Yamaha APX T2 Black

I primarily got this guitar as an alternate for my strat type electric guitar, to have something lighter I can carry around and be able to play unplugged as well. It does this excellently - it's small, portable, sounds great with no amp (even though it has capability to connect to one), and feels very sturdy.

Pros:
- Bright and resonant sound, very pleasing to the ears
- Perfect for practicing if you live in a building complex - it's quiet enough that the neighbours can't complain, plus you can always use your headphones with an amp when connected to the guitar for louder sound while practising
- Elsewhere I found people complaining about the tuning machines, but for me they work excellently and the guitar rarely goes out of tune (I would reccomend lubricating the neck nut with graphite for easier tuning, but this is true for every guitar)
- Small and portable, body feels sturdy and well-made
- Very responsive and accurate inbuilt tuner, simple and fast
- Pickup works as advertised, sounds good when plugged into the amp, and the tone control is quite detailed - you can get a good range out of it
- The neck is shaped more like a stratocaster neck, in regards to the width and profile (it's a bit thinner and narrower than a full-size classical guitar), which is great if you come from an electric guitar background like me and would rather avoid having to adjust to the fatter type necks
- Comes with a gigbag and batteries for the electronic part
- I got the black one and it's quite beautiful, very appealing and minimalistic design (I quite like the white edges on the sides of the body as well)

Cons:
- The back and sides of guitar have a matte finish which scratches very easily - I played the guitar standing up for a bit and the button from my jeans made noticeable polish marks on the back of the guitar
- The frets are not perfectly set in some places (a couple of them aren't perfectly pushed down at the edges), but I haven't noticed that this affects the sound negatively - it's more of an aesthetic thing
- Some people have noted the strings leave black marks on their fingers and this is true, but it goes away VERY soon if you play regularly and clean the strings and neck with a softer rag after each playing session (as you should with each guitar), and even if not, the black marks wash away from the fingers very easy with normal hand washing. I've seen some people return this little guitar for this reason only (!) and that's complete idiocy - if you're bothered that much by it, simply replace the strings and the problem will go away instantly. I'm guessing the black color comes from some sort of anticorrosion substance, which could mean the strings will corrode slower than usual (which is a good thing).

General notes:
- Comes with very thick steel strings, 0.12 gauge (which might be more challenging for some folks to play on), but you can always switch them out to a lighter gauge and then you're ready to go!
- I reccomend getting a strap for it - it helps to keep the smaller guitar body in place and it's much easier to play with a strap both standing up and sitting down.

In conclusion:
If you need an unplugged alternative to your electric guitar and don't want to go through the fuss of adjusting to a different type of neck, this is the perfect guitar for you. The thing that surprised me the most is how nice the sound is unplugged - I'm very pleased with it and I'm sure it'll stay with me for a long time.

hi,i found the quality and build of this guitar excellent but it lacked not too good sound quality when used accousticly without electric,i purchased this guitar to take with me on my motorhome travells to keep in touch with my music but found the sound not too good,would probably have bought the larger model apx.if i had known?i am now on my llast two weeks in europe at present in saltsburg.so really i am not too happy with this product.
regards dennis