Yamaha APX500III Thinline Cutaway Acoustic-Electric Guitar, Vintage Sunburst
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Product Specifications
- The APX’s thin-line body offers incredible comfort, top-fret access, and a sound perfect for on-stage use.
- Specially designed non-scalloped X-type bracing maximizes body resonance for full, natural tone.
- Under-saddle piezo pickup with 3-band equalizer, adjustable mid-range frequency control, and a precision chromatic tuner.
Limited Lifetime Warranty on Top, Neck, Back and Sides
Product Description
Style:Spruce Top | Size:Thin Body | Color:Vintage Sunburst | Configuration:Guitar The world’s best-selling acoustic electric guitar, the 500-series embodies the pure spirit of Yamaha guitars - the perfect balance of performance, value and dependability. The new 500III models feature all-new pickup systems with a more powerful, dynamic tone and upgraded cosmetics that combine on-stage attitude with refined, timeless good looks. APX’s thin-line body combines incredible comfort, easy top-fret access and a sound perfectly suited to on-stage use with bright, clear mid , balanced highs and controlled lows. Specially designed non-scalloped X-type bracing allows the guitar’s top to sing and maximizes the resonance of the unique body shape for a full, natural tone. With dynamics, sensitivity and clarity built into the design from day one, APX is a guitar not to be underestimated.
Product Reviews
From a toy feel to a grand slam. This guitar has potential but you must take it to the next level with some mods.
UPDATE #1 (includes new info on changing the tuning pegs) Note: I will soon be doing an update on how to make this little guitar completely wireless.I bought this guitar for my 7 year old.What I like:1) 3⁄4 size is the perfect size for a kid 10 years or younger. For kids 10-13 you may want to try a 7⁄8 parlor size guitar. However, a 3⁄4 size guitar is also the perfect travel guitar for adults so don’t hesitate buying a 3⁄4 because you will keep it around for life because of convenience.2) Sound when plugged in to an amp rivals guitars costing much, much more even thousands more. Yamaha uses proprietary technology in their pickups to achieve this amazing result and no other guitar manufacture comes close in this price range.3) Sound when not plugged in is surprisingly good for a little guitar. Of course, if you’re expecting acoustic sound like a jumbo or parlor you will be disappointed because that’s impossible for a 3⁄4 size guitar to match the acoustic sound of larger guitars. However, for a 3⁄4 size guitar in this price range, it’s as good as it gets and I will put this little guitar up against any 3⁄4 for acoustic sound in this price range.3) Comes with a built in tuner. Until you’ve had one you don’t know what you’re missing. I’ll never buy another guitar without one especially for a beginner.4) Cutaway design is a much more modern design than the non-cutaway traditional boxes and allows much easier access to the lower frets.5) Comes in black which my daughter loves.6) Comes set up from the factory with extra low action resulting in easy playability which is very important especially for beginners. You may even want to throw some extra light (it comes with light gauge) strings on to make it even easier to play.7) Yamaha quality can’t be beat. I just returned from my friend’s house and noticed his $1,000 Martin box splitting because of the dry Las Vegas climate. And, no I’m not a believer in guitar humidifiers because I believe a guitar should be made for the real world and not so delicate that it needs a humidifier. My friend and fellow old-time musician who has been working at Guitar Center here in Vegas for many years has seen them all come back over time because of splitting or warping except one brand that is… You guessed it, Yamaha! The reason you find them back ordered from time to time is because Yamaha actually gives their wood time to cure properly unlike other manufacturers who tend to rush their products out the door. And, this guitar is for my kid and for travel which means it needs to be exceptionally tough and well-made:)As always with the good comes the bad. In order for Yamaha to squeeze so much bang for the buck into this tiny package they had to skimp somewhere.What I don’t like:1) The tuning keys (machine heads) are as bad as it gets and if you’re planning on keeping this guitar for a while and making it really workable plan on changing them ASAP and throwing the others away as far as you can throw them - Shame on you Yamaha, you could have at least used some half decent tuners!! These are an insult to your good name. So I replaced mine with Grover Sta-Tite V97-18NA (with brass colored gear) which are the best tuners “for the money” ($40) for any guitar especially for this one. However, be aware that you will also need to replace the Yamaha bushings because the I.D. is too small for the Grover post and, unfortunately,the Grover bushing O.D. is too small for the holes in the Yamaha headstock. The correct bushing that will allow an easy proper fit of the Grover tuning pegs to the Yamaha APXT2 is Kluson MBG65N or B bushings (Google it). If you elect to do this instead of letting your friendly Luthier do it, be advised that when you knock out the stock Yamaha bushings, since they’re press fit it may have a tendency to split the wood on the top of the headstock. This one modification will bring this guitar from the level of a toy trying to be a serious contender to the best little guitar that money can buy.2) The neck edges at the fret board are not rounded and tend to be rather sharp which can really start to hurt your hands if you play for awhile . Typically this is where guitar companies skimp on their budget models and Yamaha didn’t disappoint. But it’s an easy fix for a Luthier who will just take some sand paper and sand down the sharp edges and dress the end of the frets if needed. Also, its an easy fix for someone with a steady hand, good eye, and a women’s fingernail file. It took me about 10 minutes to round the neck edges with a fingernail file and it didn’t even require touch up paint thereafter as the fret board is solid wood and the same color all the way through. She feels like a dream now and I can play all day long without the sharp neck edge digging into my hand, and my hand just glides ever so smoothly up and down the neck as it should.3) Had a little fret buzz on the high E but that was probably more my fault than anything else because I changed the light gauge strings to extra lights which sometimes requires the neck adjustment to be loosened. This guitar is set up from the factory with light gauge strings which means if you put on extra lights, the neck will have a tendency to straighten out too much which brings your strings closer to the frets and sometimes results in fret buzz. An easy fix though…just take a straight edge, like an aluminum yardstick, and lay on the neck, or hold down the string on the first and last fret and you should have just a slight space (approx. 1⁄64” - 1⁄32”) between the frets and strings in the middle of your fret board. In other words, contrary to popular belief the neck is supposed to have an ever-so-slight dip in the middle and IS NOT supposed to be perfectly straight. My guitar required about a 3⁄4 turn (loosened) on the neck adjustment to fix the fret buzz. And, remember when adjusting the neck don’t expect immediate results. Give the neck time to settle-in adjusting a little at a time and then waiting a couple hours or so before checking it again. If you still have fret buzz after adjusting the neck then it most likely will be at the nut because Yamaha keeps their action really low at the nut. If so, just take a piece of paper and put it under the string at the nut which should be an easy fix.Bottom line:Get a Luthier (or do it yourself if you have the knowledge) to change the tuners to the ones I specified, take the sharp edges off the neck, throw some extra light strings on, and do a set up and this guitar becomes a dream guitar for kids or adults for a lifetime. So while the Yamaha APXT2 may not be the best guitar for your purpose, in this price range you WILL NOT find the perfect guitar, period. At least Yamaha gave us a foundation off which to build (which you can’t say for other brands) and with a little modification here and there, you will have the perfect little guitar. I bought this for my child and I find myself picking it up and playing it more than my more expensive full size guitars. It’s just a pleasure having it around the house, but not so much so before I modified it. There’s nothing worse than having a guitar that’s just about not a toy as compared to a professional guitar. You want to make your guitar easy to tune and enjoyable to play so spend the extra bucks to make it perfect and you will have no regrets.
great little guitar
I love this little guitar. it’s perfect for my smaller hands to move around on the fretboard. I’ve been taking guitar lessons for a year and own a full size acoustic and a electric but I love that this one is both. For the price I wish it came with a stand and cable for an amp though but it’s a great starter guitar for kids or a person with smaller hands. I would recommend it. it’s acoustic and electric. You will need to buy an amp with a cable to use it as an electric but no cable is needed for acoustic. It even has a built in tuner, they supply the batteries.
Great little guitar!
After not playing guitar for over 25 years I signed up for lessons with my old acoustic. My fingers had gotten fat and were not as nimble as they once were. I was looking for a smaller guitar but not a junior walmart one. I had planned to just use this while I got my fingers used to the stretching and chording again. I love this thing. It sounds as good as my old acoustic and it’s just small enough that my fingers can now stretch to do my chords without the buzz and humming. It is also VERY light weight. It somewhat looks like a toy but it definitely doesn’t play like one. I highly recommend for youth and older people like myself who now have fat fingers, carpal tunnel etc and need something with the frets closer together.
Small guitar, big sound, good price. Love it.
Wife wants to play guitar again after a long hiatus. My full sized Takamine with fat strings is too big and heavy for her. Got her this 3⁄4 Yamaha and I fell in love with it. I may have to get another one for her because I’ve been hogging it. It has a great voice for a 3⁄4. The action is nice, the built in tuner is a real treat. Never had one before but it is unbelievably convenient. I don’t plug it in often but I had to check out that sound too. The electronics sound decent. Can’t crank it up too loud or it starts to feedback, but I’m actually sitting right on top of my small but punchy VOX amp so I can’t really say how it would work for playing out. The reviews convinced me to buy this one. The best review only had one major complaint; the tuning pegs. I agree they could be better, but I don’t think they are awful. I have to tweak the tuning just a little once or twice a day before I play, but it isn’t like it goes out of tune when I’m playing, even when I’m beating on it hard. I think it is well worth the price and was surprised by the volume it produces. Much better than expected. If you don’t find the tuning pegs worthy, I think the instrument is good enough to spend money on for an upgrade, but I don’t plan to. It is solid, light weight, comfortable, nice sounding, well designed, feature rich and handy. I’m keeping it in the corner by the bed and I pick it up every chance I get. I haven’t played guitar much the past few years so having a guitar at my fingertips all the time is helping me get my callouses back quickly. No matter what you play, if you lose your callouses, rebuilding them is always painful for a few weeks, but this instrument is pretty easy to play. I’ve gone through the process several times over the years with my Takamine. This is far less painful. Perhaps that means it will take longer, but at least I can still use my fingers to type long reviews in the meantime. No avoiding the pain regardless of what you play, but there is pain, and there is agony. This guitar hits a sweet spot somewhere in between. It’s just right for young or old, big or small. (FWIW, I heard an interview with Clapton where he confessed he doesn’t play much when he’s not working and when he has to prepare for a tour, even he has to go through the callous building process). Well, I’m way off topic now. Again, great little guitar. Go for it.
The tuner comes handy and is pretty easy to use
Loving this guitar. It’s a lot of guitar for the money I think. The tuner comes handy and is pretty easy to use. The guitar sounds great by itself but plugged is the real beauty.
Worth Twice As Much.
Folks, buy this guitar. Dress the frets, change the tuners and you’ll have an instrument that will wow.
Hook to amp?
I love my new Yamaha and I bought it to be primarily used as an acoustic, but I cannot figure out how to hook it up to an amp. Can anyone help me?
Five Stars
Completely pleased with my article, very good condition and very good handling by the shipment, thanks
Five Stars
very good electric sound. Acoustic - so-so (too small body)
Five Stars
Beautiful, Perfect size. Excellent quality.
not the sound I expected
plays well but sounds like a ukelele
Delightful, comapct guitar
Sweet & fun!
Great guitar. It has been pretty rugged and sounds …
Great guitar. It has been pretty rugged and sounds really great. My daughter loves it.
Sounds Like A Toy
comments powered by DisqusSounds pretty much like a child’s toy. I watched many YouTube videos prior to buying and the people playing must have configured through high end processing to get the kind of…
