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Post by paganskins on Jun 3, 2014 8:19:34 GMT
This will probably divide opinion ... My new X20 Fan Fret arrived yesterday, wow! Sound wise it more than lives up to expectations, thunderous but tight piano like bass, clear but not tinny highs and nice full midrange. On the low notes you can feel air being pushed out of the sound hole at you! It's 27 to 25 scale and setup primarily for CGCGCE and variations of, however I was hoping with the same strings to be able to get into fifths so I can play octave mandolin pieces on it – does it easily tuned BbFCGDF capo'd at the 2nd fret (CGDAEG) gives Mandocello CGDA and octave mandolin GDAE plus a high G on the top. I'm looking forward to getting to know it better and try out the various C tunings and 'cittern' tunings like Doc Rossi's CFCGCF and John Doyle's CFCGCD. The fanned scale feels quite natural and didn't cause me any problems, most of the offset seems to be at the saddle end so first position isn't too distorted. I'll get some video and/or audio up at some point. Fit and finish are perfect, the fret and saddle work are superb and the contrast between the 3D quilt maple and 3D CF weave are exquisite. The photos below are excellent but, as often said about Emeralds, don't live up to seeing it in the flesh. The top's actually quite a dark tobacco colour and not as yellow as the pics show. This colour is accurate:
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Post by paganskins on Jun 3, 2014 8:38:41 GMT
The quilt maple is a very thin veneer over Emerald's usual carbon fibre construction and is purely cosmetic though some people report 'woody' tops take a little of the top end away. I expect most of the forum's users are fairly traditional but it's well worth having a look at Emerald's website or their facebook page, Alistair makes some very interesting things like harp guitars, double necks etc. He might be an interesting one for the meet the maker section?
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scotch
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Post by scotch on Jun 3, 2014 10:21:06 GMT
That looks great. Never tried a guitar bade of carbon fibre wonder what it would sound like.
Congratulations on the new guitar mate. Definitely something special you have there.
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Martin
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Post by Martin on Jun 3, 2014 10:23:07 GMT
Hi Tom, and congratulations on your new guitar! It certainly is a striking instrument! It looks beautifully put together, and the quilted top effect is gorgeous. I guess I would probably be in the 'traditional' camp you refer to in that I'm not sure this radical sort of design appeals to me for an acoustic, but it IS a very attractive piece of work, and of course the proof would be in the playing and the listening....so get some clips up
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Jun 3, 2014 10:36:26 GMT
Congrats on that Tom - some great pics - looking forward to hearing it some time. Hope you'll be very happy together! Keith PS - you'd be more than welcome to interview Alistair for us if you like, Tom.
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Post by paganskins on Jun 3, 2014 12:15:12 GMT
Thanks everyone Congrats on that Tom - some great pics - looking forward to hearing it some time. Hope you'll be very happy together! Keith PS - you'd be more than welcome to interview Alistair for us if you like, Tom. Can I do that? I'll ask.
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Post by sigmadel on Jun 7, 2014 23:27:30 GMT
Those double necks look an absolute bu##@r to restring and keep in tune . I saw your new acquisition on FB and I must say although its out of the ordinary I really like it .
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Post by paganskins on Jun 9, 2014 7:54:29 GMT
Those double necks look an absolute bu##@r to restring and keep in tune . The custom 20+ string ones, yes I bet they are though the carbon fibre is really stable compared to wood. My Emerald 12 string stays in tune regardless of changes in location, temperature, humidity etc which, along with it's resistance to string tension, is one of the reasons I commissioned it.
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Post by sigmadel on Jun 9, 2014 16:56:15 GMT
I've always fancied a carbon guitar due mainly to that fact that they're more stable and tougher all round . Is the fretboard carbon too ?
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Post by paganskins on Jun 10, 2014 8:12:49 GMT
I've always fancied a carbon guitar due mainly to that fact that they're more stable and tougher all round . Is the fretboard carbon too ? It's some sort of composite material, not carbon fibre though but very smooth and hard.
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