Yamaha APX 600 Natural

I played music for 11 years before picking up a guitar for the first time, and this is the first guitar that I bought myself after playing for a few months on a borrowed old nylon-string.

Out of the box, the sound was... okay. In my opinion, the standard strings sounded very stiff and "steely" (although I have heard that this becomes better as you keep playing). Furthermore, the string height was very high and I thus had difficulty playing with the same accuracy as I did on my borrowed guitar.

After changing strings to some D'Addario EXP11 and drastically lowering the string height, however, the sound is now fantastic and the guitar is very playable. In my ears, the sound easily rivals that of guitars twice the price. It resonates beautifully and the build quality is solid.

Overall, a great value guitar that I will keep for many years. Be aware, however, that you may need to adjust it to your liking.