Yamaha APX 4A

good features.

It's small but sounds great plugged in.

exellent

everythings fine

never delt with them.

I've been playing for about 5-6years
If this guitar was stolen I would buy a new one.

This guitar comes with a very handy semi parametric mid Eq wich is really handy.I'm able to get almost any sound I want when plugged in my mixing desk.The sound when plugged is very very clean and a pleasure to Eq the sound to fit your taste.A very serious reason for bying this guitar is the excellent electronics.And the semi parametric mid is very ,very handy whern playing live.
Battery mechanism is very simple smart and reliable.You just click a button and the battery case is ejected.Then you just insert the battery (wich won't fit improperly placed) and push back into.Quick and very very easy.

The sound is very balanced and sweet.It may be not as loud as with a full bodied guitar ,but in no means its "small".Hand-picking is a temptation (can't stop playing) and rythm play is also alive.
You can easily make whatever sound you need.A wide variety can achieved easily for almost any kind of music.
A VERY ,I repeat this one ,VERY big advantage you get is that ,because of very high quality of electronics you can get crystal clear sound when prosseced proplerly.I'm using my mixing desks Eqs ,then compressors and graphic Eqs ,then prossecing the sound using Cubase's effects.Stunning recordings !!!

This guitar is build up to very high standards.Finish quality is excellent and there are 3 options available :Black ,Blue and natural colors.Package was stunning ,strings was protected and covered with protective paper ,battery was included.

Now about action.A very big advantage is the weight of this guitar.Its very comfortable even after hours of playing.

Its reliabilility and durability is almost certain.I bought this guitar beccause it makes me feel certain this instrument will last a lifetime providing me pleasure.Live gigs are the correct environment for it because of lightweighted body and excellent electronics.

I bought this guitar from Nakas SA i

This guitar comes with a very handy semi parametric mid Eq wich is really handy.I'm able to get almost any sound I want when plugged in my mixing desk.The sound when plugged is very very clean and a pleasure to Eq the sound to fit your taste.A very serious reason for bying this guitar is the excellent electronics.And the semi parametric mid is very ,very handy whern playing live.
Battery mechanism is very simple smart and reliable.You just click a button and the battery case is ejected.Then you just insert the battery (wich won't fit improperly placed) and push back into.Quick and very very easy.

The sound is very balanced and sweet.It may be not as loud as with a full bodied guitar ,but in no means its "small".Hand-picking is a temptation (can't stop playing) and rythm play is also alive.
You can easily make whatever sound you need.A wide variety can achieved easily for almost any kind of music.
A VERY ,I repeat this one ,VERY big advantage you get is that ,because of very high quality of electronics you can get crystal clear sound when prosseced proplerly.I'm using my mixing desks Eqs ,then compressors and graphic Eqs ,then prossecing the sound using Cubase's effects.Stunning recordings !!!

This guitar is build up to very high standards.Finish quality is excellent and there are 3 options available :Black ,Blue and natural colors.Package was stunning ,strings was protected and covered with protective paper ,battery was included.

Now about action.A very big advantage is the weight of this guitar.Its very comfortable even after hours of playing.

Its reliabilility and durability is almost certain.I bought this guitar beccause it makes me feel certain this instrument will last a lifetime providing me pleasure.Live gigs are the correct environment for it because of lightweighted body and excellent electronics.

I bought this guitar from Nakas SA in Athens.I have to state that the support and advices they offered me is FIRST class.I had the chance to test it with whatever amplification I wanted ,compare it with numerous competitive products.

I've tried a wide range of guitars before bying this one.I will name some brands and models but just a few:
Yamaha DW Acoustic & Electro Acoustic full bodied series
Ovation Celebrity (korean made model)
Ibanez and Takamine some acoustic models I cant recall in a 200.000 drs upper price limit.
Norman B-15 B-20 Acoustics.
I also did tried a Guild F4CE model (out of my price range ,as a "reference").
What I really love is the sound .Even unplugged its a pleasure to play with it.I would also like to say that the exact time I was buying my guitar,a guy came in that had taken his APX 4A for some fretoboard adjustment.According to him ,the sound is excellent and 2 of his friends actually bought it when he displayed it to them (thats waht he told me anyway ! :-)) .
He also told me that he own the APX 4A for almost 18 months and the guitar I saw was in excellent condition.

This guitar has a shiny black finish with a less shiny blck back and sides-- not sure of the wood types. It has a slim body, which makes it very easy to hold and play sitting or standing. The neck is a dark wood, again not sure what kind, with a rosewood fretboard, and black headstock. Looks very cool except the odd brown sound hole decoration. Nicely cutaway to give access to all 22 frets. It has smallish neck, and fairly low string action. This guitar did NOT come with any accessories, but I did get a humidifier and gig bag for a few extra bucks. Overall the features are Average.

The sound on this guitar is small. When playing unamplified, it is not very loud or full, but it is a thin body guitar. Even when amplified, it is very tinny. The on-board EQ is a MUST. even with that I needed to fiddle with the EQ on my amp. After that, I was able to get a satisfying "fat" sound from it.

The guitar was great straight from the box. No need to tweak, or fuss. However, there was one in the store that had a few string buzzes, which I guess can be taken care of very easily.

I have only had this guitar for a couple of months, but I play REALLY hard. I have managed to wear a few scratches into the finish. A good coat of GHS guitar gloss seems to protect a little. The jack on it always seems to come loose. Anoyying, but fixable. It seems to be able to hold up to a moderate beating, but I wouldn't trust it with Pete Townshend.

Haven't needed any, YET...

I have been playing for 14 years and own two other guitars..Electric and Classical. This was a good addition because, I'm not loaded, and it sounds and looks good. There were others in the store that were REALLY nice, but I didn't feel like dropping $2000 on one. This is a decent guitar for its price range. If I was to buy one again, I would most likely buy one of the big brothers in this APX series

Just to add a little to what's already posted...
Yamaha has always made great guitars for the money. You CAN find nicer instruments, if you want to pay twice as much for starters. Overall, it has a good feature set for this price range - 3-band EQ with a mid sweep; quality hardware. This is my second Yamaha acoustic- the first is a FG-312 II.

I primarily play this guitar amplified - the acoustic sound is nothing to write home about. If you want a campfire guitar, this ain't it.
Oddly enough, I compared it to a Takamine and at least 2 more expensive Yamahas when I bought it, and this model had the best electric sound by far. The EQ is very good; provides a wide range of sound quality. The midrange sweep is a nice bonus. Stingy on the battery use, too. I'va had the same battery in since I bought it almost 2 years ago.

The setup was great right off; it plays very easily.
My beef with this guitar is the inexcusably cheap brown plastic binding around the soundhole- hideous. It ruins what could be a great design. The unusual (almost Maccaferri-like) oval soundhole could have been its best feature.

Seems to behave reasonably well in club settings, although it is sensitive to weather changes and will punish you with untunability. Has NEVER had feedback problems!
Typically solid Yamaha construction.

I like it; may eventually trade it in for a real acoustic, but that's because of my personal quest for sound - not any flaw on the guitar's part. I'd buy Yamaha again in a heartbeat; you can't beat them for value.

This is an acoustic-electric, single cutaway, with a medium-depth body. The pickup is an active, bridge-type. They come in a variety of colors, mine is a natural light brown top with darker brown sides. I'm told the top is spruce.

I play fingerstyle with a thumbpick and have found that most A/E's don't have much bass when played without amplification. This one has a better bottom end than others in its price range and compares well with much more expensive models (including Yahama's) I've tried. The highs are now quite as good as the upscale Taks but I tend to prefer the old-timey, less trebly sound anyway.
I can't comment on the amplified sound. My ear isn't sophisticated enough to hear differences that couldn't be attributed solely to the amp (I use an Acoustasonic Jr). I use a lot of midrange and mute the bass and this guitar sounds just fine for my style (Travis and Blake stuff).

The fit and finish is excellent for a $400 guitar. The store (Daddy's) did a nice setup for me.

The ground on the pickup came loose and was repaired under warranty. Otherwise, it seems pretty rugged. I've been bouncing the thing around for over a year and it hasn't complained.

Daddy's handled the repair to my satisfaction.

I have several dozen guitars, about 8 of them acoustic. None of them are real high-end items. This guitar is sort of a jack-of-all trades that doesn't excel at anything but can always get the job done. For pure acoustic work, I favor a 1963 Guild F-30; for electric, a 1958 Gretsch Double Anniversary and a 1996 Peavey Reactor. But the Yamaha's the one I leave out on the guitar stand.

I've only played my friend's one a couple of times and a few more times at a local retailer...features are basically alright...built-in equalizer, can't remember what woods but overall it seems decently made.

Been playing for about 2-3 yrs, mostly blues and fingerstyle. I didn't get to plug it in so I'll just comment on the acoustic qualities. The treble was pretty bright but the mids and bass are all quite muffled after factoring in the age of the strings, almost as though it were covered with a blanket. Perhaps this is a consequence of the small body. If you're going to play fingerstyle this is not suitable due to its poor balance and flawed intonation. It does sound pretty jangly for chords due to the trebles so perhaps that's one saving grace.

Action was quite high but considering the lack of balance and poor intonation you wouldn't want to play very high up the neck anyway. Otherwise this guitar is decently made. Bracing was of acceptable standards, finish was OK, neck was quite slim and it's a looker to boot. The small body might be a boon for smaller players or frequent travellers, but most ppl would just see it as elegant.

didn't get to try anything even midly abusive with it.

I have a Taylor 712 and an old Rossini, both great guitars in their own right. Can't really think of any favourite features 'cos there weren't any outstanding ones. After playing this and a lot of other Yamahas I've concluded that Yamaha can copy all they want from established guitar makers but they just can't come close to getting the same sound quality. The same amount of money would be better spent on a Takamine, if you must have a Japanese acoustic. I must say this guitar is quite pretty, but I buy guitars for playing, not for hanging on the wall, so I'd pass this one on.

The Yamaha APX-4A is at the low end the APX totem pole, featuring a Spruce top, Nato (which I don't know what that is, several people have said it is a type of mahogany) sides, back, and neck, and an Indian Rosewood fingerboard. The Tuners are chrome, and are very easy to turn without sticking or being sloppy. It has a single piezo pickup (which requires a battery, doh), and a nicely done pre-amp EQ. The EQ sits on top of the guitar, and has a volumn knob, a midrange knob, a three-band equalizer, and a mute button. The electronics seem very solid and they don't hang down inside the instrument anywhere, or make rattling noises. The particular guitar that I bought had a very glossy black top, satin black sides and back, and a very deep red-brown neck (very classy looking :) ) . They offer also natural colored guitars. Oh yeah, a coupla other things: it has a very nice little decoration around the soundhole, but no pickguard ... (sucks to be the guitar's finish, I guess) and it also has TWO strap buttons (no shoe-string contraptions for this guitar player!)

I play pretty much any music out there, but I focus on classic rock (Acoustic Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Yes, etc.........), and I find this guitar suits all those styles well. Needless to say, it doesn't work too well for heavy metal or techno. WHen I feel a need to plug it in, I patch it through my limited effects (BOSS DS-1 Distortion, CH-1 Super Chorus, and BF-2 Flanger) into a little Crate GX-15. The Piezo Pickup has no noise that I can hear, and it puts out pretty much every little nuance of motion and pick attack you use (Passive Pickup fans, eat your hearts out heheheh). The sound can go from a rich, thick acoustic sound, all the way to something that sounds like it's coming from a radio (Works great for Wish You Were Here, Floyd Fans!!) by simply messing with the Midrange knob and the EQ. I suppose the sound could be a bit more "mic'd" sounding, but there's no way I could get the money to buy the Yamaha with the double pickup's on it. (sigh). When the guitar is played on it's own, it sounds wonderful... I guess Yamaha's are just built that way or something, cuz I've played a 20 year old Yamaha Acoustic, and it sounds great, and so does this one, which was made only a few months ago. The sound is slightly mellow (mahogany at work), but not at all mushy, and certainly not too bright. Also, it's smaller body size brings the volumn down just a tad, but that's ok for me.. and if you like it louder, plug it in!

The guitar seems decently set-up, but the action is a tad high (nothing a little careful filing won't eliminate). Everythign else seemed fine- no scratches in the finish, the tuners work like a charm, none of the fingerboard or neck wood seems dry or damaged (I can't tell with the body, it's been painted black). The electronics don't make any excess noise or rattling, there's no excessive scratching when you do bends, and I didn't notice any other flaws worth mentioning. I only give it a nine because the action is sorta high.

If this guitar stands up to it's manufacturer's reputation, it's going to be one tough guitar. As I mentioned before, I've played a twenty year old Yamaha, and it only had a few surface cracks to show that it had aged. The APX-4A is made of higher quality woods than the older one I played, so I assume it will last longer. The strap buttons are rock solid, and all the other hardware seems to be just like them. I would gig without a backup for sure.

My warranty is through my store, and I've been assured that if I have any problems whatsoever that they will fix it for free. However, I haven't had any problems, so i can't really rate it.

I've been playing for about a year. I also have a Slammer (by Hamer) electric guitar (which is a piece of crap!). I got the APX-4A because I felt it was time to get a guitar good enough to actually display in public. I like this guitar very much- especially the cut-away, and it's smaller size. Like I said, I wish it was a double-pickup model, but other than that, it's just what I wanted. When I was shopping I compared the APX-4A to a few others, but mainly against the Ibanez PF5CE-NT and the PF10. However, the APX-4A, with it's smaller size, better materials, and MUCH better pickup, was the one I finally decided on. I would definitely buy it again if given the chance.