Category: acoustics

Taylor 614CE Acoustic Electric Guitar

Taylor 614CE acoustic electric guitar got that clean, modern Taylor vibe but with some character thanks to its maple back and sides. If you’re into acoustic guitars and looking for something that sounds bright, but still full and feels smooth, the Taylor 614CE is definitely worth checking out.

Taylor 614CE Acoustic Electric Guitar

First thing you’ll notice is how easy it plays — the neck is slim, nicely comfortable, and doesn’t fight you when you’re moving up and down the frets. All playing styles feel effortless with this guitar whether you play chords, solos, even fingerpicking.

Taylor 614CE front body

Taylor 614CE Back body

Sound-wise, it leans bright and clear. That maple gives the guitar a snappy tone with crisp highs and tight lows. It doesn’t get muddy even when you strum hard. Some people say maple sounds too sharp, but Taylor’s V-Class bracing really balances it out, adding warmth and sustain without killing that clarity.

Taylor 614CE front headstock

Taylor 614CE back headstock

It has pretty sleek looks. The one I tried had a very shaded edge burst finish and nice detailing, flashy. It feels premium. Yes I want it that way. Another one, Taylor’s ES2 Electronics system keeps things natural when you plug in, no weird boxy tone or annoying feedback.

You might feel this is a little too clean or bright if you prefer a super boomy, super warm sound (like a rosewood body or dreadnought design). But if you like precise, clear tone that cuts through in a mix — especially for modern styles or live playing — the 614ce delivers your desires.

Taylor 614CE saddle bridge

Taylor 614CE fretboard

Here some soundcheck from my youtube channel:

Overall this guitar is clean, classy, easy to play, and sounds great both unplugged and plugged in. Not cheap, but definitely a “buy once, keep forever” kind of guitar. you might live eternal life with it. You’ll get hardcase and elixir strings pre-installed.

Taylor 614CE hardcase

Taylor 614CE label body

Taylor 614CE hardcase logo

July 11, 2025
Eko Guitars N(e)XT series Electro-acoustic steel strings

My another gears update is an electro-acoustic guitar. I found it on local shop, while i was surprised about how this Italian chitarra brand appeared here in my city. Surely i gave it a try and i found myself like it. the sound quality and the price are somehow equal (plus few advantages) to my ears, so when it comes to comparison with other guitars in its price range.

this is what i got, the factory default:

actually I am impressed by things eko guitars has by factory default. The acoustic steel strings are great! feels like newly installed and vibrate the tones equally (though i can’t get used to it anyway, gotta change them with electric guitar strings). i got mono-jack cable and one Allen wrench for adjusting the truss rod. pretty neat for made in P.R.C guitars, and i guess that’s why Eko guitars, an italian guitar brand could came to my house.

when it comes to comparison, i picked yamaha apx500ii as its rival, and this Eko N(e)XT guitar won… it has more serious saddle bridge than apx and the eko guitars preamp delivers equal tones, (my apx500ii doesn’t have middle tone, which i need them most for my solo playing)

my first tryout on stage were my last night gig. i was fully satisfied, and i can see this guitar could do few more things after i set something up for this. you can check eko guitars at www.ekoguitars.it and i’m sure you will get more details, meanwhile i will set up things for the vlog. see ya

September 1, 2015
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 >> yamaha APX500II

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
how my yamaha CX-40 sounds

The Guitar Learner: my nylon string acoustic guitar, yamaha CX-40: what can make you relax sittin’ on your back while you were singing your favorite songs? it’s an acoustic guitar. yes, indeed. the …yes, this is the sound check via video camera. I’m pretty sure you’ve seen my post above about my Yamaha C40 Full Size Nylon-String Classical Guitar previously. it sounds good, while you’ll see that my finger can’t adapt to the fretboard. big fretboard, big nylon strings. it’s too hard for me actually (good excuse for ugly playing,huh? haha)here it is:

here few pics of my yamaha cx-40

September 28, 2013
my nylon string acoustic guitar, yamaha CX-40

what can make you relax sittin’ on your back while you were singing your favorite songs? it’s an acoustic guitar. yes, indeed. the clear sound defines relaxation and joy. for me, the nylon string acoustic guitar is the best friend in your private time.
what i have in my room? it’s Yamaha C40 Full Size Nylon-String Classical Guitar. hmmmm,… it’s YAMAHA CX-40 actually, I’ve got it from local store. nice stuff with simple sound enhancement, a Yamaha pickup installed will give the extra value. whether you want to plug it in and record some tones, or you want to enjoy your private moments, this is the best i can get with reasonable and affordable price.” yes i recommend some of my stuff i have, this blog is a kind of voluntarily reviews about stuff those help me to accomplish my guitar playing style. i try to value them objectively, but i guess you will find out that this blog is my whole ideas of my own opinions. it is about guitar, after all 🙂 a musical instrument that owned by heart and played by the deepest feeling.. be cool”

so what is my dislike about this nylon guitar? there’s almost no complain about the crafting and its manufacturing, it is fine by me. it feels good on my hands.

yamaha CX-40

what i feel annoyed about is, the pickups, it seems Yamaha didn’t take this part seriously. it is noisy, a lot, because from what i felt, the pickups isn’t sensitive enough to get the nylon string tones. it is attached-bridge pickups actually, the advantage of this pickup is, it is not a regular microphone. you won’t get the hum feedback from the body since the sound is directly distributed from strings to guitar bridge.

BUT,.. still it has nice sound comes out from the body. so if you likely want to make a record with this guitar, i suggest you to have two outputs for it. the first output is direct microphone straight pointed at the guitar body, and the second output is from the pickups. that is all i can get, so far, for now. hope you like my stuff here.

ps: i might record my stuff with my webcam and videoblog it, so, this post will be edited in the future for much better information shared.if you don’t like nylon classic guitar you might get interested by yamaha’s steel-strings guitar 500 series

April 21, 2013
get yourself some fine guitar

as the very first post, this is the best recommendation for anyone who want to play guitar. well, I’ve been playing for several years and I’m still looking for the most suitable guitar for me. for my very first guitar is an acoustic guitar.

some considerations when you choose a fine guitar on the internet are too difficult to understand by people who know a little about guitar, so i made some simple points for you to think about.

– choose your favorite song(s) and find out stuff about them. the song themselves are representing your taste of music. the song you learn will be your influence for your guitar playing. if it is played by acoustic guitar, you may find playing an acoustic guitar would be fun and beautiful; you choose the natural sound and it suits everywhere in the world. Or, if it is played by electric guitar, yes, there will be more fun in exploring various sound and style of playing. you might know some popular guitar virtuoso with their distinctive music.

i wanna some rock! I’ll get some jazz! i conquer them all !!.. say it and it’s a starting point of your life to become great guitarist.

– when it comes to technical, now we’re talking about woods and the precision of guitar making. maple woods and mahogany are well known as woods those has the best tone and the easy-crafting for guitar. google them and you will find out why. next thing is, the guitar precision. to accomplish best sound, you will see, the guitar precision has the big role. some of well-known brands is used by famous guitarists to produce millions of beautiful songs.

remember, your taste of music define your sound and the fine guitar explain your playing.

well i guess this would be enough for now,… I’ll be back with more great and better post. now I’m preparing images and videos for this blog, hope you will enjoy them as i enjoyed making them.

April 20, 2013

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