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  #46  
Old 04-25-2019, 04:50 AM
vintage40s vintage40s is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cool555 View Post
... the charm of the CSF3M. More so in its look than its tone...
A lot of charm. I love the look of the little body with its vintage toner and nice bindings. The low trade in from GC makes it worth keeping.
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Last edited by vintage40s; 04-26-2019 at 07:19 AM.
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  #47  
Old 04-26-2019, 05:59 PM
vintage40s vintage40s is offline
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Default Went back to Lights

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Originally Posted by vintage40s View Post
... I put Mediums on the parlor and they are OK... Louder, brighter, not hard to play...
But still, harder, and just did not feel right for the guitar. So after a few days, I went back to Lights.
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  #48  
Old 04-26-2019, 09:38 PM
Cool555 Cool555 is offline
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Originally Posted by vintage40s View Post
But still, harder, and just did not feel right for the guitar. So after a few days, I went back to Lights.


Wise choice. If not, you risk damaging the bridge in the long run....
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  #49  
Old 04-27-2019, 11:11 AM
vintage40s vintage40s is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cool555 View Post
... you risk damaging the bridge in the long run....
Although Yamaha did not say that, just knowing those strings were on there kept bothering me.
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Originally Posted by vintage40s View Post
Yamaha says Mediums are OK on CSF3M...
From: Yamaha Support <[email protected]>
Subject: Yamaha CSF3M VN: Application/Technical Support [ ref:_00D30F1z._5000MohRcL:ref ]
... Yes, your guitar will allow use of medium gauge strings…
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Last edited by vintage40s; 04-27-2019 at 01:12 PM.
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  #50  
Old 04-27-2019, 11:19 AM
Cool555 Cool555 is offline
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Although Yamaha did not say that, knowing those strings were on there kept bothering me.


Thanks. Noted.
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  #51  
Old 07-14-2019, 07:09 PM
vintage40s vintage40s is offline
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... The CSF3M parlor I own is very responsive, but it doesn't have the headroom I need for my much of my music. It's perfect for soft playing and blues, but even picking with gusto gets into distorted territory... .
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Originally Posted by Cool555 View Post
I agree with your assessment of the CSF3M. Great guitar but maybe too lightly built. I’m trying to find it a new owner...
After buying an Eastman E20 OM I am not pleased with the sound of my CSF3 parlor. I would like to compare it to an Eastman E20 P to see if any parlor can sound good. However, the Eastman would cost almost three times as much, and the CSF3M is OK as a high quality travel guitar.
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  #52  
Old 07-15-2019, 01:55 AM
Cool555 Cool555 is offline
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Default Yamaha CSF series

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Originally Posted by vintage40s View Post
After buying an Eastman E20 OM I am not pleased with the sound of my CSF3 parlor. I would like to compare it to an Eastman E20 P to see if any parlor can sound good. However, the Eastman would cost almost three times as much, and the CSF3M is OK as a high quality travel guitar.

For its price, the CSF3M is actually a great guitar. I intend to have fewer guitars so maybe I was trying to find a reason why I should sell it. LOL. I agree that it is a great travel guitar with a gig bag that is probably better than the GS Mini’s gig bag.
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  #53  
Old 07-15-2019, 05:32 PM
vintage40s vintage40s is offline
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Originally Posted by Cool555 View Post
For its price, the CSF3M is actually a great guitar. I intend to have fewer guitars so maybe I was trying to find a reason why I should sell it. LOL. I agree that it is a great travel guitar with a gig bag that is probably better than the GS Mini’s gig bag.
The CSF3M is nice if you play it alone. And my wife thinks it sounds just fine.
But play it back to back against my higher end guitars and it does not have the quality sound.
And play it "out" hard, like in my bluegrass ensemble class, and it sounds ridiculous. But that's an unfair venue for it.
It's a nice parlor guitar, especially for the money, but I am curious what a high end parlor would be like.
The Taylor beige bag is kind of shapeless and ugly compared to the black Yamaha bag.
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Last edited by vintage40s; 07-17-2019 at 06:58 AM.
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  #54  
Old 07-15-2019, 05:42 PM
Beakybird Beakybird is offline
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I just bought the Eastman E1OOSS-Ltd. The Eastman is a little bigger and a few inches longer, but it sounds like a full size guitar. The Yamaha is beautiful for soft playing or for blues where distortion might be an advantage.
I had a lot of great times with the Yamaha, but the Eastman blows it away.
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Last edited by Kerbie; 10-04-2019 at 02:53 PM. Reason: Removed prohibited topic
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  #55  
Old 07-15-2019, 06:56 PM
vintage40s vintage40s is offline
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My CSF3M is very pretty, quite a show piece with its vintage-toned top and fancy abalone rosette and wood binding. It is easy to hold and play, and I can feel it vibrating in my arms. It is trying its best, but the bass sound is not alive and ringing like my old Martin D and new Eastman OM.
I wonder if anyone can build that secret into a little parlor.
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Last edited by vintage40s; 07-17-2019 at 06:56 AM.
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  #56  
Old 09-06-2019, 03:51 PM
vintage40s vintage40s is offline
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Originally Posted by vintage40s View Post
My CSF3M is very pretty... trying its best, but the bass sound is not alive and ringing like my old Martin D and new Eastman OM.
I wonder if anyone can build that secret into a little parlor.
The CSF3M is sounding better. Maybe this is because after 6 months of playing, and spending the summer out on a stand, it is finally opening up. It's OK if I don't play it back to back with the big guitars.
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Last edited by vintage40s; 09-10-2019 at 11:56 AM.
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  #57  
Old 09-06-2019, 06:12 PM
TokyoNeko TokyoNeko is offline
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I held on to a CSF3M for about a year. While it does outperform expectations on tone and volume for its size, I just couldn't deal with the ultra-short scale length. Since I play a number of songs with a capo on the 7th fret, I realized I simply need the scale length of at least 24.5 inches.
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  #58  
Old 10-04-2019, 02:50 PM
vintage40s vintage40s is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Beakybird View Post
I just bought the Eastman E1OOSS-Ltd. The Eastman is a little bigger and a few inches longer, but it sounds like a full size guitar. The Yamaha is beautiful for soft playing... had a lot of great times with the Yamaha, but the Eastman blows it away.
Comparing the CSF3M to such a large guitar is not fair, but the comments apply exactly to my CSF3M vs another "parlor" guitar.

The CSF3M is much smaller in length and body and weight, and narrower in neck, than a 12-fret Eastman E20-P parlor that I just bought. Although the CSF3M has 14 frets, the 12-fret Eastman parlor cannot fit into the CSF3M gig bag. The CSF3M is actually smaller than a parlor, and is called a "compact folk guitar". Very compact.

The CSF3M has such a narrow and compressed neck that it is hard to play in rotation with guitars that have full size fret boards, like my Martin D-35 dread, Eastman E20-OM orchestra, and Eastman E20-P parlor. The CSF3M plays nicely, and sounds sweet, but not like a full size guitar, especially when played hard. I like it, but its days are numbered.
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Last edited by Kerbie; 10-04-2019 at 02:53 PM. Reason: Edited quote
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  #59  
Old 07-07-2020, 03:04 PM
Solina Dave Solina Dave is offline
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I've just been giving my new Yamaha CSF3M TBS a good workout. I found it very playable right out of the box. Although I did find the G tuner to be significantly stiff to turn, compared to the others. So I may get back to them about that.
The guitar sounds great, plays great, and is very comfortably sized. About halfway between a dreadnaught and a parlor I'd say. And it looks great! This guitar to my eyes is put together big time. And the wood binding is beautiful. The rosette with one black line inlay, and an abalone inlay, is very simple, yet elegant and tasteful. The headstock's typically Yamaha plain, and the guitars finish is as good as it gets. A genuine bone nut and saddle would have been nice, instead of the plastic. If production costs are a factor, isn't there a bottomless pit of bone out there. Maybe I'm wrong.
I like the very short scale. I've got fairly big hands, but I find the guitar's neck to be very comfortable and smooth.
And, I found the intonation to be dead-on. Gotta love it! I don't see anyone getting a much better new guitar than this for the money.

There, that's all I've got.............Dave
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Last edited by Solina Dave; 07-10-2020 at 12:14 AM.
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  #60  
Old 07-07-2020, 05:28 PM
Hollybrook Hollybrook is offline
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I was going to get a GS Mini someday, but decided on a CSF3M instead. It shows up tomorrow...

Last edited by Hollybrook; 09-13-2020 at 08:49 PM.
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