Welcome to the summer 2006 issue of All Access. We call All Access 'the backstage guide to the world of Yamaha' because artists tell you about their creative process, and how they use Yamaha gear. It is your window on the world of artists in the studio and on the stage, and we hope it helps you in your creative process.

Artists use Yamaha gear and they also play an important role in designing our products. The APX900 guitar Avril Lavigne is holding in this issue's article is a good example.

Yamaha pioneered the shallow-depth acoustic-electric guitar in the 1980's with the ground-breaking APX10A. You probably saw Wynonna Judd or Toto's Steve Lukather playing APX-series guitars. APX has gone through several redesigns since then.

Yamaha began developing the newest APX a few years ago. A team of engineers started looking for ways to improve the guitar's acoustic and amplified sound. They found pickups used at that time produced unnatural sounds both acoustically and plugged-in because mounted pickups limited top vibration. Unnatural is not a desirable adjective for acoustic-electric guitar sound.

The engineers developed a new pickup, which they dubbed the 'Acoustic Resonance Transducer', or A.R.T. The A.R.T. pickup doesn't limit top vibration, and as a side benefit, is difficult to make feedback. When I first heard the system a little over a year ago, I agreed that it produced a natural acoustic and amplified sound.

We wanted this guitar to be revolutionary again, so we asked a group of artists to visit us and bring their favorite acoustic-electric guitar. First they joined us in a recording studio for critical playing and listening. Then we asked them to put the new APX-series to the test in a concert setting. Oh, and we had a selection of the most popular acoustic-electric guitars in the marketplace for them to try as well. We accepted their input, and the output is the stunning new line of Yamaha acoustic-electric guitars we debut this summer.

Artists assist us on many products. It helps us to continually improve your experience of Yamaha gear, so you have something new to wow you each time you visit a music store.

To continue this development, I'm pleased to announce Yamaha will open a brand-new artist relations and research and development facility this fall. Yamaha Artist Services Hollywood will be located in the North Hollywood, California Arts district. Our focus in this new facility is guitar and drum development. Hollywood joins existing Yamaha Artist Services locations in New York and Nashville.

I hope you enjoy this issue of All Access. And the next time you experience a Yamaha product that makes you say 'wow,' maybe you will think of the artists and engineers who brought it to life.

Sincerely,

Tom Sumner
Vice President/General Manager
Pro Audio & Combo Division
Yamaha Corporation of America