Yamaha APX T2 Electro Acoustic Guitar - REVIEW

Moving on to another midweek look at a small guitar that might appeal to ukulele players. Despite being a guitar fan this one seems to have passed me by until now. This is the Yamaha APX T2 Electro Acoustic.

As ever with these the review is in the video below, but some general comments here. These are based on the insanely well selling APX shaped acoustics from Yamaha (which I seem to recall are on of the best selling guitars of all time), only with a ¾ sized body. They are actually marketed as travel instruments. It's a shorter scale than most bigger guitars too at 22.8 inches. It's a 21 fret model joined at the 14th so more neck real estate than the trad parlours like the Jim Dandy I looked at last week. That said, this has a narrower nut too so bear that in mind. A real hybrid kind of thing.

The body is a laminate spruce top and all laminate back and sides and what sort of wood I can't tell you as Yamaha only say they are 'locally sourced tonewoods'.. Whatever they can get their hands on I suppose!  But it's a cracking shape I think, and really small to hold and a perfect 'corner of the sofa' picker. It comes in a range of colours and not just this red and is finished in gloss. It's all very nicely finished bar an annoying 'ding' on the soundboard. That's the thing with buying what are, in guitar terms, 'cheap' instruments - the finishes are usually a bit iffy I find. It's a minor thing and more a gripe with the Yamaha dealer than the brand I guess.

This has a rosewood pin bridge with a plastic saddle and more rosewood on the fingerboard.  I think the bridge is a bit ugly and large, but there you go..

What is certainly a bit different here is the pickup system. I read a lot of reviews of these saying they were a bit lacklustre in acoustic projection, but that the real gem was the plugged in tone with many semi-pro players using them to gig with. I think that praise is the fact it uses the Yamaha 'ART system' which I believe avoids the saddle slot and mounts a more microphonic sounding pup on the inside attached to a brace. 

All told though this one has really grabbed me. I think it's pretty remarkable in fact. Hey - that's the thing with Yamaha - they tend to get overlooked by many (and by many snobs), but they've been making superbly reliable guitars used in studios by some of the worlds greatest players for many years.

I shouldn't have been surprised! Worth a look!

GUITAR VIDEO REVIEW

GUITAR SPECS

Model: Yamaha APX T2 Electro Acoustic

Size: ¾ APX shape

Scale: 22.8 inches

Top: Laminate Spruce

Body: Laminate locally sourced tonewood
Bridge: Rosewood pin bridge
Saddle: Plastic

Finish: Gloss
Neck: Locally sourced tonewood

Fingerboard: Rosewood
Frets: 21, 14 to body
Nut: Plastic
Nut width: 41mm

Tuners: Sealed chrome gears
Strings: 12's
Extras: ART based pickup, gig bag
Weight: 1.34kg
Country of origin: Indonesia
Price: Circa £200

© Barry Maz

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