Canard
Senior Member
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2020
- Messages
- 2,017
- Reaction score
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Meet Mountain-Leaf, the rat!
My rodent-sized Yamaha APXT2
100% genuine plywood body and top, through and through.
Yard-sale purchase - $25
Had to both shim and sand the nut – paper shims glued to bottom with white glue and then sanded for fine adjustments to combat fret buzz. Nut should be replaced. But too lazy.
Had to make a new bridge saddle, a compensated one, from a Tusq blank – major improvement in voice and tone. The original urea one was too narrow for the slot and leaned towards the nut making everything really sharp. It was also not compensated. The new saddle isn’t finished – height and intonation could be very-fine-tuned a bit more – it could also be polished up to make the work prettier. The guitar is a bit unstable, and I am waiting until it stops its own micro self-adjustments (if ever) to finish things up. It is better than OK the way it is now, though. Plays adequately in tune with itself all the way up the neck.
Truss rod adjusted, followed by steel-wool polishing of various frets, to get rid of fret buzz. Have subsequently never played one in a shop that did not have fret buzz.
Replaced the bridge pins with Tusq ones – major improvement in voice and tone.
Had to do some repairs to the electrics because of the previous owner’s curiosity!
The el-cheapo tuning machines seem to work surprisingly well. Impressive for things that look so very, very cheap.
The battery compartment rattles at certain pitches. Not certain what to do about this, but who cares? It’s not a concert instrument.
The promotional video (which used to be on Yamaha’s website) which demonstrates the instrument’s flawless playability and great electric sound is a laugh. The electric sound is pretty dreadful. And playablity off the rack? Well ...
The onboard tuner and my orchestral tuner have major disagreements about accuracy of pitch.
The original gig-bag is only one step up from a black plastic garbage bag and a small step at that.
Newly strung with D’Addario EJ16s, it doesn’t sound too bad (within realistic limits), but once the brightness wears out of the strings it gets muddy pretty quickly. It sounds like a guitar, though, and not a uke or a banjo. Would like to try medium gauge on its scale length but I am afraid of the consequences.
Is this all a recommendation? Oh,Yes! Very much, Yes.
It can be made to play quite well (within realistic limits). It is a blast to play something so tiny. And it is a real relief to have a guitar that you really do not care about. It fits in the overhead bin on planes effortlessly. You get lots of smiles and questions going through airport security. Fits in the trunk of cars or behind the seats of two-seaters and pickups. Fits in canoes. Goes camping. Goes to the beach. And who cares if great aunt, Mildred, sits on it and makes it into toothpicks?
Made sure I got my cheap Wallmart slippers in the pics.
My rodent-sized Yamaha APXT2
100% genuine plywood body and top, through and through.
Yard-sale purchase - $25
Had to both shim and sand the nut – paper shims glued to bottom with white glue and then sanded for fine adjustments to combat fret buzz. Nut should be replaced. But too lazy.
Had to make a new bridge saddle, a compensated one, from a Tusq blank – major improvement in voice and tone. The original urea one was too narrow for the slot and leaned towards the nut making everything really sharp. It was also not compensated. The new saddle isn’t finished – height and intonation could be very-fine-tuned a bit more – it could also be polished up to make the work prettier. The guitar is a bit unstable, and I am waiting until it stops its own micro self-adjustments (if ever) to finish things up. It is better than OK the way it is now, though. Plays adequately in tune with itself all the way up the neck.
Truss rod adjusted, followed by steel-wool polishing of various frets, to get rid of fret buzz. Have subsequently never played one in a shop that did not have fret buzz.
Replaced the bridge pins with Tusq ones – major improvement in voice and tone.
Had to do some repairs to the electrics because of the previous owner’s curiosity!
The el-cheapo tuning machines seem to work surprisingly well. Impressive for things that look so very, very cheap.
The battery compartment rattles at certain pitches. Not certain what to do about this, but who cares? It’s not a concert instrument.
The promotional video (which used to be on Yamaha’s website) which demonstrates the instrument’s flawless playability and great electric sound is a laugh. The electric sound is pretty dreadful. And playablity off the rack? Well ...
The onboard tuner and my orchestral tuner have major disagreements about accuracy of pitch.
The original gig-bag is only one step up from a black plastic garbage bag and a small step at that.
Newly strung with D’Addario EJ16s, it doesn’t sound too bad (within realistic limits), but once the brightness wears out of the strings it gets muddy pretty quickly. It sounds like a guitar, though, and not a uke or a banjo. Would like to try medium gauge on its scale length but I am afraid of the consequences.
Is this all a recommendation? Oh,Yes! Very much, Yes.
It can be made to play quite well (within realistic limits). It is a blast to play something so tiny. And it is a real relief to have a guitar that you really do not care about. It fits in the overhead bin on planes effortlessly. You get lots of smiles and questions going through airport security. Fits in the trunk of cars or behind the seats of two-seaters and pickups. Fits in canoes. Goes camping. Goes to the beach. And who cares if great aunt, Mildred, sits on it and makes it into toothpicks?
Made sure I got my cheap Wallmart slippers in the pics.
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