Customer Reviews

Yamaha EZ Learning Guitar EZ-AG

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It is basically the same guitar as EZ-EG but without the tremelo and the UX-16 USB MIDI cable. Another neat thing about this guitar (besides being stringless) is that you can use it as a MIDI controller.
I've been watching the price for this neat learning guitar on Amazon for a while now, but am disappointed that it is still way over priced ($249.99 at this moment) compare to other online retailers. Most online stores are selling this thing for under $200. The cheapest I've found (from musiciansbuy.com) was $195.95 including free shipping, Yamaha PA3C power adaptor, Stereo headphones and Two-year extended warranty. I hope Amazon will not only match but also beat that price soon so I can put this guitar in my wish list to show my wife what I want for Christmas.

In addition to teaching you how to play lots of chords and do other necessary guitar-playing things, the wonderful range of tones (instruments) on this guitar and its adaptive features almost do away with the need for a second guitar. My mouth was watering for a Variax acoustic but when I measured it up with the EZ-AG I had to admit the EZ-AG met by far the most of my expectations.I like this instrument because for what I get it is inexpensive but never cheap. It's also sturdy, lightweight, easier to fret than a standard acoustic but lets you do slides and other things you wouldn't expect on plastic "string" pieces. I think maybe this is the last guitar I will ever own.

I got this "Guitar" a few months ago, and I must say it is a fun thing to have around the house. I am a keyboard player by nature and have always wanted to learn guitar so this seemed like a decent starting point. It has many sounds, but the only listenable one for me is the first preset, the acoustic guitar, which is very nice, sounds quite real. Playing along with the preprogrammed songs is also a fun way to learn. You can change the tempo to slow it down if it is too fast for you to keep up with. Strumming is decent, but when changing chords it can sound choppy since you are releasing little buttons and not real strings, but again it's not a real guitar...so I can live with that. The best part is the frets light up as the chords of the song go by so you can see where to put your fingers without looking in a chord book or on a bar chart. I wish you could manually "punch in" the type of chord you wanted to learn ie; C# Major Seven and have it light up to show you where the notes are. All in all, it is a fun guitar to play and great for beginners to learn with. If you are a more advanced musician, I would suggest getting a real guitar as the sounds and the changing chords thing might get annoying.

As a basic learning guitar (chords and strumming), I guess its okay, but it has the potential to be much more. First some background, I am a casual guitarist and have been playing for 10+ years. My comments are as follows.

The sound from the on-board speaker is frankly quite mediocre (but understandably so), the 'strings' could be a bit tighter, and they are not sensitive enough - when I hit (or pluck) a string, sometimes there is no sound... you have to hit it hard enough to get a sound. There seem to be no way to adjust the tightness of the string or the sensitivity.

The lighted frets only go up to the 6th fret. It would have been nice to go all the way to the 12th fret, but this is probably a cost issue. Also, rather than limit the guitar to just strumming and chords, it would have been great if it also taught you how to 'pluck, for example, simple classical pieces. Lighted frets right up to the 12th fret would be essential for this. Open string could easily be represented by an LED at the bridge.

If this was implemented, it would be so much better as a the 'teaching' guitar. As it is, it is very limited, hence the 2 stars. I would have returned it if I could, but since I do not live in the U.S. the shipping costs would have been very expensive.

I already play guitar and have for about 15 years so I didn't buy this to learn guitar. What I wanted was a midi guitar but didn't want to spend $1500. With a midi guitar interface instead of a keyboard I am able to use Garageband and other programs thinking and playing like a guitarist, not a piano player -- which I am definitely not! For me, this is really the only way to input music into my Mac. Two big caveats tho. One, you need a free software to make the midi interface work. Its SubtleSoft's MIDIPIPE. (its at the Apple download site). And if you'd like a tutorial on how to use it go to [...]for a quick tutorial or search online for MIDIPIPE and EZ-AG

And two, you need a midi to usb cable, or firewire interface to get it into your computer. The guitar has midi and headphone outputs only. Again, for a midi guitar this product is cheap and fun to use. As a "guitar" it sounds pretty good, can slide notes and use hammer - ons. The string action is a bit slow, but its always in tune and in fact can simulate Capo, Drop D, G tuning with a touch of a button. But you can't bend strings and you can't get those subtle rhythms that you can out of a guitar.

One last thing, when I bought this they did not provide a power supply. So make sure you get one with it. The battery life is pretty good but all you have to do is leave it on by mistake -- and easy thing to do -- and its off to the store to buy more batteries!

So to sum up. Looking for a cheap midi guitar! Want a guitar that's always in tune, or can tune quickly to alternate tunings to play around while you write or sing...this is it!

As long as you know what you want and that is a regular guitar buy one... This is a whole lot of fun and can do things no other guitars offer... It is fun exploring all the things it can do... It has a built in synthesiser sometimes it is hard to hear a guitar in it's built in songs... I plan to get the MIDI-USB converter soon so the jury is still out on downloading more songs... The EZ-AG is the Accoustic version where as the EZ-EG is the electric version... My big rub is during playback some of the strings are in-active so if you want to add to a built in song you can't... Another problem is some of the lights that indicate the cords played are impossible to get your fingers to play them... If you want a serious guitar buy one... If you want an electronic sythesiser that you can have a lot of fun and make music that is unique to this instrument buy it... You can really create music that you like... If you are making a living playing music stick to conventional instruments... If you want a portable instrument that makes you happy here it is... I don't think this will teach anyone how to play the guitar... The long and short of it is it makes me smile...

I don't know how well this guitar works to learn on since I've played for years. I am also not (yet at least) interested in the midi aspect. What made me get this guitar are my arthritic thumbs which prevent me from being able to play my beloved Martin anymore. This guitar requires much less pressure and allows me to play again. OK it doesn't do all the things a regular guitar can do - can't hammer on really or pluck from the neck. Also for chords further up the neck than first position you have to use bar chords - because you can't muffle the strings you don't want to sound. Still I haven't been able to join in with my friends playing for some time and now I can. - Well worth the very reasonable price (though add on a bit more for an adapter and cord and a case.

This item woks as advertised. I only have 2 problems with it. The Yamaha download sight has so few downloadable choices and I am still trying to find a midi in/out to usb cable.

I bought this item thinking it was going to be easy to use and a great way to start learning (I have a classical nylon string guitar as well).
The Good: I has pretty good songs already loaded inside. The strings that you strum on are of a pretty good material, sturdy and flexible plastic/metal like.
The Bad: The plastic construction of the bridge is not sturdy, it feels like it might bread if you grab it from there. Feels weird pressing buttons instead of strings. Although teaches you to play chords, it doesn't teaches you to play tabs (arpeggio). Need an adaptor (does not come with one) since it drains the battery pretty fast (about 1.5 hrs of constant playing).
The Very Bad: What really annoys me is the fact that when you press the buttons on the fretts, it makes sounds, although you are not strumming. This is very distracting whe you're trying to listen to the chords you're playing. (I returned the item back to Amazon with no problems, although they charged me for shipping it back about 10 buck)
Tip: If you wanna learn to play a guitar, get a real one!

E-Z is the best thing to say about learning to play the guitar! You can down load other songs to learn to play! The sound effects are GREAT too!