Yamaha Unveils New Wireless Guitar Amp

Yamaha Unveils New Wireless Guitar Amp

Given that a lot of speakers these days are going wireless, it doesn’t really come as a surprise to learn that the same can be said for guitar amplifiers too. In fact, Yamaha has been doing that for a while now, and the company is back with their latest model in the form of the Yamaha THR30IIA.

However, unlike some of the company’s other THR series of wireless guitar amplifiers, this one seems to have been created for acoustic guitars in mind. This is a 30W amp with dual 3.5-inch speakers and a built-in D-PRE microphone preamp. There are three microphone modes to choose from, such as dynamic, tube, and condenser, and there are also settings for users to choose if they’re playing a guitar with either flat or nylon strings.

Yamaha Developing Turbocharged Motorcycle Engines

Yamaha developing turbocharged motorcycle engines

Car companies have glorified turbocharging as the ideal way to reduce an engine's fuel consumption and exhaust emissions without compromising its power, and motorcycle manufacturers are beginning to adopt this solution. Yamaha is reportedly developing a range of turbo engines that will power several bikes in the coming years.

Yamaha engineers began developing turbocharging technology in 2017, according to Motorcycle News. The company experimented with two layouts: One put the turbo inside the exhaust, which is an unusual configuration, and the other put it close to the exhaust manifold, which is the arrangement commonly seen in the automotive industry. It sounds like Yamaha chose the second, more conventional solution for cost and packaging reasons.

Yamaha, Gordon Murray's Canceled Sports Car Shown In Patent Drawings

Yamaha, Gordon Murray's canceled sports car shown in patent drawings

The mid-2010s saw motorcycle builder Yamaha release a couple of nifty little concept cars, a departure from its powersports vehicles and occasional assistance in developing engines for car companies. It led to the rumors that the company might actually bring a car to production, and it culminated in the beginning development of one with Gordon Murray, designer of the McLaren F1. Unfortunately, Yamaha revealed that project was canceled before we even saw a concept. But now a patent rendering of that very car has surfaced at the European Union's Intellectual Property Office, and while it's cool to see, it also reminds us how sad we are it was canceled.

The car is a curvy, mid-engine coupe. It almost looks a little Lotus-like. The proportions suggest it would have been quite small, similar to the Sports Ride concept coupe from 2015. Though significantly more toned-down than that concept, this stillborn Yamaha bears some interesting design cues such as the flush door handles, as well as the Y-shaped character lines on the hood. Those lines echo design cues from both the Sports Ride and Cross Hub. Extrapolating from the Sports Ride, this unnamed coupe could have been made using Murray's F1-inspired iStream production process and featured a rev-happy Yamaha motorcycle engine.

Yamaha Warns To Stay Out Of Large Musical Instrument Cases After Ghosn Escape

Yamaha warns to stay out of large musical instrument cases after Ghosn escape

TOKYO — Yamaha has warned people not to try and squeeze inside musical instrument cases after reports former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn fled Japan concealed inside in one. "We won't mention the reason, but there have been many tweets about climbing inside large musical instrument cases. A warning after any unfortunate accident would be too late, so we ask everyone not to try it," the Japanese company said in a post on its twitter account on Jan. 11. Ghosn, who is accused of hiding earnings, transferring investment losses to Nissan and misappropriating company funds, escaped from Japan at the end of December for Lebanon. Japanese authorities have vowed to pursue him and have issued an international wanted notice for him and his wife Carole. The former auto executive and fugitive has declined to reveal how he slipped past Japanese airport security, or confirm media reports accomplices smuggled him through a private jet lounge in Kansai Airport in western Japan hidden in large speaker box that was too large to fit through the facility's X-ray scanner. Earlier reports, which Ghosn has dismissed, said he was carried out of his home in Tokyo in a double bass case. Yamaha, which makes instruments and equipment ranging from pianos and double basses to drums, electronics and heavy duty speakers, thanked people in a second tweet for liking its first post, which was retweeted more than 50,000 times. It also reminded followers again that instrument cases are designed for instruments and not people.