings, for now I'm just trying to get as much practice as possible with standard and drop-d. I'm also a science teacher and the idea of fan frets just sounds good to me.

[tdq]

Hi Sirwhale - I'm perhaps one of the three that has played both In fact I've even played a pre and post 2013 lucky 13. They are quite different guitars with quite different sounds and they feel quite different to hold and play, as well. The X20 is probably more comfortable to sit with but I found the Lucky 13 suited my playing style more - I like to play similar stuff to you. I found the X20 was more of a strummer whereas the Lucky13 more of a picker. Of course there are those who prefer the X20 so it's really just what you prefer.
As for fan frets, I had the Leviora fan-fret for a while, on a MacNichol roadtrip. I got used to them very quickly - which surprised me - so I don't see adjusting to them as a problem, but they weren't for me.
I have a video of me playing each of the models on my youtube, if you're interested (both the Lucky 13s and the X20 - not the Leviora)