Comparing my new D-55 with a worthy peer, a Yamaha LL56

[eljayski]

Looking at my two favorites. Got the Yammie in late 2020, the '55 a few weeks ago. In terms of fit and finish, it's a draw, and that's saying a lot since, supposedly, the Yammie 56 series guitars are hand built by a single master luthier . . .

The Guild comes in #2 by a whisker in terms of tone. The first playing of the Yamaha yielded the proverbial angel choir . . . had not--and still haven't--heard a guitar with the magnificent voice of this one!

I attribute the tonal "superiority" of the Y to its baked top. (It's also Englemann spruce where the G is sitka.) Makes me wonder whether the G would sound even better if it too had a thermally cured top.

Just a musing for our collective enjoyment.

Nothing leads me to believe that Guild has any plans for thermally-treated tops . . . but perhaps down the road?

Thanks for looking!

 

[Westerly Wood]

I hear the LL Yamahas are quite awesome!

 

[SFIV1967]

Cool! What's the lower bout width of the LL56, also 16"?

Ralf

 

[eljayski]

16 5/16" according to the Yammie website

 

[eljayski]

Error fix: I originally posted a pic of my LS56 by mistake. New Yamaha photo is LL56.

 

[cupric]

Are the price points comparable between the two? That Yamaha looks great!

 

[Cougar]

Huh. I didn't know Yamaha put out a $4,200 guitar. Gotta love that abalone.

 

[eljayski]

Thanks cupric and Cougar. I paid about $3800 for the Y (Music Zoo) and $3300 for the G (Sweetwater). Cougar, I didn't know that either until about a year ago. The top-end Yammies hold their own against any other brand. Martin and Santa Cruz are no longer represented in my herd. There's a saying among Yamaha 56 owners: "Those who know, know."

 

[GGJaguar]

Very nice guitars to have to compare!

 

[chazmo]

Yamaha's been making great guitars for a very long time. I've often said the same thing about the early '80s Ibanez (Artwoods, that is)... They were built by a handful of luthiers in a small shop.

I'd be a little surprised if this line of Yammies is built by just one luthier, but the small shop approach has seen some wonderful guitars come from Japan over the years, that's for sure!

 

[merlin6666]

That Yamaha shape sure looks great, but for high end they should have found a better matched top without runout.

 

[Cougar]

The top-end Yammies hold their own against any other brand..... "Those who know, know."

Well, I do have a top-end Yamaha synth. Actually, I've had several of them. This current one I've got is stratospheric!

 

[HeyMikey]

Wow, that is very cool. What I could do with one of those!

 

[Cougar]

Wow, that is very cool. What I could do with one of those!

I know! I joke that if I could master all of its capabilities, I could RULE THE WORLD.

 

[kostask]

The solid wood L family (L, LL, LS) Yamahas are very under-rated, usually quite well priced, and really, really good guitars. I have no idea if they are factory made, or by a single luthier, but they sound wonderful, across the board.

 

[RBSinTo]

I have played a couple of the very high end Yamaha dreadnoughts at Cosmo Music, here in Toronto, and found them to have excellent sound quality and be beautifully built and finished.
They had all the qualities one would expect in a premier musical instrument.
But having said that, they offered nothing that would compel me to either swap my '74 Martin D-28 for one, or acquire an additional Spruce/Rosewood instrument, so I could say I owned one.
RBSinTo