Yamaha CG-TA Transacoustic

Nylon
Troubadours
Classical guitar players
breaking conventions
C
lassical guitar has been in
the mainstream spotlight
in recent years for a variety
of styles outside of tradition;
Nick Mulvey drives his debut
album’s songs with a Camps
Flamenco, Rodrigo y Gabriela
meld genres with their Yamaha
custom models (see p42) and
Charlie Cunningham takes a
fl amenco infl uence into the
indie-pop world. All make
nylon string guitars sound
percussive, vulnerable and a
driving force with constantly
evolving parts through a song.
Check out these fi ve songs
for some inspiration:
1. City and Colour – Blood
2. Charlie Cunningham – Minimum
3. Nick Mulvey – Fever To The Form
4. Rodrigo y Gabriela – Hanuman
5. José González – Far Away
instrument becomes hard to put
down because it truly enhances the
rounded tonality of this guitar type.
Moving from room to hall with the
control to suite your own taste, it’s
simply the perfect marriage; parts
you’ve played a hundred times
take on a whole new sense of
atmosphere as the notes echo out
with convincing authenticity. You
can be sat in your lounge and
transported to a cathedral. And it
really encourages solo lead playing
without accompaniment.
The chorus eff ect gets you into
Sting and Nothing Else Matters
territory and we found ourselves
reining it back to avoid overtly AOR
tonality. The reverb is the main
event here, making this kind of
guitar shine in a way that makes
other eff ects unnecessary. Best of
all, you can take this experience
anywhere with you, getting that
reverb atmosphere without the
compromises of piezo electro tone.
The CG-TA’s worth is dependent
on what’s important to you. There
are certainly better classical guitars
out there for the same money,
even in Yamaha’s own range. But
none have the TransAcoustic
element. It’s something that could
be your go-to writing guitar in the
house or a travelling companion,
but if you’re serious about a
classical guitar you can grow with,
it might not go the distance.
Nevertheless, we think it’s the best
showcase platform for the reverb
side of Yamaha’s TransAcoustic
technology to date and sitting
down with it in a shop could prove
to be a persuasive experience.
TONEWOOD AMP
The TransAcoustic attenuator’s
closest rival – you can fit it to the back
of an acoustic with a pickup to offer
eight effects (including reverb, delay,
tremolo), each
with three
parameters, plus
presets and
gain control.
YAMAHA NTX700C
A thinner body, narrower
neck and cutaway enhance
playability for electric guitar
converts, while the two ART
soundboard transducers
make for a seriously
impressive plugged in
performance.
Rodrigo’s custom model
(p42) is based on this.
YAMAHA CSF-TA
Another TransAcoustic Yamaha,
this has been released alongside
the CG-TA but is a steel-
string compact parlour.
We’re big fans of the
previous CSF models as
they offer a great
blend of travel and
folk guitar.
ALSO TRY...
The CG-TA has a standard
classical body with solid
spruce top, laminated
ovangkol back and sides,
and a nato neck
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
PLAYABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SuMMarY
£226
£638
£663
90
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ToTal GuiTar august 2019
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TGR321.gear_lead.indd 90 20/06/2019 17:31