Emerald X20 Eight-String

Fingerstyle guitarist Nate Lopez demonstrates his custom carbon-fiber, fanned-fret, multi-scale guitar.

Based in Northern California, Nate Lopez is a fingerstyle guitarist who performs on seven- and eight-string instruments. Like jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter, Lopez uses a setup that essentially splits the guitar in two, with five guitar strings and three bass strings, and his playing is highly polyphonic. He performed with an eight-string Novax electric for years, but when he started looking for a similar acoustic instrument, he chose Ireland’s carbon-fiber guitar specialist Emerald Guitars to build him a custom instrument.

Nate’s guitar is based on Emerald’s X20 model, but it differs in several ways. Besides the obvious fact that it has eight strings (Nate uses Dunlop strings with gauges ranging from .012 to .105), the guitar also features a multi-scale fingerboard, fanned from 25.5 inches at the first string to 28.75 at the eighth string. The guitar includes Emerald’s “Woody” option, in which a thin veneer of figured maple is laminated to the outside of the carbon-fiber top during the molding process. The guitar has two separate B-Band A3T pickup systems with separate output jacks, one installed for the five guitar strings, the other for the three bass strings, allowing separate processing or the option of running one set into a guitar amp and the other into a bass amp.

In this video, Nate discusses the process of ordering the instrument, talks about his playing technique, and performs his original piece “Back to Anaheim.”

SPECS: Eight-string guitar with carbon-fiber body and neck. Multi-scale fingerboard, fanned from 25.5-inches at the first string to 28.75 at the eighth string. Two-inch nut width. Five Gotoh 510 and three Gotoh Res-O-Lite tuners. Two B-Band A3T pickups and side-mounted preamps. High-gloss finish. Emeraldguitars.com

Related Fine Lutherie Posts

2012 Lowden O-50c Peghead Nation instructor Doug Young demonstrates his fingerstyle-friendly Lowden. Read More

Custom Lehmann Flattop Kinloch Nelson demonstrates his wide-neck steel-string guitar. Read More

Lowden O-35 Custom Slack-key guitarist Stephen Inglis demonstrates his fanned-fret Lowden. Read More

Kevin Ryan Abbey Grand Parlor Fingerstyle guitarist Eric Lugosch demonstrates his Brazilian rosewood cutaway parlor guitar. Read More

Harvey Leach Custom Built for fingerstyle blues guitarist Dale Miller, this redwood and walnut guitar features a Voyage-Air folding neck and San Francisco Giants–themed inlay. Read More

Lowden Alex de Grassi Signature Model The fingerstyle guitar legend demonstrates his primary six-string. Read More

Kirk Sand Richard Smith Signature Model Read More

Fraulini Angelina Fingerstyle blues virtuoso Mary Flower demonstrates her vintage-inspired flattop. Read More

Charles Hoffman Concert Fingerstyle master Tim Sparks demonstrates his 000-size Hoffman guitar. Read More

2003 Ryan Mission Grand Concert Luthier Kevin Ryan’s original model is a meticulously crafted guitar that’s optimized for fingerstyle playing. Read More