Yamaha APX500

I'm reviewing an APX500FM, made in Indonesia, presumably this year (2008) It's a thinline, small-bodied steel string acoustic, twenty-two frets, cutaway. It has a piezo pickup in the bridge, the preamp has volume, three band eq (mid band has variable frequency, usefully calibrated 80Hz to 10kHz) and an onboard chromatic tuner. The top is a nice flamed maple, I don't know what the back is, probably ply. The finish is called Old Violin Sunburst and is a high gloss. The sound hole is somewhat odd-looking, being slightly oval and having a raised ring with abalone (real or fake?) inlay, which you'll either like or not - I think it adds a bit of character.

It's a small bodied guitar, so it's never going to sound as deep or as loud as a full-size jumbo or dreadnought, and you'd have to say it was on the bright side. But, having said that, I find the tone very pleasing and well-balanced with a silvery top end that doesn't stray into harshness. I bought it for my teenage daughter who finds my big Takamine FP350SM too cumbersome. Actually I have a feeling that it might record better than the Tak, which I always have to roll some bass off for it to sit in a band track. I play pop/ rock, she's starting up in a folky duo. The pickup output deserves a special mention: I think it's excellent, better than the Takamine's, which is already one of the better ones. The Yamaha, through a Fishman Aura, into an amp is as good as any electro-acoustic sound I've ever heard.

Again, all very good. The Old Violin Sunburst comes with the flamed maple top - the other finishes have a plainer wood, which while still well-made, have less character to my eyes. The one I bought had been hanging up in the shop, but I got the assistant to get an Oriental Blue one out of stock so I could compare the look. What was interesting was that that one came straight out of its shipping carton from the factory, and the set-up was immaculate straight out of the box, so I'd be confident about recommending this as an internet box-shifter purchase if you want to save a few quid. It has a good acoustic action: it's not as low was an electric but if ypu want to strum rhythm then it's spot-on. Everything is smooth and well-finished, no rough edges here, except the treble end of the nut is cut slightly short - it's maybe a quarter of a millimetre in from the neck. This affects neither the alignment nor the playability.

It's too early to judge. Everything seems firm and well-attached, and my first guitar, which was also a Yamaha, is still going after twenty-eight years, so I'd expect this one to be solid too.

I've dealt with Yamaha for keyboard repairs - I'm primarily a keyboard player - and they've always been excellent. I'd take this to a local guitar tech if it needed looking at rather than Yamaha though.

I'm a pro keyboard player, I've toured in Europe, the USA, Australia and Japan, I've been playing for thirty-something years. I fill in on acoustic guitar on stage when the song requires it, I play electric and bass for song-writing demos but not in public. I went into the store expecting to buy a similarly-priced Takamine, but both myself and my daughter prefered this Yamaha. I was motivated to write about it because I find it such a pleasurable instrument to play: I find myself getting it out of the case late at night after the family is in bed and playing it in preference to my own Tak (which cost about four times as much) for the joy of how easy the action is and how personal it is: it's a perfect 'sitting on the sofa messing about with song ideas' instrument. It isn't a big sound: for performance it would need micing or plugging-in, but the electric output is absolutely good enough to make using that an attractive proposition. I'm honestly agog with how good this guitar is for the money - when I was a teenager a guitar in this segment of the market would have been little better than a shoebox with strings. This is a really useable instrument.

Comparing with its price, I think it has a very good value with built-in tuner and EQ.

It's bright dan warm

The paint finishing is really good, it's really shinny, even until now.

As I wrote above...

I don't have any problem with this guitar, so I don't know the quality of the manufacturer support.

With nice finishing, awesome sound, very affordable price, and the best part for me is the comfort of playability, I have to give two thumbs up for this guitar.

I bought the guitar from e-bay and the finish was black. The guitar is quite light and comfortable and is about 30% less deep than a standard jumbo.

The sound of the guitar is very disappointing. Essentially it sounds weak, boxy and unmusical. When compared next to my Yamaha FG340 it literally sounds like a toy guitar. If this was my first guitar then I may not have pursued playing the guitar. I put some new Martin light gauge strings on it but the the tone remained flat and boxy. I will be selling the guitar due to the poor tone. I bought the guitar thinking that it would have good tone based on stuff I'd read but this was a big mistake.

The action was fairly low and the finish was fine.

The guitar seemed well built and solid. I did like the pick up and the built in tuner and these looked solidly built.

No idea as I've only just bought it.

I've been playing acoustic guitars for about 35 years and own a Yamaha FG340 as mentioned above.

FINISH - It comes in all sorts of colors, from "blueburst" to "natural" to "black." I have a black one, finely painted, but still looks deep.

BODY STYLE - It is a "Thinline" acoustic guitar, with a cutaway - Both features are very nice. I am small and thin, and this guitar conforms to my body more naturally than any other acoustic I've played. The cutaway is also nice, allowing for easy accessibility to those stubborn 15th and so on frets.

TUNERS - The tuners are very smooth. I don't know what ratio it is, but the tuners are smooth, slow, constant, and easy to turn, without loss of tune while playing.

NECK - The neck is fairly thin, and kind of "V" shaped. The frets are medium in size, but don't buzz at all. One of the reasons I purchased this guitar was because I hit strings hard - and most acoustic guitars go buzz-berzerk, but this particular Yamaha handles hard strumming very wel. There is no buzzing or loss of sound quality as you strum harder and harder. Neck is rosewood.

ELECTRONICS / PICKUP - The guitar is fairly new, but uses a "tried and true" yamaha equalizer system. After fiddling with the bands, I was able to get close to the sound I was looking for... until I found the "AMF" slidebar - I have never seen one of these, but you can change the slope(?) of the sound of the guitar with this - when slid 3/4 to the right, I was able to get the super deep thunderous sound that I was looking for (with more room to spare), but the AMF could give thin screaming highs if more toward the right. This tiny but powerful AMF bar was 50% of the reason I decided to purchase this guitar.

It has all of the features you can imagine, but nothing you won't ever need.

SOUND - I play EVERYTHING. You name it. I'll play Led Zeppelin in my garage in the morning, the Red Hot Chilipeppers after breakfast at the beach, Muddy Waters back home in the afternoon, and then lead my all acoustic Worship band at night. I am a man of many mixes. This guitar suits it all.

With the previously mentioned AMF bar, I can get the super thunderous sound, to the rich full-toned high presence sound. Yamaha has been making musical instruments MUCH longer than they have Jet Skis, and their experience shows in the overall fullness of the sound of this guitar; both acoustic and plugged in.

There is NOTHING that I don't like about this guitar's sound.

SETUP - I dumped the nickels and purchased my AXP500 at Guitar Center, brand new. I actually went the day after I tried it out just to purchase it. I liked it that much (and normally I am a 2nd hand eBay guy). Thus, it came perfectly set up, as most of their guitars do.

Strings were perfect guage for sound and playability (don't know what size though), and notes were perfect pitch at every fret.

ACTION - The guitar's action isn't as dumpingly low as I like it, but it isn't high enough to be hard to press on the strings. In fact, it is pretty good for an acoustic. It is much easier to play than most standard acoustics, and the neck is very smooth allowing for easy movement. I only give it a 9 because it is not as easy to play as an electric (duh!) - I'm still waiting for that acoustic!

RELIABILITY - I haven't had it long enough to really say, but so far it has held up live. I keep it in the case at home, because when I put my guitars on display, they get dusty (Pet Peeve). When playing at the beach, or live, I am very careful with it, and have never dropped it or even banged it against anything that hard, so I don't know how heavy duty it is.

The guitar itself is EXTREMELY lightweight, which makes me ever so much more cautious with it when I'm moving it.

The strap buttons are very solid, the finish seems decently thick, and I know I would never need a backup for this guitar (I wouldn't be able to play a backup after playing this one).

I haven't had to deal with Yamaha about this product yet, but as an avid Yamaha follower, I own many Yamaha products - Everything from my PA amplifier to my Reverb Rack Unit.

Several of my Yamaha's have died, and I've done the usal of going to their website to email customer service, expecting the, "Thank you. You are important to us, but we are just to damn busy - please bring the guitar to a liscenced Yamaha dealer." - BUT TO MY SURPRISE, everytime I inquire, I am called back within 24 hours by a real live local Yamaha rep, who asks me what the symptoms were, what the circumstances were when it broke, what it is doing, and gives me possible diagnoses and the addresses and directions to where I can take the unit to get it fixed. Yamaha has EXCELLENT customer service; unlike Autotrader.

REASONS I BOUGHT THIS GUITAR:
1. Acoustic sound is 10/10, and plugged in sound is 15/10.
2. AMF Setting and Excellent Equalizer allow for versatility.
3. Lightweight body and Thinline design make playing FUN AND EASY!
4. Aesthetic appearance - it looks as expensive as it sounds, and costs less than it sounds.
5. Cost - I came into the store to look at $1,000 acoustics, and walked out with this $400 one - BECAUSE IT SOUNDED BETTER THAN THE $1,100 DOLLAR TAKAMINE.