Yamaha CG122MCH Solid Cedar Top Classical Guitar

This is my favorite classical guitar. I have owned and plaid it for four years and enjoyed it every time I have picked it up. It played good as received but I like a very low action and enjoy tinkering so I checked it quite thoroughly and found the neck and frets perfect. I lowered the nut slots slightly and lowered the saddle a bit to my preference. I like the lowest strings that do not buzz at all. Tonality is perfect. I carry it to practice and gigs bare so it has picked up a few little dings, but still looks nice with it's not glossy finish. I have played guitars that cost four times what I paid for it that played or sounded no better. Beginners guitar? Nope.

I got this as a gift for my niece who has decided she wants to play like Xuefei Yang. I hope she can but, of course, I had to try it out first. I must say it's a much nicer guitar than I'd hoped for. It has a proper 2" nut, a nice low action, and no tuning issues. The tone is surprisingly full for a guitar in this price range. I wasn't too sure about the matte finish, but I like that also. It generally presents a nice appearance and appears well made. (I did think the factory strings were totally dead, no surprise there, so I replaced them with some D'Addario Dynacores and that made a big difference.) The bottom line is that I'd surely recommend this guitar for the student or for the casual around-the-house player. Good value for the price. All individual guitars are different, but I'm very pleased with the one I got. Here's hoping my niece will like it also. Xuefei Yang could use some competition. PS Neither Yamaha, D'Addario, nor Xuefei Yang has compensated me for this review. I wish they would, and I wish they'd contact me soon. I wouldn't mind getting a new guitar for myself. Guitarists never have enough stuff.

I was browsing Amazon, brain on idle, and drifted towards the guitar section. I'd been kicking around the idea of taking classical guitar instruction at a local community college, and figured my previous "rescue guitar" (Yamaha CGS103AII, see my review for details) probably wasn't going to be adequte for the task. Really wasn't intending to buy another instrument, and then...saw 2 returned CG122MCHs for sale in "good" condition. So, throwing caution (and money) to the wind, I ordered the cheaper of the two. Amazon responded before I could change my mind (no joke, it went from initial purchase to "Shipping Now" in about 7 hours, delivered in about 52 hours. Shoutout to the peeps at ONT6 BTW - we gotchu!) and I received a 5 foot tall box o'git Sunday morning, with no shipping damage apparent. Opened the box, aaaaand...dug through poured foam packing to find the instrument, wrapped in heavy duty polyethylene plastic with shipping tape holding it all together. Peeled the tape and plastic back to find...a pristine guitar, no physical damage noted. Gave 'er a strum, and...huh? Sounded a bit off, but gave 'er the benefit of the doubt. After getting a few more hours of sleep, got both of my classical guitars out for a head-to-head comparison. Re-strummed the CG122MCH, and noted it was way out of tune. Tuned it up, and since all the strings were out approximately equal amounts it was obvious it had been tuned at some point prior to arrival. Held tune just fine, and started running my usual checks. Intonation was dope (even the "G" string was within +-5 cents) and 2 things stood out: fretting was noticeably easier, and this thing is LOUD! Projects nicely, and tends to be a bit bass-heavy (cedar top, yo). Much greater sustain than the littler git, and not as bright. All in all, a worthy addition to the collection. Now, for the reason for 4 stars; the CG122MCH is advertised as having a "low action". Got my engineering ruler out, and measured the string height at the 12th fret. Low "E" was 4 mm off the top of the fret, and high "E" is 3.5 mm off the top of the fret. Folks, that's not a "low action", that's industry standard for a classical guitar, and is the same as the CGS103AII. Just a WAG on my part, but I suspect this instrument has light tension strings, making it easier to fret. Since I have zero idea what was done to the instrument prior to its arrival, I can't honestly blame Yamaha on this one. So...-1 star for standard string height, usual 5 for pretty much everything else. If it bugs me enough, I'll take it to a luthier for height adjustment, bone nut & saddle & a fresh set of normal tension strings. Another keeper! 🥰😁👍

This is a great guitar for your money. I bought it for my son for 9 years. The guitar is the optimal size and very light in weight. The sound is very chic, the cedar masive resonates perfectly and the sound is rich. I gave it to two professional guitarists for a test, they were impressed by this guitar and its sound. The build quality is at the highest level, the guitar is matte and pleasant to the touch. The strings are of medium quality and do not hold frets for a long time, it is better to check the tuning with a toner before playing. But the strings can be replaced over time, they are enough for studying. I recommend this guitar, you will not regret buying it, it falls in love with itself from the first contact with it.

Beautiful guitar with a very nice sound and easy on the hands and fingers.