Kyla's Blog

What is that guitar? September 28, 2023

Can I get a closer look at your guitar? What is that guitar? Is that even a guitar?

These are questions I get asked…at pretty much every gig I play.

This is my Yamaha Silent Classical guitar. (SLG200NW for those of you who like model numbers.)

These came on the market in 2001 and crossed my radar probably somewhere around 2006/2007. As soon as I saw them I wanted one. I felt like Yamaha had designed these specifically for me. A somewhat surreal looking electric classical guitar that comes apart to be super easy to transport! This has Kyla written all over it!

Head shot of Kyla Tilley. She's a white woman with long brown hair looking directly into the camera. She's smiling, but also somewhat smirking. She's wearing a purple dress ati a black leather jacket. She's standing in front of an old red door, and holding a Yamaha Silent Classical guitar over her shoulder.

I’d seen them in the music stores and played them and liked them, but I was mostly just playing metal at that time, and didn’t have money for whimsical brand new guitar purchases, so on the back burner it went. By 2011 I’d started doing some folk gigs here and there. At that time I got to all my gigs using public transportation (even with the death metal band!) and I was increasingly worried about hauling my Yairi Gakki classical around, not to mention it needed to be mic’d. I saved up for about a year, and by that time the stores weren’t carrying the Silent Series anymore, but I could order one. I of course chose the all black version, it came in and has been my main Kyla Tilley stage guitar ever since.

It sounds great on stage, but it also looks fantastic and I think really fits in with my style. (It pairs smashingly with my Louboutins for instance!) A white woman's calves in a pair of black shiny Louboutins. She's standing on a rock patio in a verdant back yard and there is a Yamaha silent classical next to her feet.

It has built in reverb, echo, and chorus, which I almost never use. It has a headphone jack so you can practice without bothering your neighbours, but it makes enough sound without amplification that I have played it unplugged in small spaces and it does the trick. It’s great for making quick demos as I can just plug it into my Focusrite and lay something down. It folds up to fit in the overhead compartment of the airplane and I have travelled all over North America with it on planes, trains, busses, boats, and very packed car trunks. The only time I’ve ever gotten a hassle for it was from the airport employees in one very small airport, which was resolved when we spoke to the stewardess who took one look at it and said: ‘Oh yeah, that’ll fit. No problem.’

The only things I would change about it are that I would prefer an ebony fret board (mine has rosewood), a built-in tuner would be nice, and I’d dearly love a truss rod. Classical guitars usually don’t have them because there’s less tension on the strings. But I live and tour in Canada, where the constantly changing weather means I’d dearly love to be able to make adjustments to the neck. I had the guitar in my booth at the Folk Alliance International conference a couple years ago and a Yamaha luthier came by and oohed and aahed over my mark one guitar. That’s how I found out that there is a new model that has a built-in tuner, and ebony fret board, and a truss rod. I think Kyla’s saving up for an upgrade.

A top view shot of a singer-songwriter's booth at a trade show. There is a lot of pink. Pink table cloth, gothy pink soled high heels. A handfull of D&D dice and flyers on the table, and a Black Yamaha Silent Classical Guitar with flowers attached to it.

— Kyla