AJL- La Flasque - First silent travelguitar

Chiefbigeasy

AJ wrote me back and told me I could order one and have it about end of August. Then, read a lot of reviews of the Yamaha and decided to pull the trigger on it for about a third of the price of the AJL.

For the money, you seem to get a lot of versatility and good build quality to boot. Just need to see if I can get it to approximate the feel of my GJ guitars. Silent practice is the goal, but it looks like this Yamaha can do a lot more. If not, bought it via Amazon prime and back it goes.

Will report back before I go on vacation, if I can.

Buco

Looks like a great instrument. I'd think the nylon version would be closer in feel to GJ guitar with a longer 650mm scale and even the neck feel. The steel strings version is a fairly short scale at 634mm. And I don't think you'd have any issues using GJ strings on the nylon Yamaha.
With AJL you get a gig ready GJ guitar and a bragging rights, but then there's price of course. I seems like AJL is even more travel friendly than Yamaha.

Chiefbigeasy

Might get away with the steel GJ strings on the nylon version, but I’d be worried about the electronic voicing that would expect nylon strings. Also, I wonder if the neck would react correctly without the nylon strings. I guess I could buy two and send one back.

Chiefbigeasy

First impressions of Yamaha Silent Guitar: nice feel, good acoustic sound through good over-ear headphones, truly silent. It's a keeper.

Other goodies:

1. Mix Yamaha guitar sample sound with piezo to tailor to your preference.
2. Input from another source and hear both guitar and other source through headphones--great for practice with backing tracks and other instruction.
3. Sounds good even with lighter GJ strings. I replaced heavy standard acoustic phosphor bronze with Newtone GJ phosphor bronze (a little rare, but Michael has them), 46-11: no difference in sound, but feel was closer to GJ guitar.
4. Came set up and ready to play with 2.75 mm action. Can adjust truss rod and can modify/switch out bridge.
5. Has a few on-board effects: two reverbs and a chorus with adjustable presence.
6. Has standard 1/4 inch guitar chord out to amp. Haven't tried this yet, but my main motivation is quiet practice.
7. Scale length is shorter, but not by much. About 3/4 inch shorter to 12th fret.
8. Neck is more substantial than I though--feels like an acoustic, not an electric. Width is thinner, but again, not by much.

Per Buco's suggestion, I checked with Yamaha and not only do they not recommend using GJ strings on their classical model (with longer scale length, wider neck), the electronics and voicing would be all wrong. It would be fun to try, though. For me, this is the answer to an occasional problem, but also a fun instrument to have. Also, it partially disassembles for easy transport (think overhead bin).

As much as I would have loved to own the AJL "La Flasque," it's pretty expensive--almost 3x as much--and is less versatile. Other variations on this silent and/or portable guitar theme are out there, for less money too, but none are as elegant as this.

That's my take.

yamaha-silent-guitar-slg-200-s-natural.jpg

richter4208

Whats the size of the guitar case (dimensions) for boarding a plane? Want to compare it to the AJL. Couldn't find specs for the Yamaha

Chiefbigeasy

About 40 inches long, 10 inches wide halfway from the bottom, 5 the rest of the way up, about 4 inches thick.

Yamaha told me the upper half of the “body” comes off but not the bottom. I examined the bottom, though, and it looks like it’s just held in with a couple of screws. I think you could remove it; no electronics connected. You’d end up with the just the neck and electronic block it’s connected to.

i think you could put the whole thing in a suitcase.

Vebjørn

I’m a couple of years late here, but I thought I would share my experience with the AJL Quiet and Portale (La Flasque). I bought it directly from AJ.

I’ve had it for about two months now, and I’m very happy with it. The craftsmanship, setup and playability is excellent. I also really like the option of using a stimer pickup or the bigtone that is installed if you want (more) sound. It’s very easy and quick to assemble and disassemble too.

It’s not the cheapest option in silent travel guitars out there, but you really get what you pay for if you are mainly a gypsy jazz player like myself :)

Here is a photo mine:

https://imgur.com/gallery/GBOCSdj

BrettN

Man I gotta stop looking at this forum! 😝

richter4208

Nice Veborn! Looks amazing. What options did you go for with your AJL? I know they offer different frets (stainless/evo), tuners and truss rod options. I want to buy on too, so I can never be without a guitar. Can't believe how small the case is for these guitars!

kimmo

Here's how to piece together the AJL Q&P. Note, that you don't even need to remove the loop end strings when disassembling, just reel them at the headstock (for disassembling, roll this vid backwards).

https://youtu.be/-0JWvHhVUPc