Tag: acoustic

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:

EKO guitars electro-acoustic steel strings NXT series

 

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.

EKO guitars electro-acoustic steel-strings NXT series

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)

EKO guitars NXT series electro-acoustic preamp (2)

 

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 yaEKO guitars NXT series electro-acoustic steel-strings (10)

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 apx500ii guitar
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.

apx500ii guitar section
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..