Stirling discovers his X7 Opus travel guitar is a ‘keeper’ on road trip

An Emerald Guitars customer recently took his X7 Opus travel guitar on 6,000km backpacking road trip from the icy-cold, dry mountains to the hot deserts of California.

Originally from Washington, D.C., but living and working in Japan, Stirling Elmendorf is a commercial photographer specialising in architectural and interior design photography.

He also does travel and fine art work when he has the time. “I discovered Emerald Guitars after searching the web for a portable carbon fibre guitar. I’ve owned another famous brand of carbon fibre acoustic travel guitar, as well as Steinbergers and Strandberg guitars.

“I’m a big believer in the inherent stability of carbon and the search led me to a number of makers, but Emerald’s story and customer service set them apart by a wide margin.

“I ordered an X7 Opus travel guitar with upgraded tuners, the entire ordering process could not have been more pleasant. Every single step of the process was perfect, comfortable, clear and actually fun.

“The stability and sustain of this guitar has now taken first place amongst all the guitars I’ve ever owned, whether acoustic or electric! I’m shocked by how long notes and harmonics ring out. The steel frets and polyester-layered fretboard are slippery, nicely dressed and the action is fantastic.

“I specifically wanted a guitar with a small intimate sound and after changing to lighter strings, it’s exactly what I envisioned.

“I was surprised by the projection with the stock strings, really a big sound in spite of the guitar’s size! Wonderful to play, incredibly cool-looking design and the ergonomic considerations are superb, the forearm bevel and the lower bout angling for the leg- what detail!”

In January and February of this year, Stirling and his wife took a 6000km road-trip, camping all over California. “We went from icy-cold, dry mountain areas, to hot deserts (Death Valley) at super low elevations, we went to foggy, misty and moist redwood forests and oceanside beaches.

“The X7 Opus NEVER went out of tune, and drew a smile every time I took it out of the beautiful gig bag. Can’t think of anything nicer to say!

“Once I returned to my home studio, I was blown away by the clarity and evenness of the plugged-in sound. Very clear, rich harmonics and just awesome to track with… A keeper!”

Check out some footage and images Stirling kindly sent us.

Stirling also sent us a video of incredible footage taken during his trip. The accompanying instrumental track was recorded solely on the X7 Opus this week. Watch the video here