Yamaha SLG100N Silent Guitar

I had two of these guitars. The build quality is very goon on these. One had to get the bridge sanded for lower action, but once done, the action was superb, no buzz noises at all, at a very low action rarely found on classical guitars. On thing which bothers me is when carried in its case, the weight on your back or shoulders is not balanced, in a way that makes it very annoying to carry with you.

It appears that the quality level of the electronics integrated into this guitar is its culprit.

On my first guitar, the 3 bass strings sounded about 30% quieter than the treble strings, no matter how I put the bridge (I even replaced it with a bone made one), or the strings I used. On the other hand, the treble strings sounded just awesome, and the reverb was clean a very, very good sounding. I ended up selling it because of the balance problems.

Then I got the second one, on which the balance is great, but the reverb is damn noisy (very loud hiss noises) and the sound is not as loud and bright. The treble section on the first one sounded much much better.

So overall, I can see great built quality with poor electronics, which is quite surprising as Yamaha usually make great electronics.

Both guitars are made in Taiwan (I know these are made in Indonesia as well)

Superb action and finish, only make sure you adjust the bridge so the action is not too high (by sanding it). The neck has no adjustable truss rod, but is set perfectly !

With better electronics this could be a professional, high level instrument. But somehow it seems that Yamaha didn't put much attention to how the electronics and pickup are implemented, leaving the quality of the instrument in a big question. You might find a great sounding one, or have one with hiss noises and poor balance. So basically, make a thorough test for one once you find it.

The guitar is probably about seven years old. The original owner received as a gift while traveling through Japan. I'm not sure if there's any difference between the Japanese-domestic version versus the made for U.S. version. All of the Yamaha Nylon Silent Guitars come with the B-Band under-saddle ribbon transducer pickup system and the active electronics/preamp are B-Band's design probably licensed out to Yamaha. A very nice mahogany neck grafted onto a quasi-body of maple. On first appearances, it reminded me of Les Paul's 1939 "log guitar" concept. The tuners are of decent quality, the tuning knobs with their dark amber pearl plastic actually add a nice touch to the headstock appearance. There's a volume, bass and treble controls. Output jack and headphone stereo output. There's a sliding switch for clean, reverb1 and reverb2. On the back, an input jack for connecting an auxiliary music source, i.e. ipod, computer, cd player and a volume control for that input source. The upper and lower bouts on the either side of the guitar are plastic frame outlines. The lower frame has a cutaway shape that looks vaguely like a Macaferri Gypsy Jazz guitar and gives you access to the upper registers. This guitar is designed for a right handed player.

Another tasteful touch is the total lack of the Yamaha name plastered on the headstock. Instead, just the elegant "Triple Tuning Fork" logo. (For the motorcyclists out there, Yamaha has taken this same styling lick to their YZ-R sportbikes, no name on the gas tank, just the "Triple Tuning Fork" badge).

First the "Bad News".

Bought this guitar used via Craig's List. I was on my way to a business appointment and only had time to meet the seller, pay for the guitar, plug it in for two minutes, and leave. It sounded OK during those two minutes but when I got home, it was a totally different story. With the power converter plugged in, it sounded like a major pile horse S*%t! There was a tremendous amount of 60-cycle hum, static, and very, very, low output. I took the control cover on the back to expose the electronics. It looked like the previous owner had poked around in there probably faced with the same problems. With printed circuit boards, if there's anything bad, the chances of you repairing are probably somewhere between slim and none. Now I realized why this guy was selling it. Terrific... a great playing nylon string guitar, looks wonderful, but sounds un-listenable with the headphones and even worse plugged into an amp. I went back in, re-checked all ground contacts, cleaned connections and this removed most the 60-cycle hum but still very anemic output unless the volume knob was at 9 or 10. With any type of system with a preamp, when the volume is dialed up to maximum, there will be some noise and distortion. I even tried using the Yamaha plugged into my LR Baggs ParaAcoustic DI preamp then going into my amps but still way too much noise in the Yamaha's preamp circuitry.
At this point... very tempted to use it for firewood.


Now the "Good News".

I decided to yank out all the circuit boards and replace it with B-Band's aftermarket UST Preamp/Pickup System. When I called B-Band to get some technical info, their customer service person told to me to try their "replacement" under-saddle ribbon transducer, made specifically for the Yamaha Silent Nylon String Guitar first. He told me other people have had the same problem. For $39.00, it was a lot cheaper than than buying a whole new pickup/preamp system. The B-Band site offers detailed instructions on installing their under-saddle ribbon transducer pickup, if you buy one of these, take the time to read it. It arrived in the mail, I installed it in 10 minutes and WOW! This guitar now sounds absolutely amazing! This new version of the ribbon transducer is very impressive. Touch sensitive, very clean dynamics, amazing amount of headroom through the headphones or plugged into an amp, AND it is totally quiet. As in NO 60-cycle hum or interference of any sort regardless if I'm using the AC power converter or a 9volt battery. Now, I barely turn the volume knob past 4, the DSP reverb which was extremely noisy before is now church-mouse quiet. I'm not a big fan of Digital Sound Processing of any sort but the new replacement pickup makes the "room reverb" and "concert hall" reverb settings sound quite impressive. Years ago, I played a wonderful Ramerez purchased in Spain in the 60's, the Yamaha comes very close. It is almost as warm but the balance and articulation of the notes is actually better. I use this guitar for Brazilian jazz and it's perfect. The tone controls give a very wide range. I usually go just a little past the potentiometer's flat detent setting. This tells me that the guitar's natural tone is already quite balanced. There is no sign of that artificial tone you get with piezo pickups, no "quack" or any feedback. Even though this guitar is an alleged earlier version, I really love it. I have a friend who has this same guitar and after trying his, which is a newer version, mine sounds fuller, more articulate, and is much quieter than his. After hearing the two guitars, he may have me install the newer ribbon replacement pickup in his guitar. By the way, the replacement ribbon pickup looks considerably different from my original. The replacement ribbon transducer has a red film coating on the portion that lies under the saddle and the actual metal film looks a little different as well as the plug at the end.

It's very comfortable to play. The action is good for a nylon string guitar. Overall, the fit and finish are pretty impressive. I build and repair guitars as a hobby and almost all the guitars made in Asia that I've had to modify, repair, or set up for people had major design flaws, poor workmanship, inferior parts, or cheap materials used in the body and necks. The overall quality of the build of this guitar is far superior to anything I've seen by Yamaha in recent times. When I first saw this guitar, I was impressed by the solid feel and general lack of the "imported cheap-guitar" factor. In real world terms, this is not a very expensive guitar but congrats to Yamaha for for producing a competent, capable, and reasonably priced guitar.

Since I bought this guitar used, I'm not sure what this guitar was subjected to before I bought it. The previous owner took pretty good care of, a few minor dings but well cared for. As for all the problems I initially had and the resolution brought about with a replacement ribbon pickup, who know? The pickup could have been defective from the factory, the previous owner may have tried to modify something, maybe because the guitar traveled through humid regions of the world with the previous owner, corrosion may have caused the problems. Kind of hard to determine how durable this guitar really is. I've only had it for a two months.

Contacted Yamaha's customer support for help with all the problems I experienced when I got the guitar but it's pretty much a roll of the dice when you buy something on Craig's List or EBay. They tried to be as helpful but phone diagnosis on matters of solid state electronics can only go so far. The main mother board sells for around $350.00. Not cheap. They referred me to an authorized guitar shop locally but that was going to be very expensive.

However, the customer service at B-Band was excellent. The diagnosis was spot-on, the $39.00 replacement ribbon transducer pickup was more than reasonable and the delivery time was very fast. For these factors alone, I would seriously consider B-Band's systems for acoustic guitar's that I'll work on in the future. They're from Finland now based in Austin, Texas. I wasn't familiar with their products before this but very impressed with what they came up with for the Yamaha Silent Guitar. Nylon string guitars are tough to amplify properly.

I've been playing since the late 60's. I have two custom Strat hybrids, a 63 SG Junior, a 74 SG Special, a heavily modded British Baldwin 548, a tweaked Asian Strat, a Larrivee Parlor acoustic, a classical, and now the Yamaha Silent guitar. For amps, a 67 Twin, a Gibson GA-60RV, modified Peavey 112, a very modified class-A Epiphone Galaxie 10. For pedals, Xotic AC & RC Boosters, Keeley modified TS9-DX, Boss DM-2 Analog Delay, and a Thomas CryBaby.

Is there something I wished I had asked before buying this guitar? Yeah, how about: "Hey, guy selling a guitar on Craig's List, does this thing work or is it broken? And since you probably knew the electronics were fried, were you planning on telling me?"

If stolen, I'd definitely replace it. Although the price seems to be going up on the Yamaha Silent series.

Now with the newest version of ribbon transducer pickup, it plays great, sound as good as I can expect, and looks like none other. My favorite thing is the absolutely purity of the sound. I've heard other amplified nylon string guitars and this in my opinion sounds far better. The combination of a smooth playability, solid build, good quality woods, attention to detail, the B-Band System and stunning appearance adds up to one of my favorite guitars.

Well covered

I wasn't pleased with the sound, G string was too hot, and there was almost no treble. I replaced the pickup with a Baggs LBX and couldn't be happier. Also lowered the action a bit. I run it straight to PA. I have small a Yamaha powered speaker at home.

I also added a finger rest, which comes standard on the steel version, and got a good quality gig bag, and I made a custom leg rest, for playing seated.

We shall see. Haven't had it long

This and a La Patrie classical are my perfect set. The Yamaha needed some work, but I love it now.

This is a well known product that needs no further descriptions. A superbly well designed frame type silent guitar, a true work of art for the third millenium and already a classic.
It has a detachable upper rim and can be slipped into an equally well designed gig bag.
Active piezo pickups deliver a very good PIEZO tone... more on this later.

To sound like or not to sound like, that's the question. You can approach this instrument in two ways:
1 - As a cheap imitation of a spanish classical nylon-stringed guitar that delivers an approximate "classical nylon" tone;
2 - As a state-of-the-art electric guitar equiped with a piezoelectric system that delivers a sound of it's own.
If you choose option one probably you'll use the SLG as a practice instrument, and it's a very good one. But it will never behave like your Conde Hermanos, no way.
For those who choose the second option this guitar will open many musical doors. It has a tone, a fell, and a playability that's completely new to us. Why should I compare a synthesiser to a grand piano? I play this guitar with an exploratory attitude and she gives me back many new possibilities. I don't give a damn to know if it has the "right" nylon tone; it has a NEW nylon tone which I find beautiful and inspiring. Just plug it directly to the PA system with a good reverb, maybe a hint of chorus if you like it, and enjoy your new soundscapes. Yamaha does some pretty research to ceate new, fresh musical instruments. The SLG can "mimmick" a classical guitar, but it can go much further ahead.

This is a high end instrument, I tried several of them and never found a single flaw. It's incredible how Yamaha did this so good at a very honest price.
The mahogany neck has a sweet satin finish and a good rosewood fretboard. Frets are well levelled and dressed. Tuners are quite good, the ones you find at very "costy" classicals.
It has a "slim" (for a classical) 50mm nut, neck has a gentle "D" shape, I found it to be extremely fast in it's kind - I'm able to play as comfy as on my archtop. I must say that the factory action was pretty high for my taste (I'm accostumed to low action, fast-necked jazz archtops). I lowered the saddle by myself using sandpaper. I do not reccomend you to do it if you never did it before... try with a cheaper guitar or with a piece of plastic. Anyway, a luthier would be the ideal and safe solution.
With a setup like this (assuming you play jazz-latin-pop) this guitar is surprisingly fast. Intonation is good, "99%" perfect (i noted that the saddle is slightly compensated) and The neck can be used up to the higher frets. To get a "100%" intonation it would be necessary to have a compensated nut installed. Anyway, I played many high end classical guitars and the intonation is never perfect. That's nylon. There are researches on this topic wich can be easily found on the web.

The SLG was an instant success, there are many pros using it on stage and in the studio (if it's good to Lee Ritenour...).
It has proved to be a professional and reliable instrument.

N/O

I play guitar since 68. Dozens of instruments and amps. This Yammy came to stay... it's so comfortable to play, so light... I can go on for hours, pure magic. It's almost dishonest.
I'm thinking of getting another one just to have a backup... at this price it's a killer bargain and an astonishing "bang for the buck". Thank you, Yamaha!

Not much point discussing the features here as its been well featured already. What i will say is this if you are a classical guitarist and you spend time traveling or go on holidays this could be an ideal solution. Yeah i know its an electric guitar and the aversion we purists have to such things but it is surpsingly nice. Read my next comments for detailed info. Another good feature and perhaps THE feature is that the guitar plays at 1/10th the volume of a standard classical guitar so it does'nt annoy the family or neighbours when you practice. I've heard complaints about the battery, however from my manuel i see the battery lasts for 24 hours, ok about a 1/3 of that time if you use the onboard reverbs but still 24 hours is a good time, for those of us who can just to say find 1 hour a day to practice thats not bad at all. I do rather like the guitar machine heads too. I note the neck is very nice to the touch, what some refer to as a fast neck.

Ok so this is not a grand concert guitar or luthier built instrument but the sound of a classical guitar can be heard, i compared it to my hand built luthier classical guitar and was quite pleased with its sound. You can tweak the guitar with the onboard EQ so you can get a fairly warm rich or brooding tone depending on the settings. Bear in mind if you go on holiday what would you take? Your hand built concert guitar that cost your $4000+ or your relatively inexepensive Yamaha that can be replaced very easily???

As for the set up and finish, Yamaha have'nt let me down yet. I also have a yamaha saxophone, trombone and piano all great and typical of the quality i expect from Yamaha.

If well cared for i see no reason why this should'nt last a life time.

I've played classical guitar since i was about 16, so approx 20 years, i owned a stack of guitars in that time and i have to say the yamaha SLG100N is a nice guitar with a fairly realistic classical guitar sound and feel. What would i change about this guitar? Well i see Yamaha have already since i purchased my guitar brought out an upgrade the SLG120NW, the new guitar has a frame that can be removed on both sides, great idea, a solid ebony neck,which is an upgrade from the rosewood neck on the SLG100N, oh i also believe the frame is made of natural wood, hmmmm? I still kinda like the plastic frame on the SLG100N however as others have said it can get a little uncomfortable. HEY YAMAHA you still have not added an onboard chromatic tuner even to the new 120 model????

One other point some reviewers have refered to this instrument as travel guitar, ok yeah i'd take mine on holidays but did you know your not allowed to take it on a aeroplane as hand luggage, its to long!(UK planes) Which means it has to go in the hold, well lets hope its safe in the hold and i'm sure glad i have musical instrument insurance.

SLG-100N(W)- made 2005. wide neck, 19 Frets, classical frame guitar. Built-in reverb, headset amp, auxiliary line input. Comes with AC adapter, battery, gig bag.

Through my Sony MDR-G56 headphones the sound is great. The level is a little low so efficient headphones are best. The reverb makes little practice sessions feel like concerts!

No complaints about the setup.

Construction seems good. However, I have noted that with repeated insertion of the top frame, the wood around the insertion point has become chipped. Since this is a travel guitar where you have to remove the top frame to put the guitar in the gig bag, I suppose wear and tear in this area is inevitable. The electronic back cover and parts are plasticky.

Life time warranty, according to the salesman in the store. I haven't had to deal with Yamaha, however, so I do not know what they are like.

I love the sound of this guitar. I also love the feel. It is terrific for holding up high. I can play for hours and hours without any discomfort. I have another classical guitar, a LaPatrie electro cutaway, but I can only play for a limited time before getting sore. This Yamaha is truly liberating. One disadvantage: If you play songs that require rhythmic taps on the guitar body you are SOL. Knocks on the little bit of wood at the bridge do not project the same at all! :-)

Quick update on my prior feedback regarding string selection. As they age, the LaBella 900B polished basses continue to suit the guitar well, but the black trebles start to sound thin. I've changed the trebles to medium tension clear nylons (D'Addario Pro Arte or Galli Genius nylon) and the mix works nicely together.

I bought a pair of M-Audio DX4 active nearfield monitors (18 watts EQ'd to the drivers, $150) and tried them with the Yamaha SLG. Highly recommended -- what a surprisingly natural sound from such a small portable setup. A small external preamp can provide even more gain if needed (e.g. Presonus TubePre).

Unlike other reviewers, I'm comfortable playing it even for hours at a time, standing or sitting. The frame edges never dig into my chest or forearm. Without reverb, it is surprisingly noise free through either output jack -- no hiss and no hum. The reverb effects are too noisy for my taste.

It sounds much better through good headphones or a good acoustic amp than I expected from some reviews. What a pleasure to play through an amp with no feedback problems! Like all good classical guitars, strings definitely change the sound and feel. I've tried lots of different strings and found that the sound with the stock strings can easily be improved upon. My top pick for this guitar is LaBella Elite Classical 900B with polished gold basses and black nylon trebles. On this guitar the polished basses have a rich and clear tonal balance, and are much quieter than other polished basses I've tried including D'Addario polished composites. The black trebles are a bit bright for this guitar, but that's actually a plus because when you roll off the treble tone control by -30 degrees or so, you get a very convincing tone and the roll-off cuts down what little string noise remains. I buy these strings from stringsbymail.com.

This one came through with excellent action. Couldn't be better.

Don't know.

Don't know

I use it for performing classical and Latin jazz through an amp, for late night practicing with headphones, and for trips. I couldn't be more pleased with it at any price. I've been playing for decades. My other guitars are a Paulino Bernabe classical and a Gibson ES-175 electric archtop.

She?s got the look... That?s for sure. The ?head turning? factor is very high, especially for the price, but if you own an SLG for a while, it?s a different story. I bought it two years ago as a travel guitar after searching the Web for quite a while. Seemed like a reasonable mid-price option (regretfully the Frameworks Guitars cost much more).

SLG is a classical-electric guitar with nineteen frets, but without a body ? just a neck and a frame to rest your right arm and chest. Fits into a gig bag, which is (at least it?s true in my case so far) allowed on board of a plane. That?s why I bought it.

The first impression? The frame cuts your chest and arm. The instrument could be better balanced ? if you tie the belt to both knobs, the neck has the tendency to go down. If you tie the belt to the head, the balance is better, but then the belt can obstruct the playing.

Important ? SLG is designed to play in the standing position; otherwise get ready for pain in the back. Regretfully you cannot attach the standard ergonomic plastic devices ? perhaps a home-made one.

Comes with CHEAP earphones (had them replaced day one) and a standard power adapter with a short cable, so no running on stage.

Built-in volume switch, EQ (just Bass and Treble), standard ?? connection to external amp/PA, and LED power indicator, visible when you play.

AUX IN with adjusted volume ? you can play along your favourite CDs without disturbing the people around too much.

Short battery life. Carry a spare battery ? you never know when it?s gonna die.

The neck is 49 mm wide, which gives a feel of a classical guitar. Well, it IS a classical guitar...

The ?natural? sound and the second reverb are OK., but I didn?t expect anything fancy. It?s an electric guitar, so you?re in the hands of your sound engineer anyway (I plug it in line directly, no amps). SLG can sound like a decent classical guitar. Takes some time to get used to the acoustic sound, especially when playing at low volumes.

Don?t expect to get out of the SLG all the subtleties of a classical guitar sound.

The name ?silent? is only true when you play classical ? rasqueados and chords played with a pick make a bit of a noise. Anyway, I?m not going to complain here, as I have never heard any remarks from my neighbors.

Tunes OK.

No feedback problems.

Each of the three copies in a shop had a different feel and action. If you play a classical guitar, SLG is easier to play than most (low action). Switching between an SLG and a classical after a long time can be tricky.

The neck vibrates in a completely different manner than in a classical guitar. Took me time to get used.

Playing barre chords higher than 12th position demands acrobatic features (the neck gets thicker). You would expect this to be possible with such a loooong neck.

Simple minimalistic design, carefully finished.

So far the guitar survived about 50 flights. The unsymetrical gig bag is equally difficult to carry on the arm strap as it is to put in an upright position. The bag doesn?t really protect the instrument, so I?m always careful.

The frame screws get loose, so I have to tight them approx. once a week.

Never need any ? a friend helped to solder the broken battery cable (the battery compartment looks like one in a cheap transistor radio).

SLG is a reasonable mid-price option for a traveling musician. It?s not a great guitar, but it does a job ? I play classical, bossa and acoustic rock and the guitar performs OK. On stage it?s a choice between a short power supply cable and short battery life.

Built-in tuners would be helpful. Or better machine heads (they look nice, though). Or both.

I would appreciate a new improved model instead of black and red versions of the same thing, introduced by Yamaha.

After a number of changes the SLG can be a very serious instrument. Looking forward...

Anyone heard if Line 6 intends to launch an acoustic model with nylon strings?

I thing the neatest thing about this guitar is the overall look of the intrument, has that museum of modern art look. My wife liked it so much she has me hang in the wall like a picture when I'm not using it. I got it pretty cheap, $250 at a pawnshop. Since I'm just a beginner, well actually ive been tring to play for 30 years off and on, im kind of one of those guys who loves the equipment but cant figure out how to make it work. I thought it would be nice that I could practice with out disturbing the family and the wide finger board seems to make it a bit easer to find cords than the electrics.
I did see a picture of the steel string version, I couldnt quite figure out why have pick guard, what are going to scratch up, the air? I know when I play Air Guitar I always have a pick guard,hehe But it does look neat.

I am a beginner and have been learning on an electric guitar but I was pretty pleased with the sound with my amp

Well the look of this thing is very cool and the build looks good, the headstock and neck seem very well made. I do worry about the plastic back and I was worried replacing the battery that I would break the bat holder. I did find the top frame would cut into my arm, so I put a pillow or just take off the top frame while im practicing

The electronics kind of scare me but Yamaha has been know for quality electronics for a long time.

Havent used

I like this thing alot, I think it will help me learn to be a guitar player, plus my wife wont fuss for me having it around and complain that im playing, or "trying" to play too loud.