YAMAHA
A-SERIES A3M
BY GAYLA DRAKE PAUL
Solid mahogany back and sides
Though some might not immediately think of Yamaha when asked to list the
biggest and most enduring acoustic guitar
brands of all time, the fact is that Yamaha
has built acoustic guitars for more than a
half century. And in that time, the company
has thrived by maintaining a line of guitars
for everyone from beginners to professionals.
Countless guitarists cut their teeth on the
beautifully built and affordable FG series in
the ’70s and ’80s, and some of the world’s
best players—including folk fingerstyle veteran Bert Jansch—have used Yamaha’s high-end L-series guitars to craft masterpieces.
This well-established commitment to serving players of every stripe continues to fuel
Yamaha’s success, as evidenced by the new
A-series guitars, which are a worthy inheritor
to the company’s reputation for affordable
performance. The A3M cutaway dreadnought
reviewed here features solid tonewoods and
an S.R. T (Studio Response Technology)
microphone-modeling preamp, making this
a guitar for serious gigging players, but at a
price that won’t leave you destitute.
Pretty and Smart
The A3M is a subtle and simple design—very
tasteful and organic looking. I am a sucker for
wood bindings and wood inlays, so I immediately liked the look. The small fret-marker
dots and die-cast chrome hardware are equally
functional, attractive, and subdued. The
pickguard, which looks inspired by Gibson’s
flashier acoustics, seems like a less natural
fit, given the understated nature of the rest
of the design. The solid mahogany back and
sides and solid Sitka spruce top all have the
look of well-selected timber. The mahogany
is rich and dark, while the ebony fretboard
and bridge and the lighter wood binding all
complement each other wonderfully—and
the wood-inlay rosette is charming, too.
My first impression after picking up the
guitar was that it’s built extremely solid—it
feels like a little tank. The guitar isn’t heavy,
though the pickup system does add some
heft, but it feels of a piece and is exceptionally
well balanced. While slightly chunky, the
mahogany neck is super comfortable. While
string spacing at the saddle is slightly wider
than usual, the 1 11/16" nut is a little nar-
row for my taste, and narrower than most
fingerstylists prefer, which suggests the A3M
is aimed more at strummers. Nevertheless, the
guitar plays very nicely and easily, and flat-
pickers will love the narrower neck.
Beautiful Plugged in and
Unplugged
The A3M has a great acoustic tone that’s
clear and complex. Bass tones are not woofy,
but well defined. Trebles are both brilliant
and detailed. In standard tuning, the A3M
Solid Sitka spruce top
sounds tight and focused and capable of great
range—sweet when played fingerstyle, and
punchy with a flatpick. And in DADGAD,
the guitar takes on a lovely, almost growling
resonance that can be delightfully dark. With
a capo, the A3M keeps its mojo intact and
stays resonant and rich.
The S.R. T System 63 Modeling Pickup
System is impressive, too. It features
models of three killer microphones—a
Neumann U67, a Neumann KM56, and
a Royer R- 122—with two mic-placement
options for each (selected with the Focus/
Wide button), a 3-band EQ, a Blend
knob, a Resonance knob, a built-in tuner,
and a feedback-control system. Easy to
