Yamaha LS500

*Rare handmade guitar!* Hardshell case included. Keep reading....

This is the legendary Yamaha LS 500.
For those of you who have heard of it, or played it, this guitar needs no further introduction.

If you have never heard of this guitar, then here you go;

These were handmade guitars, made only in small batches for Yamaha by a small team of Japanese luthiers.

They were produced from the late 1990's till the early 2000's.
They are essentially a limited-run of handmade Yamaha custom shops.

This guitar is an "LS" or in other words a deep-body OM. Scale length and shape are that of a Martin OM, and the body is of Dreadnought depth.

The sound character therefore, is exactly how you would expect. Excellent string balance, brightness, and snap, while having additional low-end punch and the midrange of a larger, powerful dreadnought.

The tone quality of this guitar far exceeds anything used at this price point.

The sound of these guitars has been compared to that of Goodalls, as well as some of the best Alvarez Yairi ever made, including some of the best Japanese lawsuit guitars ever made.

This is really one killer instrument.

Listen to my video samples with large headphones and hear the nuance of this thing, it's quite amazing.

Other observations about this guitar's sound;

There is what sounds like a lot of top-end sparkle and piano-like harmonics, but really, when you play this thing, the midrange and fundamentals are what stand out.

The real strength of the tone, besides amazing clarity, bass and colorful midrange spectrum, is the 3D quality and bloom of each note.

If you play a lot with fingerpicks,
or if you use a lot of chords and picking, like a country or western folk player would, this guitar will blow your f*&^#@g mind.

Theres a stereo quality to each note as it gets plucked.

Another huge advantage lies in the high B and E strings. They ring in near complete unison, and you can hear it in the recording.

To my ears, those two strings intonate better than on most guitars, even some VERY expensive ones. Neither the high B or E seems to overpower one or the other; 

I attribute this to the muscular midrange and superior balance of the guitar.

Whoever walks away with this guitar is going to be very happy!

CONDITION:

For a guitar this old, it's in exceptionally good shape. A few mild dings and indentations on the lower bout of the guitar's top. Though it appears none of them have compromised the finish on the wood.

A few very mild stratches on the side of the guitar, but barely noticable. I apologize that the photo isn't perfect, but take my word for it, the sides of the guitar are basically perfect otherwise.

No buckle rash on the backside of the guitar whatsoever.

The finish and wood around the soundhole are perfect. No chipping or finish flaking whatsoever. This guitar was babied very well.

Bleached & polished bone nut and saddle, hardshell case included.