“Only they who believeth in their guitar quest shall be granted passage”

Category: guitars

Yamaha APX500 II for your acoustic rhythm sound

this Yamaha APX500 II is quite famous and i like it. i tried this guitar last night on stage performance and i think I’ll put this guitar to my recommended-gear list. when you’re on low-to-mid budget, this guitar may could be on your top list.

the APX500II model

check out these pics i organized for this post, we can see that it has a nice modern look and finish. you might want to perform some acoustic style and you don’t wanna look too old with classic guitar, then this Yamaha APX500 II is going to be the guitar you are looking for.

Yamaha APX500 II acoustic guitar steel strings

take a look to this black color one. we can take this onstage and perform it live and on standing position. its cutaway made us possible to reach high notes easily. last night’s performance was great, i was being able to perform well.

how does Yamaha APX500 II sound?

my last night performance was using a Roland JC 120 as monitor and the stage output was through behringer g100 DI box. it sounded beyond average but actually what i want is to have one direct mic output and i didn’t get it last night. the JC 120 wasn’t able to get the rich acoustic tone but it caught the notes clearly and the DI box delivered the tone successfully to outputs. i guess the Yamaha’s system 65 onboard preamp will work nicely through PA speakers. what i suggest you, (which i haven’t done it yet 😀 ) is, try to get the direct mic output for this guitar. this Yamaha APX 500II has a wide treble sound and tone clarity and we will get this sound by using direct mic output, while you can solve the lack of bass tone by equalize it through the on board preamp output. actually the preamp works fine and the other parts is nicely crafted.

Yamaha APX500 II acoustic guitar anatomy

here you can take a closer look to its head-stocks, on-board preamp (powered by 9volts battery), the oval hole and its saddle bridge. i made brief video shootout so you can make a comparison >>

overall this guitar will meet your standard. it is highly recommended for singers who want to perform their vocal style with playing acoustic guitar on stage. this guitar will enrich your band performance while you don’t have to worry about your band’s mate tone get ruined by additional acoustic rhythm sound. I can assure you that Yamaha APX500 II guitar sounds pretty good on stage.

if you are a solo performer, this guitar is one of good options. its playability makes possible to play speed guitar-solo, while for me, i love to strum it hard, playing some rhythm and riffs. ( it was difficult to play some solo /speed-picking with this guitar when you play it in standing position, need more practice i guess 🙂 ). see you next post..
March 22, 2014
things made you fall in love with guitar

there are moments when you look at your guitar(s) and think “why am i so addicted to this instrument?”. well, i have my own moments and i feel great about them. here few things those made me fall in love with guitar.

Songs.

everyone has their favorite songs. you love the lyrics, you like how the vocalist sung the notes, you are thrilled by the music composition and especially in this case, sometimes you just love how the guitar sounds in the song. the way it starts the intro, or how the lead guitar screams at interlude, even you maybe just love the way your head moving because the guitar funky rhythm along the song. the next day, you’ll find yourself at music store and choosing your very first guitar.

movies.

everybody loves movies and there are movies with guitar in it. Crossroads (1986 film) is one of recommended movies that will made you. or you can watch It Might Get Loud (2008). that movies is inspiring, both in guitar playing and music knowledge. even you will love August Rush (2007). these kind of movies will move your legs to local guitar shops and you’ll find yourself overjoyed with guitars.

video clips.

this will be the other thing. through video clips you’ll see how the musicians performing their songs. at some clips you watch them playing with the coolest style along the music play, then suddenly you want that so bad. you want to be a guitarist with with the coolest style you just saw. you might get attracted visually at first, but it might be a significant start for your life as guitar player.

people’s playing.

this one is interesting. you have your favorite song and it is played by piano, suddenly one day you find an URL to video covering your favorite song with guitar and you think it is great cover and it is refreshing. i bet the next moment you will start covering all your favorite songs with guitar and upload them on YouTube.

the guitar models.

it is simply a love at the first sight. is it possible to guitar? yes. there are gorgeous guitar models and you just want it badly. the quilted maple decals, inlay designs, shiny bridge and knobs, or even unique headstocks will encourage you to have that guitar. you will reach it and the next thing happened is, you asked the music shop keeper to give it a try on amps then boom! the guitar is yours and you want to show it to everyone.

maybe I’m just overreacting about this, but you know, my guitar addiction has brought me to here in this site and I’m sure it will continue to other great things. how about you guys? girls? 🙂
March 13, 2014
Is It That Great Gretsch Sound?

Today is a cloudy day and i can’t get bright picture of silver sparkle of my new guitar (but it’s okay though, my old cellphone camera can handle this), oh yes it’s a Gretsch guitar. The Gretsch G5236electromatic pro jet 125th anniversary with silver sparkle finishing. It’s a beautiful pre-owned guitar with nice deal, no scratch and made in China. here are bunch of pictures about it:

Gretsch G5236electromatic pro jet 125th anniversary

Gretsch G5236electromatic pro jet 125th anniversary

Gretsch G5236electromatic pro jet 125th anniversary

And I like it!! this electromatic pro jet defines overdrive and distortion effects in wide range although it seems i’ll never get tele twang sound or strat glassy tone from it (of course, it’s a Gretsch!). it has unique sound, yes that great Gretsch sound does exist. Its pickups and chambered body deliver tones nicely through amps, even direct input to mixer.

Gretsch G5236electromatic pro jet 125th anniversary

Gretsch mini humbuckers pickups

Gretsch mini humbucker pickups

well, this series isn’t the perfect one actually. my first negative review is about the fretboard craftmanship. it has deadnote on 9th fret and it bothers a lot. i had to take it to my luthier shop to repair it. some say that the Gretsch quality decreases after they put their factory overseas and i think this is the prove. It’s made in China. but enough about it since that will be my only negative review.

overall this Gretsch came with gorgeous looks. it’s Gretsch 125th anniversary guitar, you can see the logo on its headstocks:

Gretsch 125th anniversary guitar logo plate

Gretsch 125th anniversary guitar logo headstocks

Gretsch 125th anniversary guitar headstocks

beautiful vintage accessories in affordable price. i should put this guitar in “on budget guitars” list.
can’t wait to take it on stage with me 🙂
November 15, 2013
Fender Stratocaster Highway One, is it the ONE?

last week i got lucky. my friend lent me his Fender Stratocaster Highway One and it was my valuable moment of learning guitar characteristics. stratocaster has my respect because of its tone originality and how many songs made with this guitar, also how far the guitar players has become legends with this guitar existence. you can easily find names, let’s say yngwie malmsteen, richie sambora, eric clapton and many more use the stratocaster as their main guitar, or using stratocaster as their tool of exploration (see a Frankenstrat)you might be one of them. a stratocaster lover. i can’t say I’m in it, but actually right now I’m still trying to get which series that suits me. and i got a milestone to start with, a Fender Stratocaster Highway One USA made, year 2002 i guess. here are the pics (it’s relic!) :

what i got from this guitar so far? well, i can’t say i’m in love with this one. it was about againsts my guitar playing style. the volume knob is TOO close so everytime i pick the strings, i accidentally touched it and made the volume knob turned the level down often. it happened to the switch too. for me it’s just made my playing become so unnatural. i need sometimes to get used to this guitar, the neck radius, the super jumbo frets, yes.. i need more time to get the best of it.

i read some articles on guitar blogs and find out that there isn’t so much love for Fender Stratocaster Highway One (this is the earlier products. the latest has big headstock and some users said that the new one is the upgraded one and it rocks with comfortable handling). one thing that doesn’t change is its tone, a glassy tone is stratocaster and i think Fender Stratocaster Highway One has a lot of it.

surely some real stratocaster can define this guitar in big details and i had my time. now it’s the time to take this guitar back to its owner. 😀 it was a great time in exploring and learning though. still wondering which stratocaster is best for my playing.. what do you think?
November 8, 2013