NGD: This Yamaha Silent Guitar sounds incredible.

[joeguam]

Plugged in headphones, dialed in the tone and I said: “Wow.”

Put the headphones on my wife’s ears, played a few bars, she said: “Wow.”

Put the headphones on my mom’s ears, played a few bars, she said: “Wow.”

Put the headphones on a fellow guitarist’s ears, he said: “Wow.”



The “Wow.” replies above aren’t those: “Wow! This is fantastic!”

......they are the: “Wow. I cannot believe what I’m hearing. That barely-more-than-a-stick of a guitar sounds incredible.”



I’ve only played it for an hour, still got much more tweaking to do. But Yamaha really hit it out of the park with this SLG200S (at least on first impression). Let’s see how this goes plugged into the rig at full volume and what my opinion is after the next 25 gigs.

[Fretboard Phil]

Yup, I've had a nylon string Yamaha SG since 2006. Sound is great. I've used it working in Mexico, vacationing in Aruba, and now several days a week to practice at lunch time. It also sounds great when played through an amp or PA system. It's a hugely useful tool!

[Inyo]

Speaking of silent guitars: A guitar still in its case always sounds better before I begin to play it.

[Daniel Grenier]

Considering it’s really not much more than one long neck with a bit of electronics made in China I looked at the price and said “Wow”! They are good, for sure, but lack competition right now so prices are definitely “up there”.

[robj144]

How do you know how it sounds, if it's silent?

JK... I've never played one, but would like to see one day.

[Sonics]

It's all done with smoke and mirrors...or in this case mic modelling and stereo DSP. If you have a piezo pickup, then the BEST sound purchases you can make is to buy one of the many mic modelling pedals available on the market.

Take the Pepsi challenge, Silent guitar Vs Gibson J-45...

[mr. beaumont]

I've an older model, and I think the reverb settings are "too much," and "waaaay too much," but it's a cool guitar, and about as good as headphone practice gets.

[Matt McGriff]

I have an SLG200S and agree that it sounds great through both the headphone out and the 1/4” output into a PA. My only minor issue is with the EQ. It is rather bass heavy and I have to really drop off the lows or it gets boomy. But when it is EQ’d properly it sounds great. I have used other guitars with Aura and Anthem pickups, and have used other Preamp pedals and straight Piezo equipped guitars and the sound guys give the highest praise to the tone coming out of the Silent Guitar. I also get the most “what is that guitar?” inquiries with it than any other.

I find it to be the most useful guitar I have ever owned and also the best practice tool. It is truly an “instrument” for making music.

[robj144]

Originally Posted by Sonics

It's all done with smoke and mirrors...or in this case mic modelling and stereo DSP. If you have a piezo pickup, then the BEST sound purchases you can make is to buy one of the many mic modelling pedals available on the market.

Take the Pepsi challenge, Silent guitar Vs Gibson J-45...

Yes, this is a slight derailment, so I apologize, but I just got a little Yamaha portable modeling amp for less than $200 and it does an excellent job of recreating some tube amps. And, it can run exclusively on batteries too. It's pretty cool.

Yamaha knows what they are doing.

[Matt McGriff]

Yes, the THR. Great little practice amps. My THR10C is fantastic.

[Kerbie]

For years I had one of the older, steel Silent Guitars and I loved it. Very sweet guitar to play... and a super-slick neck.

[joeguam]

Originally Posted by Matt McGriff

My only minor issue is with the EQ. It is rather bass heavy and I have to really drop off the lows or it gets boomy. But when it is EQ’d properly it sounds great.

Matt, with headphones (out of the headphone jack/preamp) I don’t have any issues with EQ. But I agree out of the 1/4” jack into my PA, I used a Boss GE-7 (7-band EQ) and was able to easily dial it in and remove the mud. Again, just sounded “Wow.”

Originally Posted by Inyo

Speaking of silent guitars: A guitar still in its case always sounds better before I begin to play it.

Nah man Inyo, I bet you’re a lot better than you give yourself credit for - keep playin’ music! Wishing you some good vibes!

Originally Posted by Sonics

It's all done with smoke and mirrors...or in this case mic modelling and stereo DSP. If you have a piezo pickup, then the BEST sound purchases you can make is to buy one of the many mic modelling pedals available on the market.

Sonics, I hear ya. Just thinking about the design and purpose of this Silent Guitar, it really classifies more with electric guitars than with acoustic guitars in that its sound is primarily intended to be “processed” through a series of manipulations before it hits the ears of the listener. Just like electric guitars are primarily intended to be processed through an amp or pedals before it hits the listener’s ears, this Silent Guitar can kind of be thought of as not really just having a piezo pickup in it, but maybe a “piezo pickup + EQ pedal + Room Reverb pedal + Hall Reverb Pedal + Chorus pedal + Volume Boost pedal + Tone Enhancer pedal” ...?? Either way, I feel the end-product put out by Yamaha is impressive.

Originally Posted by Fretboard Phil

Yup, I've had a nylon string Yamaha SG since 2006. Sound is great.

Awesome Phil, I hope this guitar works out and that I have it for as long as you have had yours. I don’t know much about the older models, but have you heard the sound of the onboard effects and mic-blend on this latest SLG200 versions?

Originally Posted by robj144

I've never played one, but would like to see one day.

Rob, I’ll admit it sounds terrible without headphones or plugged in, haha. I’d suggest taking your favorite and most-familiar set of headphones down to a guitar shop and give it a spin. I’m confident you’ll be at least taken aback, if not impressed.

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

I've an older model, and I think the reverb settings are "too much," and "waaaay too much," but it's a cool guitar, and about as good as headphone practice gets.

Mr. Beaumont, I can see how that may come through. I initially dialed-in what I thought is the normal amount of reverb I would use but I had to dial it way back. I like to control the decay level of my reverb, and if you’re the same, it doesn’t allow for that. In this newer model, the room reverb is short and tight, and dialed-in at an appropriate level in the headphones, it sounded really nice.

[joeguam]

Used it in my first gig today, it worked out really well. Was quite surprised. I still have tweaking that needs to be done but it looks promising. Couldn’t get over how comfortable it was to gig with too.

[Nymuso]

I ordered one last spring and was seriously underwhelmed for many reasons. I sent it back the next day and posted a detailed negative review of it. Instead I ordered a Godin A6 Ultra. The idea of the silent guitar was very attractive to me as a gigging musician but the reality did not live up to my expectations.

However, in view of positive comments here I can allow that perhaps that particular instrument was a poor example, and at some point in the future I will try out another one at a brick and mortar store that happens to have one in stock.

[Beakybird]

Originally Posted by Nymuso

I ordered one last spring and was seriously underwhelmed for many reasons. I sent it back the next day and posted a detailed negative review of it. Instead I ordered a Godin A6 Ultra. The idea of the silent guitar was very attractive to me as a gigging musician but the reality did not live up to my expectations.

However, in view of positive comments here I can allow that perhaps that particular instrument was a poor example, and at some point in the future I will try out another one at a brick and mortar store that happens to have one in stock.

Maybe I got a poor example too. I found mine bass heavy with the high E not loud enough even with the bass knob turned all the way down. I brought it to maybe get looked at by a luthier, but the owner of Tobias Music said he didn't see anything wrong with it. So I decided to sell it on Craigslist to buy a 12-string.
I'll miss the live benefits of onboard tuner and reverb.