Yamaha Transacoustic CSF-TA

Gi71...Quiet Room....Yamaha Transacoustic CSF-TA

Yamaha Transacoustic CSF-TA

Vid Count: 1 Native

Guitar Interactive star rating: 4

PROS

Small body size makes for great playing comfort. On-board effects sound great plugged in and unplugged.

CONS

Don't expect dreadnought-like lows or projection.

Yamaha Transacoustic CSF-TA

MSRP (UK) £756  (US) $1129

SPECS

Compact Body

Solid Spruce Top

Mahogany Back & Sides

On-board Reverb and Chorus effects

For more information, please visit:

uk.yamaha.com

The Yamaha TransAcoustic CSF-TA parlor-size acoustic-electric guitar is a high-quality instrument that may very well provide a playing experience like no other. With Yamaha's onboard TransAcoustic reverb and chorus effects, you'll enjoy the sounds of playing in a rich and lively acoustic space no matter where you are. The CSF-TA features a parlor-size body with mahogany back and sides and a solid Sitka spruce top. You'll love the feel of this guitar's neck and smooth rosewood fingerboard. So does the TransAcoustic CSF-TA add new inspiration to Nick Jennison's playing? Let's find out.

Some acoustic guitars are made for the road: rugged, tightly braced and feedback-proof. Others are studio workhorses, with just the right blend of projection and detail. Yamaha's Transacoustic guitars are something else: they're guitars designed to make playing more enjoyable.

They achieve this by producing their own reverb and chorus via an actuator under the guitar's top. In essence, this turns the guitar's top into a speaker, which produces the effects - no external amplification required. Clever stuff!

The CSF-TA takes this technology and combines it with Yamaha's parlour sized CSF - the smallest and most comfortable full-size acoustic in the Yamaha range. A fraction of the size of a typical concert or dreadnought model, it fits comfortably regardless of your body type or seating position. You can slouch on the couch with it, you can take it on stage either sitting or standing.

The comfort extends to the neck. It's slim and comparatively narrow feeling despite having a conventional 43mm nut width, and the 12th fret neck join adds to the "dinky" feel. Fingerstyle and flatpicking passages feel great, but there's still enough fretboard real state for open chords - no matter how big your hands are.

Acoustically, the CSF-TA sounds sweet and balanced, with a gently compressed dynamic range. It's not loud, but in this context that's a good thing. You won't wake the kids or irritate your neighbours/significant other, no matter how aggressive your strumming style, and the warm reverb adds to the intimacy of the experience.

Of course, the CSF-TA performs just as well plugged in. Yamaha's pickups are up there with the best in the business, and this is no exception. The reverb and chorus are probably redundant on larger stages where the engineer has access to dedicated effects for your guitar, but in smaller rooms where there's a single reverb on the desk that's inevitably tuned to flatter a vocal (read: bright and long), the CSF-TA's warm onboard verb is a bit of a godsend.

The Yamaha Transacoustic CSF-TA is sweet sounding and super comfortable instrument that's ideal for quieter moments alone with your guitar. The on-board reverb and chorus make the playing experience feel intimate and immersive, and are actually pretty useful in small venues.