Emerald Guitars has been at the forefront of carbon fiber guitar design for 25 years.
Leading the way in innovation and quality, our instruments are played all over the world, from stage to studio and everywhere in between.
Because of our unique carbon fiber construction, Emerald Guitars will stand up in any situation.
Able to withstand changes in temperature, humidity and weather, these remarkable guitars lead the way in stability, reliability and consistency of both tone and playability – for wherever your inspiration takes you…
After getting his start working with the world champion Seebold Formula 1 Racing team, Emerald Guitars founder Alistair Hay began designing guitars using carbon fiber.
Following an early project for Steve Vai, Alistair took to building Emerald Guitars into a hugely successful enterprise, with countless satisfied Emerald customers across the world each year.
Today, Emerald Guitars produces a range of innovative and unique instruments, from acoustic guitars to electric guitars, basses, harp guitars and other unusual custom pieces.
Below, we look at some of Emerald’s incredible electric-hybrid guitars.
All of these models combine our signature carbon fiber construction and ergonomic design with the best in electric, acoustic and MIDI pickup systems to create mind-bendingly versatile guitars for performance at home, on stage or in the studio.
The Emerald Virtuo
Hybrid Guitars - Acoustic Body, Electric Soul.
Ergonomically designed for comfort with a slim carbon fiber body, the Virtuo is the acoustic guitar for the electric player.
With a slim and fast electric guitar style neck, and an innovative neck-to-heel design, the Virtuo allows you full 22-fret access to reach the highest notes with ease. And then there’s the Virtuo’s electronics and pickup systems, which offer a huge range of sounds to the player…
With two Fishman Fluence humbucker pickups allowing for vintage and modern sounds, and a coil split option for classic single coil tones, the Virtuo offers a huge variety of tonal possibilities.
In addition to electric guitar pickups, we also have six individual graphtech under-saddle acoustic piezos, each of which are fully height adjustable – so your string height and intonation can be changed within seconds. And because we have six individual piezos, we also added a 13 pin midi output system for use with external sampler and synth units, such as the Roland GR55. This gives you the ability to play a limitless array of sounds. Don’t play keyboards but always wanted to access those synth and sampler sounds? Need to add some sax? What about keys? The Virtuo has you covered…
All of the onboard pickups can be blended together to create a range of sounds unique to every player’s taste.
All the switching and wiring in the Virtuo is fully analogue for a tactile and familiar setup for any electric player.
The Emerald Virtuo has 3 unique voicings:
- Acoustic Voice: Graphtech Ghost Piezo
- Electric Voice: Fishman Fluence Humbuckers x2
- Midi/Synth Voice: 13 pin output
Take a look at the range of tones available in Pete Thorn’s demo and review of the Emerald Virtuo:
Slimline ergonomic body
- Acoustic, Electric and MIDI outputs
- The ultimate stage and studio guitar!
The Emerald X10
Where electric meets acoustic
The Emerald X10 is where the worlds of acoustic and electric meet.
We started with a slightly smaller OM size for comfortable playability and added some appointments for good measure. Its slim neck is designed for speed and comfort, while the extended neck access and cutaway allow you to effortlessly reach the highest notes.
The X10 is the perfect live performance guitar. You’ve got exceptional tonal options with a fully adjustable carbon bridge equipped with individual Graphtech pickups and a custom magnetic humbucker pickup at the neck. And, the option to add a 13-pin midi connection to the X10 allows for limitless possibilities.
- Exceptional acoustic sounds unplugged
- Endless possibilities plugged in
- Carbon Fiber construction
Emerald Artist Ryan Sheridan has been putting his X10 through its paces in studio and touring worldwide – it’s been played in the mountains of Switzerland and the deserts of North America!
Take a look at what he has to say about his ever-reliable X10.
The Emerald X10 Slimline
The perfect hybrid acoustic electric just got more accessible
It’s still got everything that made the X10 one of the world’s best electro-acoustic guitars. But the X10 Slimline has a whole lot more going on…
First off, it’s incredibly comfortable and looks stunning. This is a stage-ready performance machine; its small body size ensures feedback is never a worry. With its 22-fret neck, fully-adjustable bridge and perfectly-contoured body, the X10 Slimline is one of the most playable acoustic-electric guitars ever made.
Fly effortlessly across the slim neck while enjoying rich, resonant acoustic tones from its carbon fiber body and a mid-range punch that delivers across styles.
With its slimline body and hybrid acoustic / electric pickup system, the X10 Slimline is a gigging musician’s do-it-all tool. Piezo, Humbucker and midi options mean that you can cover an almost endless range of sounds with just one guitar.
- Comfortable ergonomic slimline acoustic / electric hybrid
- Hybrid pickup system for a multitude of sound possibilities
To make and inspire music
Whether you’re performing at home, live on stage, or in-studio, you’ll always be confident that your Emerald Guitar exceeds expectations – wherever your inspiration takes you.
And with a massive range of tonal possibilities on each hybrid model, you can rest assured that Emerald Guitars has the instrument for you.