Product: Yamaha Dynamic Guitar Model S70
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
02/12/2009
at
01:40pm
by
Imaz
Features
:
9
Mid Sixties acoustic made to be played with either steel or nylon strings. Classical style body with a very unusual bridge that has a a tubular saddle that sits in a groove and another groove at the back of the bridge to accommodate ball end steel strings.
The neck is chunky and narrow like a steel string but with a flat rosewood fretboard, the head stock is classical style but with slim steel rollers in case it is used with steel strings instead of the usual nylon ones. Machine heads are classical style apart from those rollers. Shorter scale than a conventional classical.
Gloss finish book-matched back and spruce laminate top (AFAIK)
Sound
:
5
These guitars are supposed to be really special and sought after, frankly I was hugely disappointed as IMO it fails to deliver either with steel or nylon strings.
Sound sweet enough and the intonation with nylon is good but just doesn't have the power and clarity of my 1970 Yamaha G-85A and I really don't like the hybrid neck. Lacking in bass compared to a classical.
Tried it with extra hard D'Addario Pro Arte, maybe it's that as I normally use Savarez composites which are brighter...
Thin sounding with the steel strings that it came with.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
Action was very, very high and as the tubular bone saddle can't be sanded as those on conventional guitars I replaced it with a piece of painted coat hanger wire! What else would have fitted?
Very good condition for a 45 year old guitar, tuners are still fine thank God as they are one of a kind and probably replacements are unavailable today.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
Solid and very strong guitar, no complaints.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
It's 45 years old....
Overall Rating
:
5
This is supposed to be a collectors item and for the life of me I can't understand why apart from it's rarity. It's neither a classical nor a folk guitar and IMO has a reputation it doesn't deserve, not as good as a classical and not as good as a small folk guitar.
Yamaha (Japan) made some fantastic classicals in the late sixties, early seventies that really are worth looking for.
Going to try and sell it on to some collector who will appreciate it...
