All user reviews for the Yamaha APX4A

I got this off of e bay for $265

I bought this site unseen because of the Yamaha name and some reviews I'd read. Generally, Yamaha means quality. The action is a little high for me but can definitely be tweaked to your liking. The fit and finish is excellent. Frets have no sharp edges and the fret finish is mirror like. I'm assuming this is a factory fret job. The tone acousticaly is really even all the way up the neck. The neck radius is very comfortable almost to the electic guitar feel. It plays fast and is quite loud for a thin body acoustic/elecric. I haven't plugged it in but am assuming it will carry the same sonic traits as it does acousticaly. The tuners are smooth and are about an 18/1 ratio(Can't say for sure as I didn't count)

The low "E" buzzes a little but with new strings and a little bit of setup this would be easily fixed.

The guitar seems solid and the fit of neck to body/fret board to neck is smooth.

I would recomend this guitar to anyone. Pro or amateur looing for a decent sounding quitar. The only factory acoustic/electric that compares to this one is a $1000 Ovation that I tried out about 8 months ago. This includes some Sigmas, Gibsons, Fenders and other Ovations........For the record I am 39 years old and have been playing guitar since I was forced by my mama when I was 6.....as a full time gig for the last 12 years....

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I originally bought this guitar at Music Showcase in Pa for about $450 dollars. This was about 6 years ago and up to that point was the most i'd ever payed for a guitar. Not knowing a great deal about guitars at that point, I bought it because I thought it looked nice.

I like the looks of this guitar, and it doesn't sound too bad plugged in but other that that, nothing.

Well for starters, for the price or maybe a bit more, you can get a much better guitar. When this thing isn't plugged in, it only sounds decent on a new set of strings for about a week. The guitar is also made of cheap wood and plastic and the tuners just downright suck. If your looking to spend between $450-$600 dollars, get yourself a low end martin and have it drilled out or buy an alverez. For the price Alverez makes some really great sounding guitars.

Like I said earlier, this guitar is made of cheap wood, crappy tuners and plastic. The action is relatively high and it sounds like crap when its not plugged in.

Bottom line if your going to spend the money for one of these guitars, don't. Or at least take your time and try to play some different guitars because there are many better guitars out there in this ones price range. I have since bought a Taylor 314 and its just great. But thats a whole nuther ball game.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I purchased the apx-4a at a local pawnshop in Parkersburg WV. I was looking for an acoustic-electric that would amplify well on stage without feedback problems. I originally had a kramer strat shaped acoustic on layaway at the pawnshop, but when I saw the yamaha, I convinced the manager to let me purchace it instead. I paid 250 for the guitar with a chipboard case, and immediately bought the yamaha hard case at a local music store for 100.

First of all, the Yamaha was an attractive looking guitar, especially compared to the kramer, which looked like a toy d8} - It has a tobacco sunburst finish, a cutaway, and a smaller, "martin 000" sized body. It is thin in depth, with back and sides that appeared to be an ovation style synthetic at first. Upon inspecting the interior of the guitar, it appears to be an all wood guitar with the sides and back having a black textured finish. The guitar has an under-saddle pickup, volume,treble,and bass controls on the upper bout. The knobs push to retract into the body, so once the settings are made, the electronics are very unobtrusive. The action is low, without buzzes, the intonation is excellent in all positions.the tuners are smooth and stable.
The guitar amplifies very well. Acoustically, the guitar does not compete with a good drednought for "boom", but it the balance is very nice, especially for fingerpicking and english folk playing. Once plugged in, many tonal options are available.

For some players, it might be a plain instrument. The binding is plastic, and the inlay on the headstock is painted.

It is very solid - It has been played outdoors and in clubs throughout wv and southern ohio without any problems. The only preventative maintenance has been tightening the output jack and making sure to change the battery when changing strings since you have to reach inside the soundhole and remove a small plastic box attached with velcro holding a 9volt battery. This box has come lose while playing, which can be distressing while playing, to say the least. I have seen later apx-4a's that have a battery hatch and different preamp setups incluing a mid control. The nut appears to be plastic, a bone or high quality synthetic nut would likely improve the tone.

When all is said and done, this guitar met my needs for a stage acoustic with no reservations. It is fun and comfortable to play around the house and write on. I had the opportunity to play in a local production of Tommy a few years ago, and the director loved the sound of this guitar. It sounds crisp and full, and never feeds back. I would definitely be interested in trying some of the upscale apx models.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought the guitar from a local dealer for £375. I had been playing electrics for several years beforehand and this was my first acousticelectric guitar.

This guitar looks really good. The body is small but the design and finish are excellent. Due to it's looks and compactness it's ideal for gigging.

The guitar is great for acoustic soloing. Due to being a small bodied, cutaway guitar, it's geared towards this kind of sound. It has a very bright sound.

Individually plucked strings ring clear and it records well over other instruments.


The action on the guitar is a bit high. Unless you use lower gauge strings your fingers will get a hard workout.

This guitar is not good for chord work, at all. It's a bit of an unfair criticism, as this guitar isn't really designed for chord work (dreadnoughts are) but even still, if you want a good guitar to lay down chords, don't buy this one. It's way too trebly.


The guitar is built really well and for the money is great quality. My only main concern is the action is too high.

This guitar is made for finger picking work. For a mid-low priced guitar it's great quality. It looks great and plays pretty well even if the action could be slightly better.

In this kind of price range you'd be hard pushed to find a guitar much better, although I would recommend trying an Ovation Celebrity, if your looking for a guitar similiar in style.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

This is a nice slim bodied electro-acoustic guitar made in Taiwan, I believe this model is discontinued now but definitely worth looking out for on the used market. Mine is in natural finnish but I've seen models in black and a red bust finnish.

The back, sides and neck appear to be made from mahogany and the top appears to be made from spruce. It has a rosewood fretboard and tail piece. It has grover style tuners.

It has a peizo pick-up under the bridge piece and an active pre-amp with the following controls: High cut/boost, Mid cut/boost, Low cut/boost, Volume and a Mid frequency selector knob from 600Hz to 3KHz.

UTILIZATION

I find this guitar really nice to play, it's very comfortable to play chords all along the neck. Upper fret access isn't amazing but the cut away does make it a lot easier to play than on dreadnought style guitars.

The thin size and low weight of this guitar make it very comfortable to play for long periods of time.

The pre-amp controls are simple to use and easy to get a decent sound out with.

SOUNDS

I've used this guitar with my Epiphone Valve Junior amp at home and a Marshall AVT at a practice room and it sounds nice through either. I prefer it through the Marshall as the clean tone is crisper. The Mid sweep control on this guitar make it very versatile as you can tailor the sound very pricelessly using it. There is a good amount of output from the pre-amp so it's very useable in a live situation.

The only thing I dislike about the sound of this guitar is that because it's not a full sized acoustic guitar it does lack the same body and fullness of sound.

OVERALL OPINION

I really like the playability of the neck on this guitar and the size of the body as it's really comfortable to play.

For the price I payed for this guitar I'm extremely pleased with it, I think I got a great deal They seem to come up fairly often in used gear listings for good prices so if you're looking for a decent cheap acoustic guitar then I'd definitely recommend it.