Yamaha APXT2EW 3/4-Size Acoustic-Electric Guitar with Gig Bag, Light Amber Burst

What a fantastic little guitar!When I was first learning about guitars, I purchased this model (Tobacco Burst) but didn't like the PBs (phosphor bronze) that came on it, so I switched to Silk and Steel 11s. The guitar developed a buzz. I took it to three different techs, had it restrung several times, even put on higher quality nut and saddle, but nothing could get rid of the buzz. After a few months, I sold it.Since then I have learned that putting 11s on a short scale guitar such as this will make the strings floppy and can cause a buzz (I wonder why none of the techs knew this). So - I ventured forth again and purchased the "natural" version. I still don't care for PB strings, so I put Martin Monel Retro 12s (MM12) on them. WOW!!! Huge improvement over the original strings.What's so great about this guitar? It has excellent intonation, the action is low, fret ends are smooth, the tone is sublime (especially when plugged into my Fender Mustang Mini Plus set on the 3rd preset: Swirling Echoes). Playability is wonderful. It has a balanced feel, no buzz, weight is comfortable, the neck is smooth, and I love the back and sides.One thing I'm not nuts about: The top. I have another guitar whose finish is designed as "distressed", giving it a worn look. I love this on that guitar. It seems to me that Yamaha attempted to do something similar with this model by infusing smudges into the finish. However, this doesn't result in a "distressed" look so much as a "dirty" look. I'm not a huge fan of Yamaha's version of this. Not a big deal, and I knew this before I bought the guitar, so obviously, no lost points for this.I've been around the block a while with guitars and have played a LOT of them. While this little Yammy isn't anywhere near the top of the line, it punches way above its class and delivers an exceptional value for beginners, intermediates as well as more advanced players. It is ideal for shorter folks (anyone under, I'd say, about 5'6' or so). For beginners of all ages or anyone who wants an excellent inexpensive traveling guitar that isn't as persnickety with temp and humidity changes, this is the one!

I bought this to have a travel guitar for my extended road trip over the summer. I wanted something I could DI and record if inspiration struck, and something small and light enough to take on walks/play in the car.As soon as I opened the box, I fell in love with the way this little thing looks and feels! I’m used to playing my Taylor- so I’m no stranger to quality. I totally expected this thing to be a junker. I’m going to have this little guitar for a very long time. Nice job, Yamaha!

Really happy with my purchase. Lower price range and plays accordingly. Well built very tough. The fret board/ frets are a bit rough as expected for the price range. Electronics work as they should. Sounds really good through an amp. The body is small so expect a smaller twangy sound on the high strings, almost mandolin sounding. Gets much fuller through an amp. For a guitar I bring with me everywhere it suits my needs. Don’t expect little Martin or baby Taylor sound out of this thing but it does make the sounds you should expect. Would give a 5th star if the action was a little better, barre chords can be a bit tough, and if the neck and frets were smoother.

This is a wonderful guitar for beginners, intermediate, and as a great traveling guitar. Well made and stays in tune! The problem with this guitar was that the battery connectors were loose and would not stay on. Once I moved the connectors and bent them out ever so slightly, they remained on and active. Would recommend this guitar for anyone. I love an easy fix, since I am a luthier, it was easy to diagnose.

This is an astonishingly little guitar! We did understand that a ¾ size is less than full, but speaking as a 5'1" woman with smallish hands, it's tiny! It's the body, not the fretboard, that's especially small. I'll have to learn how to hold it without doing any weird clamping with my right arm. It will probably be best with a strap, but I didn't realize I hadn't added one to my order, so unless I go all crafty and make one I'm temporarily out of luck.This guitar has amazing sound given its size - it is definitely a real guitar. You have to assume that an itsy bitsy $200 model is not going to sound like a $2000 dreadnought. It can't. Anyone who expects that is delusional. Nevertheless, this guitar is a real musical instrument and it sounds far better than we anticipated.I expected that it might have some rough fret ends - nope, they're comfortable, no filing or sanding needed. Thought from other people's reviews that the strings might be crap, so I bought a set of D'Addarios just in case, but the strings that came on the instrument sound fine for learning and practicing. They are also surprisingly easy on the fingers, so the factory didn't set them too high. I will ask a couple of experienced people if they think the guitar needs a setup, but my initial impression is that it's probably pretty good.I was ready to pooh-pooh the built-in electric tuner, as many years ago I was accustomed to tuning a violin by ear and have a quality piano in the living room - but dang, the thing is handy. It can be surprisingly fussy to tune a guitar. It's been holding its tune reasonably well since day one, which is a relief. We expect some variability as the strings relax and stretch with use and weather conditions and so on, but I don't have an impression that there's anything wrong with the tuning machines.Basically, the only surprises have been pleasant ones so far. And this thing is adorable. Truly, it is so cute! I didn't expect to coo over it like it's a new baby, and in fact I haven't been that pathological, but it still tickles me to look at it.The one we bought (via Amazon) came from Sam Ash, and they packed it well. It shipped in its gig bag (a decent bag, too, as others have mentioned), in Yamaha's sturdy cardboard box, and that box went into a shipping box with ample cushioning between. That was a huge relief.I read another review which said that one of these guitars smelled of chemicals at first. I'm also highly sensitive to chemical offgassing, so was ready for some unpleasantness there. In our case, it's the gig bag that smells to a disturbing degree. The guitar itself has only a slight vestige of stain or varnish or whatever, not enough to worry me, though everyone is different (and the guitars themselves may vary). The bag, though, is going to be hung, unzipped, in our entryway for a while.Even after reading all the other positive reviews, I didn't expect to be quite so happy with this instrument. Given that I really do want to learn to play guitar, and didn't want either to overspend or to get something that would turn out to be a crappy waste of money, this feels like a wise purchase - and that's a good feeling!