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Published on 08/13/11 at 17:34The Yamaki line of guitars was made in the 1970s in Japan as one of many different lawsuit acoustic guitars at that time. They primarily copied Martins, and I've tried two different ones, a dreadnought style D28 copy and what can I only assume is the Deluxe Folk model (a Martin 00028 copy). The Deluxe Folk model has a spruce top, what appeared to be mahogany back, sides and neck, and a rosewood fretboard. It's a smaller 000 body size and fits to the body a little better than the traditional dreadnought, which is great too. It has a traditional Martin style bridge and sealed chrome tuners.
UTILIZATION
The design of the Yamaki Deluxe Folk acosustic is extremely good considering the price point they were made to be at back in the day. It's very light, but still maintains a good resonance and thick tone considering the size. This is usually an indicator of quality wood and/or craftsmanship, and the Yamaki has both in spades. It sits very well on the body both as a regular guitar or on the lap when used for slide... very cool. The upper fret access is slightly better on the 000 guitar than the dreadnought because of the small body but it's still a non cutaway model acoustic, so the upper fret access isn't great.
With acoustics that don't have electronics, it's basically what you hear is what you get. Fortunately this guitar has a great tone regardless of its small size and sounds good for both regular tuning as well as slide work (using a raised metal nut to bring up the action to slide-worthy).
SOUNDS
The Yamaki Deluxe Folk guitar has a great sound that is prime for fingerpicking and blues. It doesn't quite have the low end or quite as pronounced a midrange as the Yamaki dreadnought but instead it has a more mellow response overall, with a stronger high end sparkle that makes lead lines sound really cool. The guitar sounds great for high chording using a capo over top of a dreadnought playing lower register chords. It also has a great sound for slide as well, and the current owner of the guitar is using it for exactly that purpose. It has that classic Robert Johnson/Son House blues tone that just transports you back to 1937... magical.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Yamaki guitars are really wonderful. This Deluxe Folk can be found for about $250 used, which is an amazing deal considering the quality and tone that it has, especially in such a small package. The old Japanese made lawsuit guitars like Ibanez and Electra are legendary... the Yamakis and such are catching on... so grab one before they're gone gone gone!
UTILIZATION
The design of the Yamaki Deluxe Folk acosustic is extremely good considering the price point they were made to be at back in the day. It's very light, but still maintains a good resonance and thick tone considering the size. This is usually an indicator of quality wood and/or craftsmanship, and the Yamaki has both in spades. It sits very well on the body both as a regular guitar or on the lap when used for slide... very cool. The upper fret access is slightly better on the 000 guitar than the dreadnought because of the small body but it's still a non cutaway model acoustic, so the upper fret access isn't great.
With acoustics that don't have electronics, it's basically what you hear is what you get. Fortunately this guitar has a great tone regardless of its small size and sounds good for both regular tuning as well as slide work (using a raised metal nut to bring up the action to slide-worthy).
SOUNDS
The Yamaki Deluxe Folk guitar has a great sound that is prime for fingerpicking and blues. It doesn't quite have the low end or quite as pronounced a midrange as the Yamaki dreadnought but instead it has a more mellow response overall, with a stronger high end sparkle that makes lead lines sound really cool. The guitar sounds great for high chording using a capo over top of a dreadnought playing lower register chords. It also has a great sound for slide as well, and the current owner of the guitar is using it for exactly that purpose. It has that classic Robert Johnson/Son House blues tone that just transports you back to 1937... magical.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Yamaki guitars are really wonderful. This Deluxe Folk can be found for about $250 used, which is an amazing deal considering the quality and tone that it has, especially in such a small package. The old Japanese made lawsuit guitars like Ibanez and Electra are legendary... the Yamakis and such are catching on... so grab one before they're gone gone gone!