CARBON FIBER GUITARS? I HAVE QUESTIONS AND I BET YOU DO TOO! EMERALD GUITARS 

Great interview, thank you. Emerald is awesome

I have 2 RainSong Jumbos, a 6 string, and a 12 string, and they are excellent. I live where humidity is often under 10%, and the practicality of carbon fiber in extreme climates first brought me to it. The consistency of tone, and the tuning stability in all conditions, as well as superb amplified sound,(StagePro Anthems), keeps me playing them. And, my great, great grandchildren can play them as well, and they will still sound great! I have only one wooden guitar now, an Alvarez 8 string,(octaves on the D and G). I asked Emerald to build me a 9 string, like the Taylor custom 9, but it wasn’t something they would do. If they would have built that for me, I wouldn’t have any wooden guitars. Maybe I’ll get an Emerald Amicus?

I live in South Dakota. In the winter time it’s common for the indoor humidity to get down to 15%. I have two Emerald X20s and a Virtuo carbon fiber guitar. These guitars are always out of there cases and they get played a lot! I take them on road trips and never have to worry about the temperature or humidity. I also have some really nice Martin and Collings wood guitars. I have to be careful with them. When I’m not playing my wood guitars they are in their cases with a humidifier. I was first drawn to carbon fiber guitars because of their practicality and resilience to temperature and humidity changes. I’ve found I love their tone and the improved ergonomics offered on models like the X20 and Virtuo. For me it’s been a win win.

So glad you’ve finally been able to connect with Emerald and see what all the fuss is about! I’ve been an Emerald owner since 2018, and my current fan-fret X20 is the finest acoustic guitar it’s been my privilege to own in a half-century of playing. It looks lovely, plays beautifully, sounds terrific, can stay out on a stand all year round, and never needs humidifying. I’ve love to hear you playing it some more - hopefully you got a chance to before it had to go back.

He just makes all the guitars he plays sound special.

Some people have commented that these guitars dont have a soul , I disagree they just sound different. Its getting use to the sound, every guitar has its strengths and weaknesses. Advances are made by challenging the norm, convention and tradition this company are doing this. Well done to them. Quality wood is now running out, ebony, rosewood etc this is the way forward in my view. These guitars are also aesthetic works of Art not which are effected by humidity.🤩👍

Great video. I am smitten with tone woods but discovered many years ago that there are alternative methods of making good guitars and many people have been automatically, dogmatically against alternatives. My first alternative guitar was a Ovation Glen Campbell signature model in the 1970s. I lived in a tipi year round for 5 plus years, in a wilderness that had 4 extreme seasons, and had a little coal burning pot belly stove (dry air) and this guitar held up very nicely. The Ovation got stolen and years later I grew up and I owned about 30 wooden instruments and had a humidity/temp controlled room build and lined it with Spanish cedar so I could hang all of my guitars for quick access and enjoyment. This was heaven. When changed my life up again, and started traveling and moving around, I found that I just couldn’t keep up with the necessary love that the instruments needs so I re-homed most of the instruments. I used to take wooden guitars with me on flights and found it to be stressful so I picked up a Klos full sized carbon fiber guitar that had a removable neck. This guitar is so much fun to play and I can take it places where I wouldn’t dream of taking a wooded guitar. No problem breaking it down in its little bag that easily goes in my designated personal space. No only do wooden instruments get damaged in the hot humid jungle, dry deserts, and being stored at 40 below zero in Alaska but they are hard to keep in playable condition under best of circumstances. This guitar proved to have such utility that I picked up one of the Klos Ukuleles and am totally happy with it. When we are on road trips in the truck the passenger can play the uke and huck it in the back when finished. The tone and sound of the carbon fibers for me was better than I expected. Not tones that I have come to love on my favorite wooden instruments, but sounds and tones that make me happy and feel musical when I am traveling. At times I feel that I am being unfair toward my carbon fibers because I don’t have the same degree of passion toward then that I have toward my great wooden instruments. But there is no doubt that the carbon fibers dutifully serve my needs for having a consistent playable instrument that is always there. I would really like to get my hands on an Emerald guitar. I admire that they are willing to break with tradition and unapologetically push frontiers. Michael, I wish that you had given your opinion on the carbon fiber guitar rather than just host a first class interview of the Emerald CEO. Again, great video

An excellent, informative watch, thank you.

I have an X20 (my second), and they have a very distinctive sound, some love, some hate. There is no doubting their strength, comfort and tuning stability. My issue is the neck width at the 14 fret which is almost 10% wider (at 59.3mm) than any other guitar in my collection ;Taylor, Martin, Gibson high end stuff (average 55mm). It's fine if this is your only guitar or you don't play up the neck, but it's a pain when you play other guitars. I put the question to Emerald as to whether it was possible to get a narrower neck profile (at the 14th fret), and unsurprisingly I got no reply from them. It's a shame because I would buy another one today if it had a slimmer neck profile where the neck joins the body. Maybe it's just me being finicky because I don't see other players commenting about it. Either way it's a beautiful guitar to have in my collection.

Michael, great video ! Would love to try one. I will be in Ireland this year. I may have to stop by :)

I’ve seen 100 Emerald X20 videos/ reviews and it sounds the best here. While Michael could likely make a pawn shop special sound great, this guitar is special. Great recording!

What a great interview. This guitar sounds excellent. Great for extreme climates. I like the wood top also.

JP Cormier got one and I dunno if it was just his mic setup but it just didn’t blow my mind. The stereo pair did a better job here but I guess I need to actually hear one in the flesh to get it. These don’t sound any better than a deep bowl Ovation to me… I’ll stick with Torrified wood for stability and just take care of it for durability.

Great job on this deep dive into the Emerald guitar. I’ve definitely thought about buying one. This is making me seriously consider it. It sounds amazing.

These actually sound pretty good, which I didn’t expect!! It’s a different sound to me than wood but it has a place for sure! It’s hard to tell via video, but it does seem to be missing something! Not as 3 dimensional sounding to my ears. Would I want it as my only guitar? No! Would I be open to having one as part of my guitar family? Sure!

This is the show I've been waiting for. You probably don't recall I mentioned Emerald in a comment on one of your earlier vids. As a result of you re-comment, I contacted their marketing team and suggested they contacted you. This was way back in Feb 2023, so I feared the worst, but here you are with an X20 that looks very similar to my own, which has the K&k mini pure, the ghost piezo and the strat style bridge pieces, which I found really useful in tweakng the action. Looks like you are playing just with mics, but the electric sound is very good. I think what he says about there not being a 'carbon fibre sound' is very well put, and my X20 sounds very much like a traditional guitar. I must admit I don't play it nearly as often as my J40 and HD35, but it's up there in the ball park in terms of sound quality (HD35 wins, mind you!) Thank you so much for doing this and I really look foward to the performance vid. I really have to get back to playing it more. If anyone is interested, they have a big online presence including shop tours and all that stuff. I did almost my whole order through their online virtual guitar build process, and what I got was indistinguishable from the virtual images, so you can be very confident in the process - the staff are also super helpful and approachable. Cheers.

Great interview! Seems like a perfect guitar for travel, church, or anywhere I don't want to take my Martin :) I will definitely check them out!! Thanks Micheal! Btw, still waiting for that Jim Olson interview :)

emerald! nice

Great tidings of joy! At last you’re reviewing an Emerald! More of your playing it and your opinion/thoughts please. Amongst my collection of rather nice, high end guitars, I have three Emeralds; X7, X20 and X30. They are all (IMHO) very different and excellent. Their sound is comparable to wood guitars but they are far more stable in their tuning and impervious to climate variation. Also, you can achieve an action with far finer parameters than on a wood guitar which for me means loosing up to 0.3mm at the 12th fret right across (which for me is pretty big on an acoustic). I could ramble on but I’ll await your wisdom Michael.

Really interesting interview, and lovely playing, as per usual, Michael. I am very much falling for this brand and their instruments. I welcome the use of carbon fibre and composite materials in guitars, and applaud the more extreme design concepts that other commentators seem to find too aggressive. There is a very different quality to the sound, dare I say, a “hi-if” clarity, which I would imagine work brilliantly live for many genres of music. Sadly, they are far beyond my price range but I’d still love to try an Emerald 12-string.

genial Greetings from the sunny climes of Basle, Switzerland

One of my students brought in an Enya carbon fibre guitar once and it blew my mind, not sure if I'd have one myself but they are cool for sure! Thanks for this info man dead interesting stuff

I've had a carbon fibre, (Rainsong) a couple of Ovations and a lot of wooden guitars. I've found it's very much an acquired taste, none of my wooden Guitar playing friends can stand the Ovations, but some quite like the Rainsong. probably because it sounds a little more like a wooden guitar.. But, if you keep at it and play the Ovation, or the Rainsong, for an extended period, you really start to like it, the extra clarity that, initially, sounds tinny and thin, starts to shine through and then you go go back to a wooden Guitar and it sounds horribly warm and muffled ! The problem is that people expect the 'wooden' sound, and when they don't get it, they dismiss theses guitars, but a little perseverance and the acceptance that these guitars made from different materials have their own unique sound is required, and once you get there, they can really be a great addition to your collection, because of that variety of sound can really spark some enthusiasm .

Thanks, I have only played one and yeah they have their place as a tonal palette all the stability is also a nice thing. I am not an either-or type of person so at some point I feel I will add an Emerald to the collection. I do like them over other Carbon fibre guitars I have tried. Thanks

Sounds beautiful to me…

Hi again, I came across this RU-vid series from Emerald, which may interest you and your subscribers. Alistair did it during lockdown and it follows the process of making an Emerald (in this case the Solace lap guitar) from design to completing, so it shows exactly what is involved in the prototype stage. It's a RU-vid playlist at: ru-vid.com/group/PLgfSP7ezEXItl_TjZyFklSfNc9Wbl6xcI Cheers.

awesome video and instrument.👍 I am very close to pulling the trigger for an x20. I haven't yet decided about the bridge options so far. But I have seen you can also get in touch with the emerald team via their web page to discuss questions. I would highly appreciate you recording some more vids with you just playing this instrument. Thanks for your great work and for sharing with us musicians 👍

I've been closely watching the development of Carbon Fiber guitars for many years, and they keep getting better every year. It's gotten to the point that a good one rivals some of the best wood guitars. The Emerald Guitars are gorgeous instruments and a great example of what can be achieved, but in they are in a price range that could put them out of reach of many guitarists. There is one thing I'd like to point out regarding the tone of wood vs carbon fiber. At least this is what I think is going on, and it makes a significant difference. It is that one of the characteristics of wood is that acts like a "compressor and filter" to the tone, shaving off some very high frequencies, reducing the volume a little, but adding more tonal richness in the frequencies that we can hear. Carbon Fiber has more power and volume, but I think the tone could be a bit more refined in my opinion. This depends a lot on how one plays the guitar, fingers, nails, picks, style, genre, etc., so this just looked at from my personal perspective.

Seems like a good idea for travel but it for sure doesn’t sound like wood.

On composite tech; It's improved greatly within the last 3 decades. I've flirted with this tech (as a player) for around that long, and one absolutely hideous experience with a very expensive 'pre trussrod' Modulus made me a bit skiddish. Otherwise, a great way around foul weather Lol. I will admit that I like the idea of the Wiesenborn style instrument they build....

If I had any chance at surviving the zombie apocalypse, this would be my go to. Unfortunately my joints probably won’t let me hobble away from the horde at any speed, so I’ll stick with the wooden guitars I have already. Cool info in any case!

What I really missed, was that you did not clearly showed the guitar to begin with. I still have no idea what it looks like in 3D.

Thank you Michael, and Emerald too! I finally get this opportunity to learn about these b😮sounding guitars from a trustworthy source. Michael, I would love to hear your actual thoughts on these. They sound great on my end.

Is this a carbon guitar from the 'good carbon years'?

I would love to see a guitar where they combine carbon fiber and wood where they choose the best of both worlds to get the character of wood and the resonance of carbon fiber.

Practical and beautiful but plastic tonally imo. I’ve been tempted for a while but in that while have pulled the trigger on a Guild M20, Guild 12 string, Gibson L-00 an and a Dobro. Sooo…. Good to see you back though Michael. Thanks & Best wishes.

I actually rather like that.

If they ever get bottom end they'll have the bomb. Too bad he didn't cross those two lines on the fingerboard and use the intersections as fret marks. He could have put a flash mark at the crossing to be able to see it clearly...actually the more I listen....there is a decent amount of bottom. Which guitar were you playing....just listened to the X10 and it doesn't have bottom end or depth of tone.....kind of a cheap guitar sound. X20 sounds a bit better. Listened to X30....No I'm not sold on this. X7 has bit more bottom end and depth but it's getting a lot more expensive....why offer the bottom end guitars if they just don't sound good. Don't like it with the pickup....right off their own website. I wonder if this is the LR Baggs or a magnetic? I'm not sold and I was hoping to be. Click on the guitar models and scroll to the bottom of the page....listen to their sound files. Michael! Your video sound is not the sound I'm hearing on Emeralds own website which is suspect! Did you boost the bottom end with an EQ?

Definitely good guitars! But it's missing the vital organic, natural sound (obviously), which is what appeals to me most. Give me some good wood any day 🤔😏 P.s. lovely playing ofc

It's interesting to read in the comments how conservative people are in their tastes (in guitars) , and how many preconceptions there are on what a "good" guitar is. About a year ago I was one of those people who claimed that CF didn't hold a candle to my Martin d16 or my furch orange. Those two guitars are now mostly collecting dust in a corner, while I am busy eating my own words. I borrowed, and later bought an x20, and I am never buying another wood guitar. The benefits in ergonomics, durability playability AND sound are just staggering. For the "sounds different" - people out there: so does Taylors vs. Martins as well, not to mention all the differences between tonewoods, body shapes, price ranges etc. There is plenty of bottom in The x20, ridiculous sustain and adequate volume. Lose your prejudices. I dare you to question what you think you know, because you will be impressed!... But, yeah. They're expensive.

Ovation did this 30 years ago. And better.

Interesting video and some good design arguments, but the guitar just doesn’t sound very good to these ears. A blind listen would have me guessing this was a good pickup rather than a well-miked acoustic guitar. There is a lack of complexity and richness to the sound. Quite Ovation-like in many ways.

It just hasn’t got the soul, the organics, to my ears unfortunately, I’m sure they’ll get there, eventually, but alas, not yet imo 🍻

wish the design was more simplistic and not this gaudy abomination