Yamaha LL16D ARE Original Jumbo - Natural Review

Shockingly good.

I had been on the hunt for another acoustic guitar. I had a number of pretty high-end acoustics in mind and perhaps I'll still get around grabbing one. Specifically I was looking at a Martin D41 in the guild 55 handful of others in that range. I've also always been intrigued by these LL guitars from Yamaha, I have a soft spot for Yamahas; in my personal view they make some of the… read more best sounding guitars at any price range and because They primarily market student and starter guitars in the US the brand doesn't have the reputation that it deserves. Jack Wellington my amazing Sweetwater sales rep had been keeping his eyes peeled for any of the aforementioned acoustics. He and I were chatting and he suggested that I give the LL16 a try. I had watched all the YouTube videos I could find and read all the reviews I could find on the guitar and people typically love them with a number of complaints, mostly that they have a plastic nut and saddle, plastic bridge pins, and crappy tuners (knock off grover milk bottles). I expressed these concerns to Jack. Jack suggested that I have Sweetwater change all of those things for me. Where we got to was an LL16D With Graphtec open gear tuners a bone nut and saddle new strings and Ebony/Abalone bridge pins. Obviously it cost a bit more than the guitar alone, but the guys at Sweetwater didn't amazing job. Understanding that all of this is very subjective I will say that the guitar that arrived is the best sounding acoustic guitar I've ever owned and in the top 5 I've played. Before buying this Yamaha my primary acoustic was a 2015 Gibson SJ200 Which candidly I've never been happy with. I understand part of it is that the Gibson has a bit more of a percussive bluesy sound, but it is always felt somewhat dead to me. It's strange but it's one of the least resonant, least musical acoustic guitars I've ever played again at any price and the Yamaha puts it to shame. The LL 16 Looks beautiful plays beautifully, has wonderful sweet tone great volume. It both picks well and strums well, you play an open G and the guitar actually sings. I don't know (because I did not have the opportunity to do an before/ after test) how much the upgraded nut, saddle, pins and tuners contributed to the sound (although it looks way better) But I couldn't be happier. As I said before I may still pick up the Martin or the Guild (if they're ever available) but having played lots of them and lots of other very high-end acoustics this little Yamaha gives them all a run for their money. If you've read this far and the guitar is in stock I highly recommend you give it a try cheers

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Yamaha Ll16D

This guitar is beautiful a real piece of quality craftsmanship, the tone is a little too bright straight out of the case, if you fingerpick it's great, if your a heavy strummer like me, you need to make some changes, like I did with this beauty. It comes with 80/20 Elixer strings which are bright, and plastic bridge pins and plastic nut, plastic saddle, that is my only complaint,… read more they should have used bone when you spend this much money. However I replaced the plastic bridge pins with ebony pins with abalone inlays from Crosby, with a little sanding they fit amazingly well, order the 3 degree taper .210 diameter pins, not only are they attractive but they took some of the brightness away, giving the guitar a fuller richer tone with more sustain. I also put on phosphor bronze Elixer strings, which sound more full and rich than the 80/20 brass Elixers that add too much treble on this guitar. My next project is installing a bone nut and saddle. But I would highly recommend this guitar to anyone. For $, your getting a guitar that if it had a different brand name it would cost in the $3,000 -$4,000 range. This guitar is ready for the stage, plug it in and jam!

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Didn’t want it.... until I played it

As stated, this is an excellent guitar. A jumbo guitar was the size last on my list. I researched to the point of paralysis by analysis. Played around 50 guitars of all sizes, from all the names and in the $500-$5000 range. This literally sounds like you're in the tower ringing the bell. It's loud. Real loud. The sustain is incredible. I play mostly fingerstyle and this works just… read more fine for that and everything else. Only issue you might have is the fact it's a jumbo and not ideal for fingerstyle in that regard. The sound and playability is every bit as good as a $2000-$3000 Taylor or Martin. The A.R.E actually does make a difference. It rings and sings like it's at least a 35 year old woman trying to make it on the streets of Dublin. Any way, you need to play it to understand fully. I can say all the typical things people say about guitars and their sound. Like when the descriptions sound like you're reading 16th century poetry. But you never know, until you know. Worth every penny, even if you spent your last one avoiding the Chinese virus.

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Best Acoustic I ever had.

best value on an all solid wood acoustic.Im in singer songwriter heaven with this axe.

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Astounding!

I have been playing guitar for almost 40 years. I have owned Ovations, an Alvarez-Yairi, a Fender, a custom-built Martin HD-35, and two other Yamaha acoustics - an LS16M and an LL16TA. I have played and demo'd countless others - Gibsons, Epiphones, Taylors, Martins, Larrivees, Breedloves, Ibanez, Fenders, Guilds, and Takamines. My point? Never - I repeat, never - have I played an… read more acoustic guitar that made me sit up and exclaim, "what the.....". After just one or two strums, this guitar made me realize I had something very, very special indeed in my hands. This impeccably built offering from Yamaha is bright, crisp, and loud, and rings and sustains like no acoustic I've ever played before! Two of my friends, who also play guitar, after hearing me play this LL16D, immediately said to me, "let me see that!" - they had to play it for themselves because they, too, heard the same astounding tones I was hearing! I believe there are times in the selection of materials and the subsequent building process, that the planets align and everything comes together in perfect harmony, and I think that I am the recipient of one of these instances! I cannot say whether every LL16D sounds this good, but I can say that I have never been disappointed whatsoever with any of my Yamaha acoustics. This company builds superb guitars and delivers them at consumer-friendly prices. Bang-for-your-buck, feature-for-feature, Yamaha cannot be beat - it's that simple!

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