Yamaha Electro-Acoustic Guitar LS16

All Solid Woods. A Top That Has Been Aged Before You Play It.

The Yamaha LS16 ARE is a concert-body electro-acoustic built from all solid tonewoods — a hand-selected solid Engelmann spruce top over solid rosewood back and sides. Engelmann responds readily to a light touch, and rosewood adds the deep overtone complexity and shimmering top end that make an instrument sound expensive.

What separates the L Series from other all-solid guitars at this price is A.R.E. — Yamaha's own wood-reforming process, applied to the top before the guitar is built. It gives a brand-new instrument the open, responsive voice that normally takes years of playing to develop.

Underneath, a 5-ply mahogany and rosewood neck with ebony fingerboard and bridge, modified non-scalloped bracing, and the passive SRT Zero Impact pickup make the LS16 a guitar you can record, gig and keep for decades. Supplied with a stiffened fabric gig bag, in Natural, Brown Sunburst or Dark Tinted.

A.R.E. — Acoustic Resonance Enhancement

An acoustic guitar sounds better after years of playing because the cellular structure of the top slowly changes. A.R.E. is Yamaha's method of reaching that state in the factory, without heat-charring the wood or removing anything from it.

Hand-selected solid Engelmann spruce top with A.R.E.

Engelmann spruce is lighter and more elastic than the Sitka used on most guitars, which makes it unusually sensitive to a soft attack — ideal for fingerstyle and recording. The A.R.E. treatment adds the maturity that Engelmann normally needs years to reach.

Solid rosewood back and sides — not laminate

The LS16 is an all-solid guitar. Solid rosewood gives the scooped midrange, deep bass and bell-like treble that define a high-end acoustic, and unlike laminate it will keep improving for as long as you own it.

Modified non-scalloped bracing

Yamaha deliberately does not scallop the braces on the L Series. The modified non-scalloped pattern “retains the L Series' characteristic bright tone while enhancing low-end tone” — clarity under a pick, without the woolly bass that heavily scalloped tops can produce.

5-ply neck, volute and double-action truss rod

The neck is built from five laminations of mahogany and rosewood with a volute at the headstock and a double-action adjustable rod — a construction Yamaha specifies for “excellent strength and stability”. It resists the seasonal movement that sends one-piece necks back to the workshop.

High Comfort Traditional neck profile

Yamaha reworked string spacing, string height, fingerboard binding and neck taper to arrive at this profile. With a 44 mm nut and 11 mm string spacing on a 650 mm scale, it gives fingerstyle players room to work without feeling wide under a barre chord.

SRT Zero Impact passive pickup — no controls, no battery, no holes

A passive system with an individual piezo element under each string, designed to “minimize the pickup's impact on the tone and traditional appearance of the instrument”. There is no preamp box cut into the side and no battery to die mid-set — just a LINE OUT jack and the guitar's own voice. Set your level at the desk or through a preamp.

Appointments that match the woods

Ebony fingerboard and bridge, maple and black body binding, an abalone, black and white sound-hole rosette, tortoise-pattern pickguard, and die-cast gold TM29G tuners. Gloss body, matte neck — so the finish shines but your hand still slides.

Elixir strings and a stiffened gig bag included

Fitted with Elixir NANOWEB 80/20 Bronze Light strings, and supplied with a stiffened fabric gig bag and hex wrench. The bag is padded and semi-rigid with carry straps — good protection for transport, though not a moulded hard case. Ask us if you want to add one.

Q. Is the LS16 all solid wood?

Yes. Solid Engelmann spruce top, solid rosewood back, solid rosewood sides. Many guitars advertised as “solid top” use laminate back and sides; the LS16 does not.

Q. Is A.R.E. the same as a torrefied or roasted top?

They aim at the same result but are not the same process. Torrefaction bakes wood at high heat. A.R.E. controls temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure together to alter the wood's molecular properties. Yamaha developed it in-house and uses it across the L Series.

Q. How different is the LS16 from the LL16 in practice?

The LL16 body is 35 mm wider and 16 mm longer, at the same 100–120 mm depth. The LS16 is easier to hold and more delicate under the fingers; the LL16 pushes harder and takes a pick better. Woods, neck, hardware and electronics are identical.

Q. Where are the volume and tone controls?

There aren't any, by design. The SRT Zero Impact system is passive, so there is no preamp, no battery and no control panel routed into the side. You plug into the LINE OUT jack and set the level at your amp, mixer or an outboard acoustic preamp/DI.

Q. Does a passive pickup need anything extra to gig with?

Most acoustic amps and PA channels will take it directly. If you want more control on stage, a small acoustic preamp or DI with EQ and a notch filter is the usual pairing — ask us and we will match one to your setup.

Q. How does the LS16 compare with the TransAcoustic models?

Different purposes. The TAG1E/TAS1E build reverb and chorus into the guitar for playing at home. The LS16 is a higher-tier instrument — all-solid woods, A.R.E., ebony and gold hardware — aimed at tone quality rather than onboard effects.

Q. Is a concert body too small to strum?

No. Yamaha describes the LS as delivering “a big, confident sound for its size”, and the non-scalloped bracing keeps it tight under a pick. A dreadnought will still move more air — if you mostly strum hard in a band, look at the LL16.

Q. What does the 5-ply neck actually get me?

Stability. Laminating mahogany and rosewood in alternating layers means the grain directions oppose each other, so the neck is far less likely to twist or shift with humidity — which matters a great deal in the Indian climate.

Q. How should I look after an all-solid guitar?

Keep it in its bag when you are not playing, away from direct sun and air-conditioning vents, and use a soundhole humidifier in very dry weather. Solid tops are more responsive than laminate and also more sensitive to humidity swings.

Q. What is included in the box?

A stiffened fabric gig bag and a hex wrench, with Elixir NANOWEB 80/20 Bronze Light strings fitted. Yamaha's own specification sheet calls this a “hard bag”, but it is a padded semi-rigid fabric bag rather than a moulded hard case.

Why Buy from YMS?

• ✓ Authorised Yamaha Premium Retailer: Buy a genuine India-market Yamaha instrument with official manufacturer warranty support.
• ✓ Set up before it reaches you: On an instrument at this level we check action, relief and intonation so it plays properly out of the bag.
• ✓ Expert guitar guidance: Our team can compare the LS16 and LL16 with you, and advise on preamps, DIs and amplification for the passive SRT pickup.
• ✓ Support beyond the guitar: Ask us about hard cases, humidifiers, Elixir strings, capos, stands and cables.
• ✓ Pan-India delivery: Order from anywhere in India, subject to serviceability for your location.
• ✓ Physical-store support: YMS teams in Bengaluru and Mangaluru are available for product enquiries and after-sales guidance.