I played a brand new Yamaha 700 NXT just arrived in US
 

I was interested in these new crossover guitars from Yamaha, but until today, they were only distributed in Europe and/or other Countries but not in the US.
Today I found one, brand new and just arrived, at Guitar Center. I immediately played it also to see how it compares to my Cordoba GK studio, which I believe is its main competitor. The Cordoba street price is just a tad higher than the Yamaha. Both have solid top and laminated back and sides.
This new Yamaha is excellent. The playability is superb. the neck is 1 7/8, I believe, like a Taylor nylon, just a little narrower than the Cordoba ( 1 1/9).
The unplugged tone is very good, very similar to the Cordoba, perhaps with a little less volume. This is due, in my opinion, to the fact that while the Cordoba is quite lightly built, the Yamaha, still light, is a bit more overbuilt. This is typical of Yamaha. All in all, an excellent guitar and a great option for any body looking for a crossover nylon of good quality and affordable price.

That "overbuilt" factor may actually be a plus with respect to amplified use. Yamaha's new "ART" pickup system is reported to be something special, so it should be interesting to see how this new generation of Yamaha nylon stringers does in the market.

Gary

Do you mean the NTX 700? I went to the Yamaha website to look for an NXT700, but there wasn't any listing for that. I wanted to be sure we were discussing the same guitar. I believe the NTXs have been around for about 6 months or so. I have had a 700 for about a month and agree with your assessment. Pretty nice guitar especially for the $$$, to my uneducated "nylon ear", it sounded better than comparably priced nylons and better than some higher priced ones. Plays easily and looks pretty good too. Impecable workmanship. I do also agree with the overbuilt comment. Mine is pretty darn heavy. I am sure it outweighs all my other guitars.

I love my NTX700, I would have got the 1200R if I knew I at the time how much I play my 700. Persnally I find it beats all other crossovers in it's field by a long way.

"Personally I find it beats all other crossovers in it's field by a long way"

Well, as I said, it is an excellent guitar, but I am not sure it beats the Cordoba GX Studio a long way. I think it is more a matter of personal taste.

The control provided by Yamaha's ART system is rather impressive. Here's a vid that shows its versatility.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3Vg1bF8zdU

See the audio demos that begin at 51 seconds.

I finally decided to return the Cordoba GK Studio at GC and replace it with the Yamaha NXT 700. The main reason is not because of the unplugged sound (both guitars are great although the Cordoba is a bit louder) but because of the plugged in sound. The Yamaha ARP system is really superior, and it sounds awesome on my Fender Acoustasonic 30.
I am really enjoying the NXT 700, however although the nut's lenght is similar to the Taylor nylons, I noticed that the strings spacing at the nut is much narrower, i.e. there is a lot of room on the two sides of the neck.
Therefore, while on paper the NXT 700 has a 1 7/8 nut width, in reality it plays like a guitar with a 3/4 neck. Nothing wrong, but if you have large hands it is more difficult to play because the nylon strings oscillate much more than steel strings.