Yamaha APX-5A

I paid ??199 as shop soiled should have been ??249, it has a tobacco coloured finish and a tripple banded binding around the edges.Electrics are three way EQ , volume pot and a strange AMF slider thingy,

I went to the shop with a ??400+ budget and tried out a number of electro acoustics , Takamine , Tanglewood, washburn,Ovation etc. I knew that Yammys had a good sound as a few of my freinds have them but thought that i should still do the comparisons. Sounded great, even though the strings were dead. The sound was crisp and reasonably full considering the thin body. Unfortunatly I couldnt give it a good try through an amp as some spotty youth was banging out the baseline to metalica without any consideration for others. Got it home and tried through a musicman 100 watt and it sounded quite brutal quite a disappointment however I plugged it into my tascam desk(EQs flat)through Yammy NS10s and wow...superb. Interestingly the AMF slider thing didnt do much when plugged into the musicman amp but gave a kind of phased sound when used through the desk. It developed a buzzing (like an earth buzz)when hitting hard on bottom E however this was remedied when I put a new battery in.Looking forward to hearing it through a gig PA system next friday.

Factory set up was OK however action was rather high at the 8th fret. I adgusted the truss slightly and now plays well. The heads are OK and could have been finished better, but hey, they do the job and are smooth enough. Laquer is nice and deep and considering it was used in the shop as a demo, it has polished up and is near mint condition, any problems here would be shop related and no directly yamahas.

I dont anticipate and problems with this guitar, it appears to be well built enough to withstand normal live perfomance. I do worry a little about that buzzing sound should the batteries start to lose life during a set, but i suppose that can be resolved with a change of battery regularly. I will probably change the strap buttons for locking type as the button at the neck seems to lose the strap, again I dont think thats a problem with the guitar or the price that I got it for.

naturally its covered by the guarantee and so far I havent had to have it repaired. I have a number of Yammy items in the studio including synth modules, drum modules and keyboards some ranging from 25 years old and I have never had a problem with any of them. some of which were second hand when I got them. There is plenty of info on Yamaha gear in their website and have managed to get manuals for all devices from them.

I have been playing for 30 years and have a range of instruments, I have a Washburn folk acoustic, Hofner 56 congress, A couple of Stagg acoustic ( for letting the kids abuse and Find them to be great value) Hohner spanish, Fender Tele and a Epiphone Les paul. I would definately look to replacing it with the same model and could have bought a more expensive Yammy model but I feel that I would only have been paying for cosmetic detail such as Mother of pearl Inlayed decals etc and not have gained much in sound....and after all the sound is the deal for me. For the money I think I got a great guitar and I also got a set of strings thrown in ( as would be expected) I was offered a gig bag and strap but refused them (already got loads)

Black finish
Thin acoustic with single cut-away
Enclosed tuners
25.5" scale
2005, Made in Taiwan
Laminated Spruce Top
Active electronics with volume and equalizer
Nato body and neck, Laminated spruce top

I play mostly country music, and this guitar is perfect for that. I play mostly without an amp when I practice. When I do play through an amp, it's quiet when I'm not playing and represents the acoustic sound pretty well when I am. You do need to adjust the onboard equalizer to get it to sound correct, but that's easy enough to do. The tone and sustain on this guitar are amazing for a guitar at this price. With a set of light phosphor bronze strings, this guitar will ring forever. This guitar produces amazing sound.

This is where this guitar fell flat on its face. I bought the guitar from Guitar Center, and when purchased the neck relief and action were horrible!!! The low E string was 13/64" above the 12th fret. With a capo on the first fret and the string fretted at the 14th fret, the low E string was 1/32" above the 7th fret. The strings were in outerspace compared to the fret board and the neck was severely bowed. Even with this arrangement, the intonation was perfect. After having the neck relief adjusted and the low E string height reduced to 7/64" above the 12th fret, the guitar plays how it should have from the beginning.

The finish of the guitar was excellent, as was the tuners and hardware. The guitar gets a low rating because with a price of $499, it should have been setup to be playable out of the box. I should not have had to spend an additional $60 to have a luthier set it up for me.

This guitar seems reasonably durable. The strap buttons are solid, and the finish is thick enough to withstand years of playing. The electric output jack tends to loosen up. Other than that, no problems.

I contacted the company twice. The first time, they did not respond at all. The second time, I asked what strings were installed at the factory, since I was not happy with the sound of the guitar once I replaced the OEM strings. The answer I received was they were light 80/20 phosphor bronze strings. Strings can either be 80/20 or phosphor bronze, but they can not be both. This answer was basically useless.

I've been playing for about 2 years. If it were lost or stolen, I would definitely look around before I bought another one. I would look at Taylor and Dean acoustic electrics and compare. I might buy another Yamaha, but I might not. The sound of the guitar is amazing, but the factory setup and support is non-existent.

It's a half body electro-acoustic guitar with cutaway. There is a volume pot and tone adjustment. Also some slider without any noticable effect. But maybe it's because I've only played it over my electric guitar amplifier instead of an acoustic one. I got it with a free gigbag, but I soon bought a hardcase for travelling.

The sound is not too loud when played without amplification, because it's got a half-thickness body. That's fine for rehearsing when everyone else in the house is sleeping. I only have an electric guitar amplifier. It sounds okay, but not great. Once I took it with me to a studio and plugged it into the PA-system. Wow, that was really great. Nice rich sound. No extra noises. It's a very quiet one.

The guitar was set up very well at the factory. I own more Yamaha products (2 electric basses) and they also came from the factory without needing any adjustments. Nothing to complain about. When using a tuner I can see that all the tones are correct all over the fretboard. The finish is fantastic, no problems at all.

It's an acoustic guitar. It will surely withstand live playing, but one should not abuse it. And the price isn't that low that one should not care for it. When treated with respect it's a reliable thing. The only need for backup would be the risk of breaking a string, but that could happen with any guitar.

I've never had any problems with any Yamaha product (I own a DX-11 synthesizer for almost 20 years now, without ever having any problems). So I don't know how the support is. But the quality of all Yamaha products seems too be very high.

I've been playing this guitar for about half a year now. And it plays very comfortably. I like the thin body (the one reason why I bought it), the sound, the playability (almost as light as my Fender Strat). It's very suitable for electric guitar players that also want to play acoustic sometimes. And for children, because it isn't so big. Before I bought it I played an APX-3 in the shop. That was also a fine guitar, but I decided to buy an APX-5 via the internet (because it was much cheaper in Germany than in Holland, where I live). I also played some other (cheaper) guitars but didn't like them so much and was afraid to leave my favourite brand (with which I have had so many good experiences).
It's excellent value for money. No need to pay more.

semi acoustic, yeah you know the rest, read some other reviews that have the answers the the features
very good guitar, bought it about 2 years ago, perfect for any guitar player looking for a great semi acoustic that can deliver a nice tone and withstand alot of traveling and beatings. i dont think youll find a guitar like this for this much money, its a bargain and itl last you along time

the sound is great, gives a nice, hard tone for blues, rock and even classical. theres enough room for finger picking as well, which is good because it makes it very versitile, but enough for some fast licks which is great, especially if you take it to a campfire and you just feel like playing a whole bunch of stuff all of the sudden.

the finish is great, even 2 years later (of course, alittle guitar polish never hurts) the action is great, its about a medium with me but i nevr had a problem with it or ever complained, its very comfortable.

lets put it this way... i was walking down my hardwood staircase, with my guitar in hand, with socks (not a very good combination). i put my foot down on the first step and slipped down the whole way. first thing that came to mind after about 5 minutes of pain on the floor was how was my guitar doing. i looked around, seeing all these pieces of wood and other stuff laying all around me. i pickup up my guitar from beside me and inspected it. there was a tiny chip in the laquer near the edge of the guitar and a single scratch leading to it. i couldnt beleive it, and when i looked up i saw a big chunk of the wall taken out and on the floor everywhere, and the hardwood stairs where scratched like crazy. in my opinion, if you tired to break this think of stage, youd try 3-4 times before you get a good crack in it. i put it through so much accidental abuse most people dont even beleive my stories. 10 for rock solid

nevr had any problems

ive been playing for 8 years now, this was my second guitar, i still own a Yamaha classical nylon stringed guitar and an Ibanez RG2570. the Ibanez is nice, fast neck and awesome sound form an amp, but this Yamaha semi has something wierd about it, something that no other guitar has, its like picking up soemthing youve had and known your whole life. the playing just seems natural, and the string are hard to bend, but when you do everything else just seems easy. i give it a 10 for being able to fall down the stairs with another human being and this wierdness of some kind

this is the 4th yamaha guitar i have purchased and like all the others is a treat to play (and i have been playing a variety of guitars, including gibson & fender for over 35 years; bought my first yamaha in 1974 & it still plays & sounds great). I actually bought the apx5a for my 15 year old daughter but admit that I do borrow it quite a lot. The neck is thin and very playable, the body though small gives out a good tight sound when played unplugged. Plugged in and set up correctly it can deliver a mighty punch, much to my surprise when we tried it in the shop. The action is also very good
for a guitar in this price range. Machine heads, frets are also very good. In fact it is difficult to find a fault with this guitar.

blues is my main love and the apx5a is very easy to finger pick when playing ragtime, or any finger picking style since the frets are far from jumbo(complete opposite, so if you have farmer's fingers then maybe this is not for you).For playing rock, i use my old 70's Marshall 50 watt valve amp through 4x50 watt speakers, using the high input and this guitar can give a great variety of tones with excellent sound & punch. For electric blues i use the low input on my amp and again the sound is very good(i have not used it with any effects so cannot comment on this but personally i don't this guitar needs any since you can play around with the electrics for a vast variety of sounds).

this guitar is well made (considering the low cost)and the factory settings are fine. My daughter (goth!), insisted on a black finish despite my warnings that it would show up sratch marks very easily(and it has) but this happens with most black finished guitars and yamaha can't be blamed for this.

this guitar will definately endure live playing although as previuosly stated i am sure the black finish won't last too long if the guitar is 'grossly abused', but then some guitarists like that kind of look.

having purchased 4 yamahas, i have yet to have any problems which can't be fixed myself, therefore i cannot make any comment in this category, but i would not expect to use it, going by my past history.
I am sure we were given a lifetime warranty

been playing for 35yrs+, would deff replace if stolen, i also bought the 12 string version of this guitar at a later date. My other guitars are yamaha FG300 accoustic,ibanez artcore semi-accoustic, fender usa telecaster (original 60's version), fender usa stratocater (highway series), gibson les paul standard (gecko 2004)and a bc rich assasin (have owened & sold various guitars in between but i think i will keep what i have). I use a 1970's orginal valve lead guitar amp, 50 watt rms, through four 50 watt rms speakers.

I bought this in 2001. It has an equalizer and a slidy AMF thing that does not appear to do anything. Cut way neck, chrome tuners, nice inlay and binding. Mine is a natural finish. A very pretty and comfartable guitar to play.

THis is the first elecrto acoustic I owned and tt sounded great until I heard a couple of other rival makes; Washburn etc. THen I realised that the sound is good but easily beaten for tone and warmth by other comparably and better priced guitars.

The guitar played sweetly from the off. Having survived several gigs and festivals and taken a few SEVERE bashings (some accidental) it carries on playing well despite this. Battery lasts for ages and it its tough ene though it looks all nice and soft etc... It is also an incredibly forgiving and easy guitar to play.

This guitar has been plucked and thrashed to death all over the world now AND IT SIMPLY WILL NOT DIE. Easy on strings, long battery life, strap buttons stay on. I have only ONE criticism and it is a biggy. The frets are rubbish! This is the only guitar amongst dozens where the frets have worn down as to render the guitar more a sitar. I would rather replace the guitar than the frets due to the aforementioned sound quality.

This guitar is geat for beginners. Check out Ebay and see the high prices that even 2nd hand ones are fetching. It is a brilliant guitar in terms of ease to play and durability and looks. Remember those rubbish frets though if you are a hard player! Also the fact there are better sounding guitars for less cash if you know where to look. I would not buy one again for these too facts. Nto to detract from the quality of it other than the fact am very, very picky.

Made in Japan this small bodied accoustic/electric cutaway has a 3 way on board eq, volume and AMF slider. The guitar has a solid spruce top and rosewood fingerboard. Mine is black with white binding on the body. The turners are sealed hard chrome from Yamaha.
This guitar has a 14 fret neck made of rosewood(?).

I am a beginning player but I also have a critical ear, this is a concert quality sound. Nice and bright highs and rich lows. I currently play it accoustically only as my amplifier is specialized for pedal steel guitar. This guitar can by played very dynamically depending on how you want to sound. It's response is excellent.
If there's a bad feature I sure haven't found it.

Action was perfect for me. A much more experienced player who's a close friend played it before I did the night I bought it and he was suitably impressed. He owns several guitars including a beautiful Martin and I trust his judgement in all matters concerning music.
The fit and finish of this guitar are superb, just what I would expect from Yamaha.

I have no doubt this guitar will last a lifetime. The tuners are sealed and have extremely smooth action with excellent control. The finish is tough, I am pretty easy on it as my skin is not oily and I do not perspire much at all. I normally wear long sleaves too. I polish the guitar every couple of weeks to remove some fine hairlike scratches that I make with my 3rd and 4th fingers where the pick guard would be if it had one. I fingerpick mostly and just a quick, light buffing restores this area to prestine condition.
I would not hesitate to use this guitar on stage or in the recording studio.

I've had no issues to deal with so I can't say. Yamaha has an outstanding reputation and I've yet to hear a bad word.

I've been playing accoustic guitar for almost two months. This is my first guitar as I've played pedal steel, lap steel and dobro off and on for many years.
I would be heartbroken if anything happened to this guitar, I'd run out and get another one. I think especially for a new player this guitar is just a perfect place to start. It's comfortable, sounds good and begs to be played. It's hard to put it down. For an experienced player I'm sure this is an equally great value.
You cans spend less and get a lot less, you can spend more and still get less. Someday I'll be good enough to justify a high end guitar such as a Martin or a Taylor but till that time comes I'm completely convinced that I own the best guitar out there for me. If you love the guitar and are serious about learning I don't think you start with a nicer instrument than this.

Bought in 1999, don't know where or when it was made.
22 frets etc etc etc you can read the rest of the reviews.
Well kitted out for an accoustic, with decent electronics, nuts and nice lightweight body.
However I had to buy a seperate case and strap (ok they threw it in, but were it not for my champion haggling) which I always think is very stingy.

This simply sounds sublime. My nylon string is the only guitar I have that sounds better for classical (obviously), while for ballady style songs (fade to black etc) it simply comes into its own.
I only play it through my Marshall TSL set up which isn't at all designed for accoustics (thus it feeds back like a bitch). However when I played it through my brother's Ashdown radiator 2, it was again perfection to the ears.
I bought it when I was 18 and living at home, and it made my long suffering mother finally enjoy the noise coming from my room, rather than despair of it.
My brother just played #2k for a Martin & Co and I really cannot say that it is better than this Yamaha for sound.

The action is excellent for an accoustic. I play with rotosound gold, starting at a 12, which I think is pretty stiff. Yet you can still effortlessly get a semi-tone or even full tone shift by bending the strings. And the frets are solid enough not to buzz when you do so.
The sunburst blue finish is gorgeous, while the maple neck is attached so well it looks like it is the same piece of wood as the body.
My one complaint is that the pegs on the bridge seemed to have been hammered in with a mallet - changing strings the first time was VERY difficult - the bass strings just kept pulling the pegs out. But after much effort is was fine, and has been fine since (5 years!)

Hmm. While at uni my mate "happened" to be in my room, my guitar "happened" to fall over and the neck "happened" to snap clean in two, about 5cm from the head. I am comfortable enough with my (hetero)sexuality to say that yes, I cried (#400 is an aweful lot to a student). I have to say though that after bad gigs I have stroppily thrown guitars on the floor from a higher height with little more than a dent.
Otherwise, yes it has happily withstood live playing, the hardware was otherwise solid and the strap buttons have never come loose.
A shop in Bristol managed to make it look and sound as good as new, for #90. But I'm afraid that heartache only deserves 6.

Yamaha immediately put me in contact with a nearby shop who were qualified to fix it. They did an excellent job, and Yamaha were very nice and sympathetic.

I have been playing for 12 years and also own a Ramon nylon string, Ibanez RG570EX, Ibanez Blazer (1980 original - very reliable and loud), Fender Bass (guitar players can play bass better than bass players can!) and play through a Marshall TSL 100 head with 1960A cab.

It did break, and I spent my beer fund on getting it repaired. Had it been a write off, yes, I'd have bought it again.
It annoys me that the electrics has no off-switch - if you leave it plugged in (even without power) then it eats a 9v battery. Otherwise it is perfect. And only #350 these days too.

No Idea when it was manufactured as I bought it from my brother secondhand it has 22 frets plays great plugged or unplugged but an having some disturbing hums through the amp recently when plugged in which could possibly be an earthing prob.it is has a maple neck my prefered wood and is finished in a lovely dark satin.

Suits my playing perfectly great sound onced and amplified and effects added very crisp and clean,but is brilliant for playing unplugged and and love the fact that is nice and slim never liked those huge wide acoustics.Was very suprised at how loud it was considering it's slim build

When i first got this guitar i found the high action not to my liking so went through a long period of sanding down the plain saddle(original saddle was broken before I got it)untill finally I solved it.

It's going ok so far but no guitar lasts for years without some servicing so I anticipate seeking some profesional advice soon on things like fret wood ware.

Have never dealt with Yamaha.

I have been playing for 22 years,I own 3 guitars including the APx4 a Squire silver series Strat great guitar,and my real jot and passion a 1970's black Gibson Les Paul studio with gold plated hardware.If the Apx was ever stolen or wrecked would certainly buy another.

Well, by now everyone knows, but here it is: Mine was made in Taiwan (which seems a little strange to me since some are made in Japan, which is where I bought in) and has 22 frets. I'm a big fan of it having two strap buttons. As mentioned, the tuners aren't so great, and I'll probably replace them sooner or later. I love the look of this guitar. At a glance, I thought it was black, but closer inspection or decent lighting shows you that it's actually bluish/tealish color in the center and blackish around the edges.

I also like that it doesn't have a pickguard. I don't use picks, so to me a pickguard is nothing but an eyesore.
I got it with a free gigbag and strap.

This is has already been explained very well. Personally, I love the sound. I'm an acoustic player, so I'm more used to a good, full sound, but this guitar sounds great, very bright.

Neck alignment isn't perfect, but the action is nice and low up by the head, which I love.

When I bought it, it looked absolutely beautiful. No flaws of any kind.. Except that one of the tuning pegs was loose.

The strap buttons seem good, and I've bumped it around a bit with no more than one microscopic ding (which, though it pains me, isn't even noticeable unless you're really looking for it). I don't have a lot to say in this category as I mostly play at home/friends' homes.

Well, I bought it at a Yamaha store here in Japan. I haven't had any problems with it, so I don't know how they are for support, but I loved the employees. They were very helpful and knowledgable, and even suggested that I buy something else I was interested in at a different store! It has a warranty, but it's only for two years.

Basically, I love this guitar. So much so that I sought out online reviews to encourage that other people give it a try. I've been playing for about six years, off and on. I've owned and played a bunch of different guitars, and I think this is my favorite.

If it was lost (which I am worried about, since I'll be doing some international traveling soon), I would definitely buy another one. If it was stolen, I'd hunt down the bastard and make him buy me another one.