So after playing around with the SLG100N for awhile I thought I would write a Yamaha silent guitar review.
I’m a classical guitarist with a university degree and 16 years experience and I’ve owned and played a ton of different guitars over the years, wost recently having gone through a slew of classical nylon string guitars.
After moving to the city and living in some shall we say “rather small” apartments I soon became aware that as beautiful as classical guitar is, most neighbors don’t care to hear it for hours upon hours each night, especially when your practicing scales or arpeggios!
Click Here for the best price available on the Yamaha Silent Guitar – Steel String
Click Here for the best price available on the Yamaha Silent Guitar – Nylon String
Enter the Yamaha Silent Guitar – SLG100N. A guitar that gives you a huge sound through head-phones or an amplifier while sounding no louder than an unplugged electric guitar. “Guaranteed to improve your neighborly relations!” (not a guarantee!)
My Likes
Ok, let me just say right away that I love this little guitar. It has made my life (as well as my girlfriends and my neighbors) much more enjoyable! If you like to practice later in the evening and don’t have the luxury of a room that is sound proofed so you won’t bother anyone, this is the guitar for you.
I love the fact that I can just carry a simple pair of headphones around with me and practice wherever I like. I love the fact that I can plug it directly into my Zoom H4n recorder and record my practice sessions as well! Overall the sound is very nice and with the built in treble/bass/mid and reverb controls you can dial in a very usable classical guitar sound that is perfect for practicing.
The guitar achieves a nice dynamic range is and is also very responsive when changing colors between the bridge and the neck (between ponte cello and sol tasto for you classical guys). It’s very easy to play and although it looks like it would be awkward when sitting in a normal classical position I have not found this to be the case at all.
It should also be noted that this guitar comes apart. Yep, you read that right… you can literally break this guitar down for easy traveling and/or storage, great for business trips or gigging. This is probably the biggest selling feature for a lot of people who travel a lot on business. Everyone knows that taking a guitar on an airline can be a huge pain in the butt and this way you don’t have to contend with your neighbors who are trying to get some sleep in the room next to you!
My Dislikes
Ok, these aren’t really dislikes but I feel that I should make a few things clear about this guitar. The most obvious being: It is not a true acoustic classical guitar! If you think it’s going to reproduce the tone of a nice hand-built nylon string then you are looking in the wrong place. This is a practice guitar and should be treated this way. For this reason I don’t gig with it, I’m not saying you couldn’t gig with it, but personally when I’m in front of an audience, nothing beats the tone and warmth of a real acoustic instrument.
Dislike #2: I would like to see a bit more response in the bass. I usually have to have my bass control dialed quite high in order to get the bass response that I like and I think a bit more could be done in terms of the pickup/EQ system to give just a bit more realistic bass response. But again, this is a minor gripe and the bass is definitely not so bad as to make it a deal breaker by any means. Maybe we’ll see a little more response in an updated version, who knows?
Click Here for the best price available on the Yamaha Silent Guitar – Steel String
Click Here for the best price available on the Yamaha Silent Guitar – Nylon String
Overall
If you travel, if you practice late at night, if you just like cool new toys, than the Yamaha Silent Guitar SLG100N is the right guitar for you! Now that I have mine I couldn’t go without it and I’m sure you’ll feel the same way. Please keep in mind that while I reviewed the Nylon string version, I have played the steel-string version as well and the performance is essentially the same! Good luck in your search and I hope you enjoyed my Yamaha silent guitar review!
{ 0 comments… add one now }