My 40th guitar! Thought I'd treat myself to something special rather than the usual low-budget (but always excellent) Harley Benton fare.
Balances well on the leg and feels substantial thanks to the full-depth body. All woods look superb, as does the rosette.
Fingerboard looks quite dry/dull but fret crowns are nicely polished so no issues when playing. I'll give that fingerboard a rub with lemon oil whenever I get around to changing the strings - no idea how 'walnut' will come out when oiled, maybe it's supposed to look grey? Some of the fret edges higher up the neck could be smoother - nothing that cuts into fingers but not the flawlessly smooth fretwork it could be. Easy enough to fix, and something I normally do on my new guitars.
REALLY good tuning pegs! I'm used to really bad tuning pegs on older nylon-string guitars, so this is a nice surprise. As is the fact that all strings intonate perfectly all the way to the top fret :)
Extremely easy to play thanks to the low action. 52mm wide neck not an issue when playing with a foot stool, and easier to fingerpick than the narrower-necked, thinline NTX1. If you generally play standing up with the guitar on the strap you might find the NTX1 more comfortable.
Fairly bland, balanced tone that suits intricate classical picking rather than Flamenco-style excitement. It's not sterile but perhaps it lacks the character and bark of an old nylon-string guitar. Maybe the cedar-top version would be better for Spanish styles? Hopefully the tone will improve with age. In any case, in terms of quality and definition of tone it's in a different league to cheaper thinlines and profoundly easier to play than those junkshop nylon guitars you find tucked away in everyone's house.
Pickup sounds ok for a piezo. Only a slight 'quack' on the lower string but a lot smoother and way closer to the guitar's acoustic tone than most piezo systems I've tried. Tuner is fast-acting and easy to use. 3-band EQ with selectable midrange, could be useful for trouble-shooting when using through a PA. It records beautifully when DI'd, especially through a compressor pedal, and I lost several hours yesterday playing through a bunch of reverb and delay plugins. This guitar is VERY hard to put down! :)
If, like me, you're an electric or acoustic player dabbling in classical guitar then this makes a great addition. If you're serious about it or aim to play live a lot then perhaps try the higher-spec'd versions from Yamaha as they come with better-sounding hybrid pickup systems.
