Yamaha THR5

October 2011 Guitarist 121
YAMAHA THR5 & THR10 £199 & £299
GUITAR AMPS
used any amp modelling
hardware of the last decade.
This simplicity, along with
a selection of modulation and
ambience effects derived from
stompbox modelling and
Yamaha’s pro audio mixing
desks, but controlled by
standard rotary pots, ensures
that you won’t have to waste
valuable practice time
navigating your way through
menus. However, if it’s deep
editing that you want then
Yamaha’s THR Editor software
allows you get to grips with
amp and effect parameters
with the units hooked up to a
computer via USB. In addition,
this also allows you to control
hidden compression and noise
gate functionality so the THR is
very much a product that is as
simple or as complicated as you
want it to be.
The amps’ USB 2.0
connections also allow you to
use each unit as an audio
interface and stereo monitor in
combination with computer
recording software such as the
bundled Cubase AI. Or you
could just use it as a great
speaker system when watching
a film on your iPad. Don’t
underestimate how much this
will improve your enjoyment!
Access to both dry and wet
stereo signals over USB allows
you to plug in and demo ideas
quickly using the core THR
sounds then potentially re-amp
the dry DI signal at a later date.
This is a real plus, as not only
has re-amping guitars become
commonplace in recent years
(even if the artists themselves
aren’t aware!), but it also means
that you needn’t waste precious
studio time trying to recapture
the vibe of a part that you nailed
on a home demo.
In Use
Fired up, both amps emit a
warm orange glow from behind
their powder-coated metal
speaker grilles that might trick
the uninitiated into thinking
that valves are housed inside.
Yamaha calls this ‘Virtual Tube
Illumination’, which is
presumably tongue-in-cheek,
but we do like a good light show
nonetheless and it’s certainly
more appealing than a backlit
monochrome LCD display.
Plugging in and kicking
things off at the cleaner end of
the spectrum with a little
simulated spring reverb thrown
in for good measure, it’s
immediately evident that even
the physically smaller THR5
has a much bigger sound than
you’d expect from a box of its
diminutive size. Hugely so, in
fact. With its master and
volume controls pushed hard,
there’s remarkable bottom end
on tap that retains definition
even with a high output neck
humbucker, while the higher
frequencies really sing.
As you switch settings
further up the gain scale,
proceedings inevitably get a
little rougher around the edges
with more pronounced mids,
but in a good way. With a
generous helping of dirt, single-
coil hum can be hard to control
without judicious gating via the
THR Editor software, but that’s
certainly preferable to having
to fork out for a stompbox noise
suppressor. Crucially, these
amps have been designed to
sound good and retain
dynamics without sounding
overly processed, whatever the
volume level, and Yamaha has
certainly achieved that. It’s
refreshing to play through an
amp that doesn’t sound worse
when you turn it down.
The company’s Extended
Stereo Technology makes for
a spacious, three-dimensional
experience that really doesn’t
feel like any other practice
amplifier we’ve encountered,
particularly when the stereo
reverb is engaged. To our ears,
the clean, crunch and modern
voices are where the best
sounds sit, as the Marshall-
style Lead and Brit Hi modes
are a little grainy. But it’s
subjective, and can be fine-
tuned with the Editor software.
Although the official spec
states that both models have the
same output power rating and
speaker size, the THR10 is very
much the bigger brother.
Yamaha says that the large
enclosure and the addition of a
high-quality three-band EQ are
the main factors that make the
THR10 punch harder than its
sibling, and the piano-like bass
from the clean channel is
something to behold. Although
it is designed for domestic use,
so output power is something of
a moot point, the larger THR
would cope admirably with live
performance in intimate coffee
house-style surroundings
alongside a polite drummer.
The Bass and Flat modes offer
yet more flexibility. Whether
it’s four-string fun or even
plugging in a keyboard, the
results are very impressive. By
comparison, the THR10’s
With the master and volume pushed
hard, there’s remarkable bottom end
on tap that retains defi nition
Five electric guitar sounds, plus bass, acoustic and ‘fl at’ (for keys, for example)
GIT347.rev_yamaha.indd 121 9/12/11 1:17:12 PM