Skip to main content

Hands on: Yamaha TransAcoustic guitar

Leave the amp, but keep your effects with Yamaha's new TransAcoustic guitar

There’s simply no other way to get a sound like the TransAcoustic without an amplifier — and all the pains that come with it.

Thom Yorke was right. Anyone can play guitar — and these days it seems like nearly everyone does. There are few simple pleasures more enriching after a long day then breaking out your steel string and filling the halls with your favorite tunes. But what if there was a way to make that experience even more enriching, more satisfying, and better sounding, all without changing the way you play? That’s the idea behind Yamaha’s latest brainchild, the TransAcoustic guitar line, which leverages innovative technology to layer each note you play with homegrown analog effects, all without the need for an amplifier.

Recommended Videos

On the surface, the sunburst Transacoustic LS-TA that Yamaha sent our way for review looks like any quality acoustic axe: gorgeously finished rosewood sides and back, smooth mahogany and rosewood 5-ply neck, and a solid Engelman spruce top. But beneath that freshly lacquered wood and abalone inlay, the Transacoustic hides a secret weapon: an actuator, which is a little metal plate inside the guitar’s body that is activated by string vibrations.

The actuator plate reflects sympathetic vibrations from the strings as you play, allowing the creation of both reverb and chorus effects, and then sends them back out the sound hole. The setup essentially turns the guitar body into its own amplifier and, as you can see by the video above, it’s pretty amazing. Without any outboard amplification, you can alter the sonic environment in which you’re playing to create, as Yamaha puts it, “a great sounding room.”

Three simple dials allow for control, including the Reverb dial for both Room and Hall reverb, the Chorus dial, and a power/volume dial which powers the actuator on with the press of a finger, and also acts as a volume control for those times you do want to plug in. The onboard piezo electric pickup lets you play bigger stages and still add your desired effects right from the body of the guitar — perfect for sprucing up (no pun intended) those open mic sets. Two AA batteries in an easy-access battery case beneath the strap peg power the entire system.

Yamaha-TransAcoustic-Guitar-0001
Image used with permission by copyright holder

In practice, using the actuator is just good fun. It really is incredible to hear the big hall sound flowing from the guitar, especially when you’re in a less-than ideal environment like a small room, a campfire, or just about anywhere else outside a concert hall. Ramping the reverb up sends those long vibrato notes and held chords glistening into the air, while a bit of chorus gives you a studio sound right from the couch.

As you might expect, heavier effects are much better employed with solo work or instrumental tunes. But even when you’re doing your singer/songwriter thing, dipping those strings in a little bit of chorus and room reverb adds a pleasant touch of sparkle and depth to the tone, which helps you belt out those lyrics all the better. There really is no other way to get a sound like this without your amplifier/pedal in tow, and let’s face it: dragging an amp around to gigs is the absolute worst part about playing them.

Beneath its freshly lacquered wood and abalone inlay the Transacoustic guitar hides a secret weapon.

Even outside of the effects, the LS-TA is great little guitar. The instrument has a bit of that bright edge to the sound that has become synonymous with the Yamaha name, but it also sounds a lot richer than you’d expect from a new guitar, standing up nicely in the lower resonance with this reviewer’s 33-year-old Takamine lawsuit guitar.

The only small quibble to address here is that the LS-TA is pretty hefty, thanks to all that tech nestled inside the body. Still, it’s not prohibitive by any means and as long as you’re not packing it too far into the wild it shouldn’t present a problem for most players. The guitar is also reasonably priced considering all its wiles, clocking in at $1,600 MSRP, which will no doubt drop over time.

Yamaha’s new Transacoustic guitar will become available in mid-September. If you’re looking for something new to spice up your tunes — without the need for plugging — we highly suggest you check it out.

Highs

  • Rich, full sound
  • Realistic live effects without an amp
  • Excellent sustain
  • Gorgeous and well-made
  • Intuitive design

Lows

  • Circuitry adds notable weight to design
Ryan Waniata
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ryan Waniata is a multi-year veteran of the digital media industry, a lover of all things tech, audio, and TV, and a…
How to download music from SoundCloud on desktop and mobile
Soundcloud Interface on a Macbook.

If you're a die-hard music fan, you probably keep a curated library of playlists packed with your favorite artists and albums on Spotify, Apple Music, or whatever your favorite music streaming app is. But how do you discover the best indie artists today? Some music-streaming platforms are better than others at celebrating the ‘unsung gem’ acts, but one of the most reliable forums for new, off-the-grid tunes is SoundCloud.

Founded in 2007, SoundCloud has always prioritized music that’s a bit under the radar. With over 320 million tracks in its library, the platform will even let you download a majority of its songs and albums.

Read more
The best kids headphones of 2025: for fun, safety, and sound
Two kids using the Puro Sound PuroQuiet Plus to watch something on a tablet.

Kid-friendly consumer tech is all the rage these days, so it’s no surprise that there’s an entire market of headphones designed exclusively for young ones. But when we think “kid-friendly,” sometimes we imagine products that are built to be a bit more throwaway than their adult counterparts. That’s not the case with the products on our list of the best headphones for kids, though.

We want our child-tailored headphones to include parental-controlled volume limiters, to ensure our children aren’t harming their eardrums. Pretty much every entry on our list checks this vital box, but we also wanted to point you and yours toward products that offer exceptional noise-canceling, built-in mics for phone and video calls, and long-lasting batteries for schooldays or a long flight.

Read more
How to master your equalizer settings for the perfect sound
An equalizer from eqMac.

While most people will simply flip on the radio or load up Spotify to listen to music, audiophiles like to dig a bit deeper and customize their experience. This often comes in the form of adjustments to the equalizer, which offers the freedom to tweak every aspect of the sound booming out of headphones or speakers. Even some streaming services now have built-in EQs, giving you more ways than ever to play with your music and find something that best fits your ears.

Tinkering with the equalizer can be daunting to newcomers, as there are tons of cryptic settings you can manipulate. And if you mess with the wrong one, your sound quality might take a nasty hit. Thankfully, learning the basics isn't too difficult.

Read more