Yamaha AC3R ARE Concert Cutaway - Vintage Natural Reviews

Big shout out to my man Nick Ozden. This is a very serious acoustic guitar, great neck and playability. Plugged in sound is fantastic. All solid wood construction. Oh by the way I also own a Taylor 214 ce. This Yamaha is equally as nice in every way and $ less. Nice gig bag too.

I was shopping for a stage guitar for a new project and stumbled upon this one from Yamaha. I'm so glad I did. After 30 years of gigging in folk and acoustic/yacht rock type bands while playing high end guitars from Martin, Taylor, Guild and Larrivee, I never thought I'd perform with a guitar from Yamaha.

I'd read some good things and the price was very attractive given the high quality features... all solid woods including spruce, rosewood, ebony and mahogany, wood binding with rolled fretboard edges, torrefied spruce top, and an attractive onboard preamp with anti-feedback reduction and image modeling. And no upcharge for the sunburst finish!

This guitar sounds real good plugged in. It was easy to dial in a realistic acoustic sound with no quack or metallic tones. The neck is really sweet and plays great, intonation is spot on and the build quality is excellent, I can't find any blemishes or issues. And played acoustically it sounds good, responsive and articulate with a balanced tone. And plenty of volume.

The guitar needed a setup, but that's to be expected. The nut was cut too high, the saddle needed a touch of shaving, and a tweak of the truss rod got this playing like "butta" all the way up the fretboard.

Don't overlook this one, folks. I'm sure glad I didn't.

This instrument plays like a guitar twice its price. And I have them all...Martin...Gibson...Taylor. You cannot go wrong with this machine!

Yes, this guitar is amazing right out of the box. One thing I didn't see anywhere that I was pleasantly suprised to find out, this thing takes AA batteries! No more, costly, 9v's!

I finally decided to replace my 25 year old Takamine Acoustic Electric. I have a D18 but no electronics and I need that for most of the gigging I do. Plus the Takamine was not as expensive as the Martin so it has gotten dinged up over the years. I was starting to get shorts in the wiring and I needed a reason to buy a new guitar and that was it. I have mostly Dreadnaughts so I was interested in the concert body style. I have used Sweetwater for many purchases so I got a hold of Stephen because I have worked with him before. I have owned Taylors as well and don't like them so I threw out some brands to see if he had an opinion. I was looking to spend around $1000. When he came back emphatically with the Yamaha recommendation I wasn't to sure but after researching I decided to go for it. Yamaha may not have the sexy name but the build quality and solid tone woods are just remarkable for the price. Unplugged it has a much bigger sound than I expected from the concert body size. But the real fun starts when you plug it in. Straight into the amp or PA just dial up your sound between the pickup and mic choices and it is a smooth balance sound that is just delicious. The action was a tad high when I got it but that was an easy fix. I feel like this guitar is a good as guitars costing 2 or 3 times a much. I couldn't be happier.

I received this gem on Friday December 10th. Waited 24 hrs to unbox, it was worth the wait. It was still in tune
an the set up was perfect for me.I now have a Martin and 2 PRS acoustics that are going to collect a lot of dust.Bart, again impeccable customer service.This will not be my last Yamaha but i have to thin the herd first.
Again, thanks Sweetwater and Bart.

The quality of this guitar is very high, and it's simply beautiful! Sounds great, too. Thanks to Sweetwater, the setup is right on. This Yamaha hits above it's weight, so if you're thinking of a purchase, I'd say, "Pull the trigger".

I would rate this guitar with more stars if they were available. A wonderful instrument in every way. I've owned many Gibsons, Martins and others and this guitar is the equal of any of them at any price point. It is absolutely gorgeous, the setup and intonation is perfect, the sound is simply remarkable with or without amplification. Can't recommend this instrument any higher. Note: I bought a demo model that had a tiny chip and Sweetwater heavily discounted the price for me. If a demo is available seriously consider it.

This is a great concert size guitar! It's a little deeper than most concerts which might be why it projects so well. For a solid rosewood guitar it wasn't as bright as I'd expect. But that might be because of the plastic nut and saddle mellowing out the sound. Bridge pins are plastic, not ebony. Note clarity is good. The price is really nice. Fit and finish on my guitar is fantastic

Before I write about the guitar, I would just like to commend both my sales technician Derek Kemp and Sweetwater customer service. I originally ordered the Yamaha AC5r which after waiting for over 2 months it simply was not available yet. So I decided to just get the AC3r and a new Fender Champ tube amp for my studio instead. Shipped on time but long story short Fedex lost my guitar. I desperately needed this for my weekend gig so Derek and the Sweetwater team went to work and sent me a replacement by UPS over night. I have been a Sweetwater customer for many years and spend thousands of dollars a year here. This is a great example why.

Now the guitar.... I have been a Taylor guitar user for many years having purchased a 314ce, 514ce, and a 914ce and must say I have never been quite satisfied with their playability and sound, especially when plugged in. I recently sold the last Taylor guitar I owned, my 914ce and I will not hesitate to say that this Yamaha AC3r exceeds the Taylor 914ce in every way. Sound is amazing by itself or plugged in - the SRT 2 system is as they say...plug and play. I simply set everything flat through my Bose S1 Pro and the sound is perfect. I play a lot of James Taylor and intricate finger picking tunes as well as strumming and alternate tunings and the intonation is perfect all the way up the neck. No, you don't need Taylor's new V bracing to play in tune as they claim...you just need a well built guitar - and this is exactly that. It plays far smoother than the Taylor and the quality of build is just as good as the 5000.00 Taylor 914ce. I am giving this guitar as well as Sweetwater customer service a perfect 10 star rating. They DO take care of there customers and step up to the plate when needed. Thank you Sweetwater !

I was surprised how well built and smooth sounding this guitar was. It's bright sound and harmonics are amazing. Your can really tell how nice the wood is on this guitar. It's a very beautiful guitar. Comes with a nice case (not hard shell). It's costs a bit more than what I wanted to spend but I'm 100% happy that I did. I highly recommend this guitars. It's better that any other low end Martin of Gibson guitars. Buy it, you will be pleased. Of course the time and service from Sweetwater is perfect!

I feel like this is one of those GREAT deals in hiding. I went out and played a lot of popular brands looking to significantly upgrade to a pretty high end acoustic. Planned to spend thousands but ran across one of these and was incredibly impressed with the quality and sound both plugged and unplugged. I felt like it was as good or better than most guitars over twice it's price. It took a 3 or 4 times the price tag till I felt the other names I was looking at hit the same mark of playability and rich sound. Super thrilled with this purchase. I feel like I struck gold for the price tag too.

I bought mine two months ago so I've had some time to play with it. It's everything as advertised. The set up and action are perfect. The finish work is flawless.
I've owned several guitars in the past, some cheap, on the high end was a Martin D-something and an Alvarez Artist series dreadnaught, great guitars of course, but they didn't "speak" to me and I was tired of the drreadnaught pattern and light blonde soundboards.
I really like the look of this Yamaha's body profile and I jumped at the chance to buy a solid wood guitar in my budget range. The ARE torrefied spruce top was something new to me, but it just rings. The aged color of the spruce is what I was looking for, the rosewood has nice matched grain and great color, likewise the mahogany neck. .
The electronics work as they're supposed to, but I guess my inexpensive amps don't do it justice.
Yes, I would recommend this guitar to a friend or anybody else.

I own a AC1R guitar and wanted to upgrade. I was afraid the AC3R would be the same guitar with a few extra bells and whistles. I was dead wrong. The AC3R is an upgrade all around. The Sound is unbelievable!!!
Very well built guitar. Great wood top, sides, and back. Discreet electronic controls ( no big hole cut to make room for control panel). Great sound plugged in. The action is low and neck is easily navigated. Perfect right out of the box. Want to put a big shout out to Ryan Holquist my Sweetwater Main Connection Rep.. Steered me in the direction of the AC3R. Great communications over the phone and on line. Made me feel just as important as someone spending thousands of $$$. I am a repeat customer and when I'm looking to make a purchase on a brand new item I always choose SWEETWATER!!

I have a friend who has or has had Martin, Gallagher, and Bourgeois acoustic guitars and thought this guitar was about the best playing and sounding he can remember playing. I have Martin, Taylor, Breedlove, Bedell and other acoustics and have come to that same conclusion!...Love it! P.S. (This isn't even Yamaha's top rated guitar)

Love this guitar , love the look , the sound is awsome , however the action is a little higher than expected , but with a little adjustment it'll be perfect. I would recommend a friend to purchase this guitar

I've been a fan of Yamaha guitars ever since I read about their A.R.E. treatment and saw the great reviews by other guitarists. It's pretty obvious if you've done any research, that Yamaha is serious about making quality guitars. That being said, I decided to sell several of my older guitars and buy the AC3R model in vintage natural top.

After waiting a couple weeks for Sweetwater to get more inventory, I finally received my guitar. It's beautiful and except for a couple of issues (that I'll mention in a moment), it sounded great. I was very pleased with the quality of construction and the sweetness of the sound. Made my old guitar sound bad. But here's where the "Oh oh's" come in...

It was strung with Elixir 12's and the action of the strings was extremely high. So much so that I could not play the guitar without tuning it down to D and putting a CAPO on the second fret. That at least made it temporarily playable. The second issue was that regardless of what I tried, the high E would not stay in tune. One moment flat, the next it would be sharp!

I also was hopeful and excited about the SRT preamp system with the built-in mic modeling. With the amps I have, it doesn't really make much difference. But when playing it into my DAW, then I can hear the great sound I'd hoped for. It really does make the recording of guitar much easier with the mic modeling. I find that blending the on-board piezo with one of the modelled mics works best for me.

Anyway, back to the high action. I took the guitar to a respected luthier and he filed the nut slots, took some off the saddle, did a little tweak on the neck, and put on some D'Addario Phospher Bronze 10's, at my request. MUCH better. Now this guitar sounds like it should. So much so that I can hardly put it down. I just love the sound. Now, if I only had some talent!

BTW, none of this was the fault or responsibility of Sweetwater. My rep Luke is always helpful and kind... even when I'm not. They had no way of knowing how I'd want my guitar set up. It's just one of those things you need to do when you buy a guitar: SOMEBODY has to set it up for you. I'm glad I chose a pro for this one.

Beautifully made guitar, and sounds terrific...when it works. I have had the electronics fail THREE TIMES in this guitar. Replaced the mother board twice, and now it's gone out again. Run away.