Photography by Joby sessions YAMAHA APX500II, CPX700II & APX1000 £320, £515 & £778 ELECTRO-ACOUSTICS 98 Guitarist July 2011 GIT343.
YAMAHA APX500II, CPX700II & APX1000 £320, £515 & £778 ELECTRO-ACOUSTICS Yamaha APX500II, CPX700II & APX1000 £320, £515 & £778 Yamaha offers even more reasons why its mega-popular APX and CPX electros will be be flying off the shelves. We test out three new arrivals by Jim Chapman S ince their introduction nearly 25 years ago, Yamaha’s APX stage electros have undergone periodical revamps, as have the larger-bodied Compass Series CPXs, first unveiled in 1999.
YAMAHA APX500II, CPX700II & APX1000 £320, £515 & £778 ELECTRO-ACOUSTICS The Rivals CPX700II Takamine’s spruce/sapele EG541SSC (£550), with solid top and back, features a TK40 system. Vintage’s VEC1900N (£579) is all-solid spruce/lacewood, powered by Fishman’s Presys Blend. Crafter’s cedar/mahogany GAE698-CD (£519), with a solid top and back, has an LR-T Pro preamp. All three include a built-in tuner. decked out.
YAMAHA APX500II, CPX700II & APX1000 £320, £515 & £778 ELECTRO-ACOUSTICS The APX500II is a decidedly capable acoustic performer, with reasonable dynamics and sustain system needs careful EQ’ing to disguise what seems to be an intrinsic hint of nasality in the upper-mids and a little hardness in the highs. Fortunately, this is where the flexible preamp proves its worth.
YAMAHA APX500II, CPX700II & APX1000 £320, £515 & £778 ELECTRO-ACOUSTICS when the AFR was switched in is no longer audible; and secondly, the preamp delivers a bit more gain than it previously did, though it’s still not a belter in this respect. Verdict Yamaha has unequivocally moved things along nicely with these newcomers.
