Yamaha Electric Guitars

i got this guitar a long time ago, when i first started to play the guitar. It was my beggining guitar, and i was pleased with it because i had always wanted a double cutaway strat-stlye, if not a Fender strat, guitar. I bought it used from a friend, who had owned it for a short while. It was in great condition, and bascially new. It's not to heavy, or bulky. It's nice and light, and fits good. The neck is basically a "C" shaped neck, though isn't very wide. Strings are close together. What I like is that the neck is a baritone neck, and is very long. (mine is anyhow) Well, in terms of looks, i wish it weren't the standard black body, and white pickguard. I don't like strats to be a solid color that much. I prefer wood grain or with sunburst--that kind of junk. I made the exception, but from now on i try and buy guitars with sunburst color. Another thing i don't like about this guitar is the plug in. I would prefer it to be on the top of the guitar, just below the bridge (like a Fender strat)but instead, it is on the side of the guitar. It gets in the way a bit. The last thing is the strap buttons. They are standard ones, but the strap this guitar came with doesn't hold to well. The pickups of the guitar are standard single coils. They're not that bad, as the other jackass reviewer said they were. They're as good as any Fender standard strat. The other reviewer (one of them)on this item said the guitar was cheap. Well, if you don't like the pickups, just install some other ones. It doesn't mean the guitar is bad! There are many jackasses out there that buy these thousand dollar guitars that come from the factory already buffed up and hot rodded. Well let me tell you something. Many of the famous guitarists that use strats, or strat-style guitars (like SRV, Hendrix, Clapton, Beck, etc.)use simple and standard strats. NOT 1000 dollar strats, but standard 200 or so dollar strats. Later, they beef them up with seperate parts. Thats why they sound so good. So, once again, to the jackass reviewer that said this guitar was cheap, screw you! If you buy this guitar, you can make it as good as any other. The construction is as strong as a Fender strat. Quality is excellent. The nut may need to be replaced with a better one, maybe not. Once again, the jackass reviewer insulted this aspect as well. Well, since he's probably got a whole bunch of expensive strats, he thinks that his beginner guitar, the Yamaha EG303, is crap. Well, i've got expensive strats too!! And yet this Yamaha is as good as the others--its my main one. Do yourself a favor. Don't listen to the jackass reviewer, who harshly criticezed this guitar. It's normal for those out there who want a guitar to want to buy a very expensive one! But, you have 2 options: you can buy a expensive guitar (1000 or more dollars) that is already beefed up, or you can buy a standard guitar (200 or so dollars) and you yourself later beef it up with seperate parts. I admit, it's hard to not want a expensive guitar. I fell in love with the Fender American Strat Texas Special, which is already beefed up, and well over 1000 dollars. So, i've only bought one expensive guitar. The others i bought were standards, including this guitar, and are as good as the expensive one. Great guitar, go buy it. Once again, SCREW YOU, to the jackass reviewer who has his head stuck up his butt. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Yamaha SA2200 is definitely one of the best semi-hollow body guitars in the market. It does not matter where one starts, from the production perspective, i.e. technology, materials, labour, or from the guitar players' perspective, it is very, very hard for other brands to bid this one - made in Japan by Yamaha. The finish is flawless and electronics are uncomplainable. Wood and materials are of a high quality grade similar to those used by Gibson to make their ES models. I have not found any issue with the structure of the guitar. Yamaha uses ebony to make fretboards for the SA model and more expensive guitars. It gives more high ends, more crunchy sounds and more sustain. Gibson uses rosewood that gives more low ends and warmth. Tone is a personal preference. However, using the tone control knob with Push-Pull Coil Split, I can produce sounds that are more similar to a Fender Strat. Ebony is denser and harder hence more solid and durable than rosewood. The feel is so smooth and very comfortable when playing the guitar the first time. Surprisingly, Yamaha SA2200 has a much lower price than Gibson ES models. So if I had to choose between Yamaha SA2200 and a Gibson ES as free gift, I would take the Gibson then sell it to buy the Yamaha.

I recently found one of these in a local music store... Apparently they were built from 1998-2000? Mine says made in Japan on it, although I understood most were assembled in other locations. I paid $399 for it with the case. This guitar has Dimarzio pickups in it (stock from the factory). This guitar blows away my Les Paul and American Strat. Plays like butter and is a beautifully crafted guitar. This thing is easily worth twice the money. Great fit and finish. I'd pay twice as much for a guitar like this. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

This was my first guitar, I got it at a christmas as part of a starter set which cost £200 (english) It's simple, one control for the volume, one for the tone. It has a 5 way switch blade for the pickups: Neck Neck/Middle Middle Bridge/Middle Bridge It can produce a nice sound if you learn to work around the bad points of the guitar. The fret wire is a tad too high up around the higher frets and it makes a bit of a buzzy sound. The bridge tears your hand to pieces when you try and palm mute and because the fret wire is so high up around the higher frets pulling off is a real bitch around there. It has 22 frets and dot inlays. Chrome hardware. It has two controls, main volume and main tone. Five way pickup selector blade. Pickup arrangement: Neck humbucker Single pickup Bridge humbucker It's a good guitar really for anyone learning to play but it's not really a life time thing, you'll outgrow it. But it's not bad to start making your own riffs on and things. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

22 fret Tele style guitar. Actually Yamaha's take on Mike Stern's signatureTele he got from Roy Buchanon. Humbucker in the neck, Hot Rails in the bridge. 6 saddle bridge instead of the more traditional 3 barrel ashtray style.One piece maple neck, ash body. UTILIZATION It's a player alright, especially after I set it up for my needs. Fret access is nice. It is well balanced. Hardware and electronics is what you'd expect from a low end Taiwan build guitar. The pots needed replacing fairly quickly. As did the pick-up selector. SOUNDS I used this pre-dominantly as a "shredder" with high gain amps. Mesa Trem-oVerb, Fryette Amplification Deliverance D60, Soldano Avenger with DeYoung transformer... For that purpose it's a lovely guitar, for clean the puck-ups are just too hot. And it certainly is not vintage sounding, even through say my old 60s Black Face Fender Bassman. OVERALL OPINION The stock pick-ups and bridge as well as the aesthethics will scare any self respecting Tele player off. That said as a back-up this guitar certainly was worth the $250 I paid for it. The neck has a nice medium C shape and flat boat so it sure is a burner. It hold the tuning well despite the low end hard ware. The one down side is that it came set-up poorly, which was easy to fix myself. The only thing were it had to go to the shop for was to re-cut the nut since the low e-string had a tendency to pop out of the nut when hit any harder than with a feather like attack. As a back-up I certainly would buy another if this one was lost.And updating the pick-ups and hardware a $200-300 investment will make this actually a good instrument. I'm actually interested in trying the high end model and see how that compares.

The Yamaha RGX612A was built by Yamaha in the late eighties to compete with the Ibanez, Jackson/Charvel and Kramer guitars that were so popular for rock and metal styles of the time. It was built in Taiwan and was a reasonably high end instrument back in its day. It features an alder body, maple neck with rosewood fretboard, 24 jumbo frets, Yamaha RM (Rockin' Magic) Pro tremolo bridge (kind of like a cross between a Floyd Rose and a Kahler). This particular model features an H-S-S pickup configuration with Yamaha active pickups/electronics. There is a master volume control, two tone controls, an on/off switch for each pickup, and a master boost switch, which adds more bite to the sound for thicker tones. UTILIZATION The design of this guitar is fairly ergonomic. It's not exactly the lightest guitar on the planet (weight is probably medium-heavy). The body is sculpted nicely however, and the fact that it uses a neck bolt system that is plate-less (a-la the Ibanez AANJ) makes upper fret access excellent. It's definitely an instrument I'm comfortable gigging with and using, being confident that I can really fly on. Getting a good sound out of this instrument is not that difficult. The pickups are active and have a similar tonal quality to EMGs of the time. The resulting tone is somewhat dated sounding/compressed, but if you're actively seeking that eighties shred tone, it's a perfect match. The cleans and the drive tones have a certain unique quality that is not for everyone to be fair, but if you're completely not a fan of the electronics they can be replaced. SOUNDS This guitar was designed/built to capture that shred vibe that so many people were after in the late eighties. As tastes progressed from the era of single humbuckers and modded Marshalls to more complex rigs involving active pickup shred guitars and piles of rackmount gear, instruments like this became more in vogue. Clean tones are fairly crisp and punchy. There isn't much of that classic warmth that you'd hear in a more typical Strat type guitar, but there's enough extra compression and high end to really sound crisp. To that end, it makes a great recording guitar for someone who needs those kinds of polished tones. The drive tones have much the same complex. It's not that it's a bad sounding guitar by any means... it is just far less raw and ripping than passive setups. It's quite clear sounding for rhythm work in the hard rock vein, and that polished compression gives leads a certain smooth quality that works especially well for neoclassical type settings where lots of notes are being played. OVERALL OPINION All in all I think the Yamaha RGX612A is a great guitar for someone looking for a great active superstrat on a budget. It'll blow away any of the cheaper Ibanez or Jackson guitars coming out of China right now and at the same price. They can be had for about $300 used which is a fantastic deal. I've had a few different RGXs in my time and I can say they're just a killer example of a superstrat. I loved my 612A when I owned it. I didn't use it as a main ax because I prefer passive pickups, but it did make a great recording/backup guitar and never let me down. Definitely worth a look!

Yamaha has been in the music industry for ever. They are well known for their studio and recording equipment. They are also well respected for their Pianos and Band equipment but it has not been so good in the guitar industry. Yamaha has been overlooked in the guitar industry for decades. Most players who are looking for a more prestigious name on their guitar go to the known companies. The 920 has a mahogany body with a carved maple top. The guitar has a unique bridge with offset individual bridge blocks. It has a fat mahogany set neck with a rosewood fretboard with 22 medium frets. On the headstock there are six well placed grover tuners. It comes from the factory with Seymour Duncan 59's in each position. Each pickup has its own volume knob and there is a master tone knob. UTILIZATION The neck is nice and chunky and it really lets you dig in to notes. The frets are hand filed so there are no sharp edges on the fretboard to hurt your hand. The well spaced tuners allow you to string up or tune easily without hitting your fingers on the next tuner over. The carved top is very comfortable. The slightly offset individual bridge posts help get the intonation closer to perfect. SOUNDS Acoustically the 920 is bright and super clear which is unusual for a mahogany guitar. You can really hear that maple top. The Seymour Duncan 59s work well in mahogany guitars. It shows that they really cared about the tone on this guitar when they put Seymour Duncan pickups in it from the factory. They could have easily put some no name pickup in there but they knew the Seymour Duncan was perfect for this application. You can get nice chunky distortion for all your favorite rock tones and the notes still remain clear. The maple top and the improved intonation really help keep the notes in line. The big neck helps the tone and the sustain. You can really feel every note you play resonate through the entire guitar. OVERALL OPINION You cant get a much better all around mahogany guitar for the price. It took everything a Les Paul has and improved it. The intonation is better so your notes really sing. It has high quality after market pickups in it from stock and it has a beautiful top. Yamaha is really making a name for themselves with these guitars. If they keep putting out guitars like this they will soon find them up with the big name brands. They are already there quality wise they just need to get their name out there and get the guitars in peoples hands. If you are looking for a good Les Paul alternative this could be your best bet.

(Originally written by haima/translated from Audiofanzine FR) - Made in Asia - 22 frets, two single-coil pickups and one humbucker - XD (I don't know) - Volume and tone knobs - Slim neck UTILIZATION - The neck is perfectly shaped and I strongly recommend it to people with small hands because it's very slim - Good access to the upper frets - The guitar is very ergonomic and easy to play sitting down. It's very light (but I'm a boxer so everything seems light to me... and then I break everything XD) - Great sound. I use mainly the single-coil pickups: the sound is very good and versatile. I can play Rammstein or Noir Desir and a friend of mine even plays reggae with it. I use a distortion pedal and the clean channel of my amp. It sounds great. SOUNDS - From rock to heavy metal and reggae, the guitar is very versatile. If you want to play death metal, choose another guitar. - I play it with a 15 watt Yamaha amp and a FAB distortion pedal. The sound is perfect. I use the distortion of the pedal and the clean channel of the amp. - The guitar sounds aggressive with strong highs when distorted (perfect for industrial metal) and its clean sound is smooth and articulated (wonderful for "Nothing else matters"). - I like smooth clean sounds and aggressive distortion sounds. I hate it when the clean sound is too aggressive and the distortion sound too fat and round. And this guitar perfectly matches my taste. OVERALL OPINION - Three weeks ago - Pros: versatility, sound... Almost everything except its look, which is too basic - I tested a Les Paul, a Cort and an ESP. This guitar didn't disappointed me because it's the most versatile one. - Perfect value for money: I bought a pack that included the guitar, an amp, a cable, a gig bag, a guitar strap, a tuner, two string sets, three picks and care accessories... Everything from Yamaha! - I won't hesitate to buy it again if mine gets broken.

This is an incredibly simple, yet well-built guitar. Despite the simplicity of the design, it has a very sturdy, lightweight design. This particular guitar fell face first off the guitar stand and sustained zero (0) damage (much to my relief). The pickups are not high gain, have lots of clarity and punch. It can be used for all types of music ranging from country, jazz, Christian and rock. Due to the low gain, it is probably not suitable for metal. I run this guitar through a Quilter MP-200 8" amplifier and the sound is fantastic. It handles clean and dirty channels very well! It is very well-suited for long sets because it is such a lightweight guitar. This is not a guitar that I will be selling anytime soon!

Black Satin finish, 22 frets, 9 gauge standard ernie ball. I have been playing for nearly 10 years on guitar and piano for almost 18 years now. I have been doing mostly just studio work, mostly my own progressive rock compositions. I am a very electic person when it comes to styles of music, i am mainly influence in metal as my primary focus then have ventured out to different genere's i am now just trying to figure out jazz. Mars Muisc now known as Guitar center, on sale for 199 with gig bag etc. This guitar can be arguably as a beginner guitar, however looking at the constructions specs its more of a budget guitar. Is this a good beginner guitar yes, for a very enthusiastic and talent promising student. This guitar stock is to be blunt crappy, this was my first guitar. I have owned other guitars from different brands but i use the RGX121s for basically all my recordings. I have upgraded the pick up with dimarzio evolution set pick ups, i have set up this guitar to a lower profile, the rosewood frets makes this a very comfortable feel while making runs, the double cut away gives easy access to the 22 fret registry. The 5 way tone selector gives a variety of Tones. This guitar is a nice weight giving it a nicer tone for a guitar of its price range. A U neck would make speed runs nice, a higher quality bridge would be nice, it tends to go out of tune after a dive bomb. I placed an extra spring to allow it to go back to tune. Unlike most low range price guitars this when compared to a squire or start or even an ibanez the quality construction is different, the sound doesn't seem to compare or even the action can't compare to the yamaha. Great feel and sleek finish. Good Sustain if used a better quality bridge. If yamaha still puts this out, this is a good buy for anyone who is looking for a guitar on a budget. Spends some money on better pick ups. This works well with rectifier amps, and hi gain amps. For jazz tone a fender tube amp gives this a somewhat girtty tone but not really ideal for that really clear tone. Great for the price! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Piano black, perfect finish, retrocool with high-tec features. Not just a guitar but an instrument! I've played blues to metal for the past 23 years and with this guitar you can pretty much get 'em all. I play through a 5150 signature. No effects. I first played this guitar in my local guitar shop in about 2002. It was a D-6 but I wanted a normal scaling. That day I bought a Fenix Telecaster (pre-lawsuit, see reviews on Harmony Central). Still have it and beats most Fenders. However through the years the AES820 linguered in my mind and in 2006 I bought one new from a music shop through mailorder. I played it for about 2 months and then I had to sell it because I really needed the money. I sold it to a guy who wanted to learn how to play. The moment I put it on the mail I knew I was going to be sorry. And I was! For the next two years I frequently searched the internet for another but NEVER encountered one. Until december '08. I looked for Sperzel tuners to put on my Fenix and there it was...the same AES820 I sold to this guy. I immediately put a bid out and emailed him that I was the guy who sold him the guitar 2 years before. He accepted and I finally had my AES820 back. I will never sell it again, in fact, I'm going to try to buy more!! Looks good, plays good, sounds good. Like I said, it's an instrument. Everthing is well thought-through and well built. My experience over the years is that, no matter what Yamaha makes, (from mopeds to saxophones), they make well. This guitar is even above that. Why in the name of Zues's BUTTHOLE (thanx Nicholas) doesn't it come standard with a hardcase!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Just play it and find out why it's so great. So happy to have it back. Can't stop playing it. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

IV PLAYED FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS. I PLAY A YAMAHA RGX 312 I LOVE THE GUITAR BUT HAVE HIT A BIT OF A WALL AT THE MOMENT I HAVE BROKEN A PART ON THE BRIDGE AND CANT SOURCE PARTS ANYWERE. PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN ON 0437037269 THANK YOU I BROUGHT IT AT A MUSIC STORE IN TAREE NSW AS MY FIRST ELECTRIC GUITAR LOVED IT THE MOMENT I SAW IT PAID ABOUT $400 FOR IT LOVE THE ROCK STYLE LOOK. THE PAINT FINISH (TOUGH) AND THE SOUND. CHASEING PARTS IF ANY ONE HAS GOT ANY BRIDGE PARTS CAN YOU PLEASE HELP ME I CANT FIND ANYTHING ANYWERE CALL ME ON 0437037269 This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com