Yamaha NTX5

99
SEPTEMBER 2021 GUITARIST
YAMAHA NCX5 & NTX5
6. These three low-profile
controls have no function
legends but do come
with a handy (and
removable) clear plastic
plate that tells you
which control does what:
master volume, treble
EQ and mic blend
7. As its more classical
style suggests, the heel
on the NCX5 is a very
traditional boat bow, like
a conventional Spanish
classical guitar
little fuller than the new NTX, and overall
a balanced clarity. Both of the new guitars
have quite a bit more output, too.
Onboard mics, used sparingly, can
add some realism, but they also increase
handling noise and you have to watch your
volume even more than you would do
anyway. Both guitars come with soundhole
bungs if you’re playing above the feedback
threshold and, while they dampen the
response and volume, they can also save a
gig. In truth, though, you have very little
in terms of EQ control. There’s only the
‘treble’ control, which Yamaha tells us is
quite complex in what it actually does, but
in use seems to really only colour the higher
treble frequencies with a centre ‘flat’ notch
on the control, and cut and boost either side.
The NX’s original pickup system used
two Yamaha-designed contact transducers
placed under the bridge on the treble and
bass side. They have their own volume
controls on the System 61 preamp, more
like balance controls really, then we have
three-band (bass, mid and treble) EQ
sliders and a master volume. There’s also
a tuner, which, oddly, doesn’t mute the
guitar’s output but has always proved handy
if you’re away from your pedalboard and
you’ve left your headstock tuner behind.
Real world backup, if you like. Sound
aside, the new system is quite a departure,
especially in terms of onboard control.
7
The NTX5 ticks all the boxes
for that modern ‘crossover’, a
nylon-string for steel-string players
that is, to our hands, eyes and
ears, pretty much state of the art
6
YAMAHA NCX5 & NTX5
GIT476.rev_yamaha.indd 99GIT476.rev_yamaha.indd 99 05/08/2021 14:5005/08/2021 14:50