Worlds Most Versatile Guitar? - Emerald Virtuo Review
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- Опубликовано: 3 июн 2023
- Today we take a look at a very versatile carbon fibre guitar. Is it an acoustic? is it an electric? Is it a midi guitar? It's kind of all of them...
This is the Emerald Virtuo.
emeraldguitars.com
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This guitar does look pretty versatile. Once you’re done riffing you can sit your family around it and use it as a dining room table.
You nearly made me spit my coffee out xD
And if you make a hole where the cutaway is you can use it as a watering can
@@ilmisxx2 Pour a beer in there and be the coolest dude at the keg party 🤠
Even has a cup holder!
Throw some skateboard trucks and some grip tape... skateboard guitar.
Dude, you're such a legend 🙌🏻 Your content is always honest. You seem balanced and fair. You don't pull punches. We all really appreciate what feels like an honest perspective and a fresh approach. The Emerald factory tour was really cool to watch. I'm so glad they lent you a guitar for review and sounds. This thing sounds really killer and you're playing is awesome as always. Thanks for giving us a full run of the tones and vibes 🙌🏻
I did a list of some of the guitars I really want to try and this was one of them. Seems amazingly versatile. I wish they were easier to find and try in the US. Great video as always.
Just wanna say your videos kick ass Andre. There's very few channels that go in depth on off-beat guitar designs. I rarely play anymore but tune in just as much to see what weird sh*t you got floating in the background cuz who the hell needs to see more LP/Strat clone vids.
Would love to see one on your channel man
Hey Andre! Dig your stuff. I’d love to hear your thoughts on these.
May I suggest trying KLOS Guitars in Utah? They have fully bidirectional CF models and hybrids - all sorts of acoustics and electrics. Not sure if you’re familiar, but they’re around half or less of McPhersons and Emeralds with lots of customization options. They won’t look as unique as Emerald, but they’re the real deal. Their Utah based shop’s customer service is incredible as well. Try to hit them up through Facebook - Niko manages that account. Or call their shop.
Dr. Fludd… someone may be happy to lend you one. Or you could do some kind of crazy Kickstarter giveaway thing where people donated 20 bucks and you had one custom-made, and each donation was like a raffle ticket.
Thank you for this great video and I also enjoyed your factory tour video. The flexibility of this guitar is amazing.
Geez Louise that intro was awesome !! I saw the factory tour vid so yeah.
I want that but the green one.
Cheers from NZ 😎🎸🤘
When the Parker Fly first came out I bought one (the cases weren't even done yet, they had to mail me one) & I loved the idea of using alternative materials in guitars. The carbon fiber outer shell, the stainless steel frets, etc... I played that guitar until I fell offstage & irreparably broke it. Years later, I came across Rainsong Guitars at their NAMM booth. I ordered one of their carbon fiber acoustics soon after and played it for years. The Emerald Virtuo is like a cross bred Parker/Rainsong/Taylor T5 done VERY well. Prices look like they range from US$3700-4300 which isn't too bad in the realm of high-end guitars. It's versatility & light weight seems like a no-brainer for solo artists that have to load their own gear in. I'm going to seriously give these a look. Thanks KDH for introducing us to Emerald.
I'm not sure why, I find your narration very soothing to listen to. Keep up the great work!
I usually skip through the playing section of demos, because they normally consist of mindless noodling. I rewatched the intro three times before posting a comment. Great stuff!
nice composition you did in the beginning!!
Love the Celtic knot inlays. I've heard people use their harp/guitars. They sound great.
Those knot designs have me thinking that Robert Fripp or someone in the Crafty Guitarists would use.
I love the idea of one guitar that can do it all, and this is about as close as you can get!
Like a Godin and a VariAx combined
A guitar that does it all doesn't do any one thing well. It does everything half azzed. That's not what anyone wants.
@@J.C... IDK man the clips sounded a lot better than just “half azzed” to me. I’d happily gig or record with it.
@@J.C... you're just an old-school hater
The fact that you never have to worry about it is a big plus. I had a top crack this last winter on one of my packed away acoustics. Not a happy reveal.
This is a perfect METAL guitar. Here is why:
1) Metal was always about dynamics. This is an instrument capable of producing almost any sound you could imagine. MIDI, Acoustic and Electric
2) Metal was always about "doing your own thing," and creating the music you hear, not what corporate radio wanted. This guitar covers that.
3) Final example. Take the song "Fade to Black" written by Metallica. You can cover the acoustic intro, the crushing rhythms and the soaring lead with this singular instrument.
Excellent review. This is what a review should be. Everything else on YT is becoming infomercials.
Long live the new KIng Of RUclips: KDH!!
On an unrelated note, Glenn Fricker is getting way out of line again, can you please look into this and correct it. Thank you in advance,
The lack of sustain bugs me out though...
Awesome guitar no doubt! A metal guitar? No way... You can tell it plays stiff like an acoustic. So i assume it uses a thicker guage strings. Palm muting and jamming on it is going to feel like jamming on an acoustic, Which once again, is really stiff. Not to mention you still hear the acoustic part of it when playing it as a electric which might be a bit off putting. Using it as a acoustic and to play some electric parts, Is a great idea. It for sure has some awesome features.
@@VapnFagan This guitar will go down in HISTORY as one of the BEST metal guitars ever invented. It plays like a dream. Sounds amazing. Looks amazing. And acoustic guitars are not stiff. They are hollow and lightwieght making them dynamic and punchy. NO ACOUSTIC GUITAR EVER HAS BEEN CALLED "STIFF"
Come up for air dude
@@VapnFagan that’s funny, I’d have said Electric guitars are the ‘stiff’ ones, given that they’re thick ass solid blocks of wood that barely vibrate (comparatively speaking) when a string is hit……..unless we’re only talking about string gauges, which are variable anyway. Yes, on average an acoustic will have heavier strings, but it doesn’t *have* to be like that, lighter string sets are available.
Speaking of which, this guitar is obviously fitted with electric guitar strings (which makes sense given the magnetic pickups) and judging by the apparent ease of string bending, probably just an ordinary 10-46 set. I’d be surprised if they were heavier than a set of 11s.
Yes! I've been commenting on various vids asking you to check out Emerald! Should've known you were on the case! Excellent review cara! ....
Dang that axe is sweet! Your playing is top notch as well!
Edit: Now, put a Sustaniac in it, and it would be complete!
Great video! I think they guys at Emerald have created something very special. Really cool and unique.
You bring us a gift! You don't spam content and you show unique things.
With the Fishman hexaphonic piezeo pickups and the 13 pin midi, is one of the signals sent the pitch / amplitude of the given string in the saddle? You could run it to trigger synths and VSTi of all types... There are so many choices. And it's carbon fiber so highly doubtful temperature delta will pitch your tuning off...
A Fret Zealot system pasted on (I kind of want to buy one to reverse engineer it)
Real extra: those Gibson Robotuners! It would be the ultimate guitar for newbies and people who just want to make music.
I wonder if the "acoustic-ness" could be improved by having another sound port of nearly equal size below the cutaway or some such? Very unique, thanks for giving it a shout out and bringing it to people's attention.
Awesome review . Sounds and looks great .
Nice demo! I did a demo of the Virtuo also when it first came out. Amazing guitar, but what makes it even better is that the people at Emerald are great guys. It comes through in their instruments.
Great video! This guitar is impressive. Definitely worth a look. God bless and rock on 🎸😎👍
Thank you for another informative and enjoyable video.
Great guitar, great company. Their builder in their website is the most impressive thing I've ever seen.
Very cool indeed . I wonder if it would feed back on the humbuckers at high vol with a bit of dirt on the amp
It is very versatile...through an accoustic amp & studio set up it would make some neat tones...beautifuly built & as you say Carbon Fibre so very tough...Flea luv's his carbon fibre necks..the pickups are good...the bass versions are really good..as close to a one stop guitar as you can get..good luck to the company...very nice🎸👏👏
with so many switching options, it might be a good addition to add some sort of preset functionality. Sure you can achieve very many sounds for the studio, but if you have to fiddle with switches for a few minutes, writing down what settings you had etc. a few programmable (or predefined) presets could be very useful, especially when rerecording a riff after having switched things up
Awesome review for an awesome gutiar ! Nice Star Wars shirt btw !
Great opening track, KDH!
I'm really glad to see you doing a full review of them.
As usual, it was completely open & honest. 👍👍
Things I can confirm about Emerald guitars:
1) They look GORGEOUS.
2) They are incredibly light
3) The rounded corners & other ergonomic features make them wonderfully comfortable & easier to play for longer periods. (My X20 is the most comfortable acoustic I've ever held)
4) They have absolutely EPIC tuning stability (especially important if you're looking to get one of the well known super string pressure kings like a 12 or a harp guitar)
5) and while my Virtuo doesn't hold the sustain quite as well as my PRS 24-08,
it is, without a doubt, the biggest freaking tone monster in my collection!
(and that's before the GK cable & the SY-1000).
Yes, Emerald guitars are on the pricier side,
but are they worth the $$?
Only you can make that decision.
Take your time...
re-watch KDH's videos
reread the points above.
If it's what you're interested in, contact the reps at Emerald,
Tell Kevin I said hi. 😉
I'm old and got my first Adamas 12 String back in '85. These guitars remind me so much of Ovations. And that is a very good thing.
Wow this is so cool! Out of my reach as it's the price of my car lol.
Great and detailed review too, thank you for sharing.
I watched a bunch of other people's reviews too and I dislike the unplugged tone overall, but that's probably not the point of it.
It may be on accident, but please remember that coil-tap and coil-split are 2 different things not to be mixed up while talking.
Very impressive guitar, and I enjoyed your Factory tour. This is some pretty impressive guitar designing and making, and the guitars are beautiful. Do they have guitars a USB Output, Bluetooth, etc.? I'm not sure if 13-Pin MIDI is a technology that is going to last, as it requires a special pedal to interface with. Thanks
Nice one, thx for featuring carbon fibre guitars. Not really new. Played a miller carbon fibre for some time. Graphtech piezos… hh, frets were some black resin harder then steel? Was in 2000. they had a hemp fibre guitar as well. Bit warmer.
I own one of Emerald's guitars. It's not a Virtuo, but it is the finest acoustic guitar I've ever seen in 56 years of playing. These people make WONDERFUL guitars! Sound is up to the individual ear, but I can tell you that they offer lovely instruments of top shelf quality.
Cleans sound amazing on that thing.
Good stuff fella.
I doubt I'll ever be good enough to have the expense make sense, but after watching the factory tour and interview and now this review, I'm very impressed by these guitars. If I ever get good enough, I'll order one, but Emerald should not budget my maybe order into their business plan anytime soon, LOL.
Beautiful instruments and the sound versatility is just crazy. I have a PRS 513 and it pales in comparison. And certainly does not work as an acoustic.
Great video, wonderful instrument, bummer you can't keep it, but thanks for the great review!
I recently bought 2 acoustics from Emerald in the 25% sale, an X10 6 string, and a parlor sized X7 12 string. The 12 string has the lowest action I've even tried and has amazingly tuning stability. I love the 6 string X10, but it is a different sound than wooden acoustics, which definitely inspires me differently. The neck is slim, like an electric, and has 22 frets. The design and ergonomics on these guitars are amazingly comfortable. The bevels, cutaways, curves, and scoops create comfort and accessibility like no other guitar. It really has to be experienced. I'm a fingerstyle acoustic player, so I'll always love wooden guitars, but I absolutely love my 2 Emeralds too. They are really unique experience.
I bought the X-20 and fell in love with the sound, playability, the look and feel of that most comfortably-playing guitar ever. Then I bought a Virtuo, which I am every bit as in love with! The carbon fiber construction allows me to leave them out all the time, without worrying at all about temperature and humidity. I was recalibrating my Roland GR55 to work with the Virtuo, and decided it would be a good idea to place the Roland on a music stand. I bumped it accidentally, and the pedal (no light thing!) Fell, landing directly on the Virtuo's body, between the control knobs and the strings. It was a direct hit, and if the Virtuo had been wood, I have no doubt at all that it would have been badly damaged. Thankfully, there's not even a scratch! Well-done Emerald! I've shared this video, and everyone asks the same question: What's the rig he's playing through? Does anyone know?
Very cool, the rig I used for all the sounds in this video was a Line6 Helix
Me before your visit to Emerald guitars I’m not buying any more expensive guitars. Me after your visit I need one of those 😂
beautiful guitar..great playing.
Jesus that was some great music. I just came to listen to you play 🔥🔥🔥
So far I'd only seen them as electro-acoustic, but that sounded amazing....
Few weeks ago when you mentioned Emerald, I had a look at their virtual builder, and it's absolutely impressive what they can do!
It's unfortunately well & truly out of my financial reach, but those looking for a really versatile, beautiful (musically and visually) bespoke instrument: I'd say look no further.
Cole Clark has their version of this in an all wood guitar called the True Hybrid. It sounds amazing and is priced in the mid to upper 3k range. This one is very cool and you won’t have to worry about the wood aspect.
I really do appreciate the addition of midi on this design. I would definitely like to see the midi implementation in action. what is detecting the performance?
Full GM or just On/off with note data?
Chord work, bends, slides, pull off/hammer on, let’s see what this puppy can do.
I had a Peavey electric with a piezo. The piezo was fun to fool around with at jam sessions once in awhile. Really didn't use it much.
People often gawk at the prices of these but tbh, they're not insanely priced for what you're getting and there is a merit to their pricing. A complete custom instrument made to spec with modern materials ,designs and tones. There's a market for that obviously but like, that's why custom shops exist and you'd be paying a lot more for certain companies to do you up something with this many bells and whistles. I've played a few emeralds in the past just from people who I know either have one and/or borrowed it. This was before the pickup ones started showing up though.
They are really nice but I'm glad you mentioned the note/sustain retention because it was something I noticed as well, even acoustically. Not a deal breaker just a consideration that needs to be thought about about because I'm sure you can rig something together these days to compensate for it if it's a big part of tones/sounds you're going after.
This would be handy to have around a studio and i can see it working for buskers or open mc nights
Your Thumbnails should have been you standing on it. Great Vid homie- From NY
I wonder how it sounds next to an Aristedes Guitar. These new materials they're using for Guitars is an interesting thing to watch.
Ovation made synthetic backed acoustics - either a Specific Platic or Fiberglass. Steinberger was the first Guitars I knew of using Carbon Fiber - they mixed Graphite and Carbon Fiber. A friend of mine had an 82 Steinberger Bass made of that mix. Aristedes created a Guitar with a Carbon and Glass Fiber hollow exoskeleton. They developed a resin called "ARIUM" to mimic the best woods. As per Aristedes, "The core is made with Arium. For a quick review: this is a scientifically developed ideal tone material with clear sound, good sustain, warmth and beautiful character in tone." It has lots of "air holes"/bubbles throughout the Arium supposedly giving it the resonance quality of high end tone wood! Now this beast!
Honestly impressive. First thing that came to mind was an updated ovation guitars concept. Not sold on the fishman pickups.
You need to make the jam you put together for the opening up as a downloadable track. That sounded BEAUTIFUL, also play it back at 1.25 and at 1.5 speed, it sounds even better.
Great review! If there was a lefty version of this I would totally want it - IF I could afford it. 🙃
Nice review. Did it give feedback issues from an amp at stage/rehearsal volumes??
Impressive! I'd be curious about feedback in a live situation.
@01:30 Now there's an ad worthy freeze-frame if I've ever seen one, you've got the God rays shining down and everything. It sounded fantastic, but I don't see myself being able to afford one of these anytime soon unfortunately. I know he touched on the playability, but I would've liked to hear a little more about "the feel" of using one of these as an electric. ( rhythms w/ pull-offs, leads etc ) I'm not complaining though, this was a great demo. Calling these versatile almost seems like an understatement, they're pretty amazing instruments. The overall look is incredibly unique and those Celtic knot inlays are the icing on the cake. It's pretty wild that they used an actual maple veneer on the otherwise all carbon fiber body. I almost had a heart attack when the guide was standing on the neck during that excerpt from the factory tour, lol. Durability? ...✅
Thank you. I have a Virtuo and am loving it. A quick question ... do you have any string preferences? I hear acoustic strings work well on the Virtuo, but I still need to test them.
This may LITERALLY be the only guitar channel on RUclips that does actual reviews....in videos called "reviews." Every other one coincidentally seems to profit from their "reviews."
Just an FYI, it seems very similar to a Godin xtSA guitar I have. The acoustic sounds may not be as good (it's a standard solid body guitar), but it's also less than half the price.
Wow that is a nice looking guitar and I have to say that was a nice f****** jam that you just did in the beginning. Should make some more videos of you just jamming away on the guitar
Lovely guitar, and I expected the only downside being the Price. For my sins, I just spent months looking for a Peavey Generation EXP with Piezo and I love it. Am in the process of removing the stock pick ups, and I have a set of Di Marzio Pickups to slot in there. I'd always wanted a telecaster, this will be close enough. Now I want one of those. Off to the Crossroads.
That - is - amazing! 😲🤘
Noice! Love the riffs, too!
nice playing.... and it is crazily versatile, damn!
I am impressed of this carbon thingy. ;-) Also the combo of pickups and piezzo is interesting beside the "semi acousting" quality. - This instrument by sure gives a wide range of option. - Tks for the review. And tks to Emerald team for the work they put into it. - I think its pefect for travelling (as light weight), and as me - living on a boat with high moisture/humidity content - by sure an alternative knowing not ruining a quality built instrument of wood which might get damaged/bended or even start rottening form inside over the years. I keep looking more into Ukes. Still struggling with 6 strings. With 4 strings my brain overload is gone. Hehe.
Very similar to my Carvin SH575. I know it's not your jam but would you consider incorporating some lightly overdriven blues rifs into your demos?
I was looking over emerald guitars a couple of weeks back. Love the look of them, like them a lot, just really not a fan of the carbon fibre body. I’d much rather wood. I’m sure it performs as well if not better than wood, I just like wood more aesthetically.
Love the Souls Of Black -riff on there, sounds killer 8:00
Fek yeah I’m at 8:05 man. Sounds pretty awesome
Sounds really good!
That intro tune was a banger!
Ok I'm sold, now I just got to figure out how to pay for it. I'd also like to add a sustainiac pickup. You're a great salesman, he should give you one of these.
Jam at the beginning is amazing
I posted similar when i just started watching it here in NZ
That intro was insane! Stealing some of that phraseing for sure!
I have the pleasure of owning this model. I Love it. Different but Good.
Beautiful Guitars! Irish I had one!🤘
Haaa. Noice one. Cheers from NZ 😎🤘🎸
I‘d been flirting with the Virtuo (or the kinda similar X10 Slim) for quite some time, but am now leaning more towards a wooden instrument that does a lot of things similarly (except Midi): the Cole Clark True Hybrid Thinline, either with HSS or SSS pickups and a 3-way acoustic pickup system.
Priced similar to a Les Paul Standard slightly more if you get all the options but still well under the price of a custom framus or even a Gibson or Fender custom shop so not bad at all
Incredibly sexy guitar. That inlay on the fretboard is especially awesome.
I think you can do that to most any guitar though, the push pull knobs & humbuckers with the switches. So is this anything more than an Ovation Carbon Fiber Adamas with the electronics of an electric guitar added to it ?
Not exactly, coil splitting is certainly nothing new but the voice 1/voice2 thing is specific to Fishman. ‘Course, you could fit the Fishmans to a standard electric….but that’s the point, they’re electric guitar pickups. All the electronics are available separately, but nobody is suggesting otherwise. The combination of those electronics and the carbon fibre acoustic body is both versatile and unique (as far as I’m aware, anyway) I’m not sure what more you’d expect?
The part I find questionable is the piezo setup, those graphtech saddles are mostly going to be just sensing the string, so I’m not convinced (either in theory, or by what I heard here) that much, if anything, is being gained over just fitting them to a solidbody. Piezos mounted under the soundboard might be a better choice from that point of view, but then again those wouldn’t work with a 13 pin output, so I guess it depends on your priorities.
Sounds great.
Would be the perfect guitar for me if only I could afford it. I play rhythm in a blues band and would benefit from having acoustic sound + electric. I go with train to the rehearsals, so bringing 2 guitars with me ain't an option. Great review!
There are other options that pack both acoustic and electric tones. For example Taylor T5z, with the base models going for about half the one KDH plays here. I own one and I'm very happy with it!
Look into Godin Guitars, they've been around a while, though I don't think they do the carbon fiber thing.
What’s the price of the model your reviewing
Was thinking about how useful that guitar is and realised if you played something like playing god using the y splitter, 30/70 electric acoustic volume and some chorus that would sound brilliant
It certainly seems versatile but there's a reason as to why guitarists have numerous guitars and that is they each have their own character in tonality and feel, your own wall has a plethora of guitars on it and I'm guessing the reasons are the same as just stated, having said that and never having played an emerald guitar my interest is now piqued thanks to this and previous videos you've done on the brand and I've gotta admit what emerald guitars are doing is unique and I'm really keen to play one but I can't really see that one guitar replacing other guitars I have, taking its place amongst the harem yeah maybe but that's about all as each of my guitars plays their part in my musical journey as does yours, it certainly is quite a strikingly gorgeous instrument hopefully someday in the future they can make their way into the Australian market on a scale the same as Chapman guitars have, Emerald guitars are definitely worth checking out and respect goes to them for creating such an innovative instrument, thanks for sharing the abundance of information on them
I agree, but this sort of thing makes a lot more sense in a live scenario, where maybe you don’t want to be swapping between the “plethora of guitars” mid set, or even mid song!
There are people out there for whom this will make a lot of sense, and loads more for whom it won’t, that just comes with the territory.
Just checked out their website. Their acoustic basses look awesome. I play doublebass and bass guitar and acoustic bass guitars almost always disappoint me. I'm very curious to hear these indestructible acoustic basses.
kind of guitar dude would use live on maybe 2/3 songs,where he has to go from acoustic to electric quickly,i remember seeing alex lifeson/rush years ago,and for acoustic intros,he had a acoustic suspended on a special stand,and would play intro,while still having his electric strap on,standing up,worked,but looked awkward and uncomfortable
Does it feel like an electric or does it feel like an acoustic guitar? What gauge and type of strings did you use on it? They obviousy weren't super thick, due to what you were able to comfortably play on it. I don't put 10s on my acoustic...and I can't see a guitar that is marketed as an acoustic with extras having super light strings...So I am very curious as to what this feels like and what style and/or gauge of string it was designed for.
Kudos to Emerald for their innovation and "thinking outside the box." I applaud that... sincerely. However, I suspect were I to own one of these it would just sit. Nothing about the way it looks makes me want to pick it up. I seriously doubt I would even give it a second look in a guitar shop even knowing what I know now. Shallow? Sure. Truth? Also, yes.
I don't know much about carbon fiber nor asbestos fiber, other than both are considered harmless while intact and contained and asbestos fiber is dangerous when not. But when I was jumping through all the hoops for asbestos fiber restrictions while importing my two motorcycles (a UK made Triumph a U.S. made Honda) to Australia this last year, I ran into government import officials in both the U.K. and Australia who stated there is a growing concern regarding the long term effects of carbon fiber possibly being similar to asbestos fiber. I was told that further research was being done to determine if there should be carbon fiber restrictions similar to asbestos restrictions. So that is something I would look into further before making a purchase of this size. Otherwise the guitar seems awesome, as is your video. 🙂
I want an Emerald Guitar ...they are incredible!!!
I am very impressed 👏
Body style reminds me of my old Ovation Viper.
Nice! What gauge strings? Electric or Acoustic strings?
25 different tones, right? 12 with the humbuckers, an additional 12 with the piezo mixed in, and then 1 with just piezo.
Hi, what about fret change? can this be done by any luthier when the frets are worn out?
In the factory tour they said they glued them in, so I would say no probably not, BUT they re stainless steel so should last a VERY long time.
heard Testament! NOICE Souls of Black maybe?
was that intro song original or is that a song, whatever it is i don’t recognize it but i love it!
Thanks, it was just something I came up with to demo the guitar’s ability to go from acoustic to electric
Ditch that Coffee-Table looking veneer, keep the carbon fibre look on top, and spray it with transparent Crinson red = cool. I'm sure Blues-Lawyers will love it as is though.
I'm pretty upset you didn't do the drum part with the Ghost MIDI controller.
I wrote a song with an acoustic intro and interlude and this is perfect for that.
The sustain issue could probably be eliminated if they but a string though brass block below the bridge.
I personally love the look of their guitars and they clearly put their absolute best into what they do. I don’t think I’d ever buy the electric acoustic hybrid, though.
I can’t personally justify spending $3,500-5,000 on an acoustic guitar but if I were shopping for one in that price range, Emerald would be very high up on my list. I fully see why the prices are what they are. It’s just not a price I’d be able to pay. At least not yet.