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King Loudness « Another winner »
Published on 12/13/11 at 00:56The Yamaha RGX612S is yet another take on the Ibanez esque superstrat from the late eighties. It was built in Taiwan and featured an alder body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard with 24 frets, Yamaha Rockin' Magic Pro locking tremolo and a standard passive pickup setup (as opposed to the 612A which had Yamaha active electronics). The pickups are standard H-S-S and the controls comprise a volume, a pair of tone controls and a standard 5 way switch. The other cool thing is Yamaha's neck joint on this guitar, which is sort of like a precursor to the curved Ibanez AANJ heel. Very cool.
UTILIZATION
The design of this guitar is fairly ergonomic. Like the other Yamaha superstrats it can be heavier than some similar Ibanez or Charvel guitars, but the density usually relates to good tone. The upper fret access is pretty fantastic considering Yamaha's neck joint which really works wonders in getting all the way up the neck.
Getting a nice sound is pretty easy. The guitar has decent enough electronics out of the factory and the overall tone is pretty good. It's a lot like the 1212S I had, very warm when you set the amp right, but it could also get biting and raunchy for '80s style lead work if needed.
SOUNDS
This guitar sounds pretty cool and is definitely in its own class. It sounds like you would expect a typical superstrat to sound like overall. The cleans are pretty bright and wiry sounding, especially with use of the single coil pickups. Bringing in the humbucker thickens things up for a nice bluesy tone as well. Switching over to a drive sound brings in some classic '80s fare. The neck pickup is perfect for Yngwie style shred gymnastics and the bridge pickup has excellent bite for hard rock riffage or thicker sounding lead lines. Fortunately it lacks the compressed nature of the active RGXs which gives it a bit less of a dated sound.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Yamaha RGX612S is a great and underrated guitar that is perfect for the musician who wants a great superstrat that trades the name on the headstock for some serious quality. These can be picked up for $300 and under if you look, which is really a fantastic deal. I'm a huge fan of these guitars and have had a few... they can be hard to find but when they do pop up they're definitely worth looking into!
UTILIZATION
The design of this guitar is fairly ergonomic. Like the other Yamaha superstrats it can be heavier than some similar Ibanez or Charvel guitars, but the density usually relates to good tone. The upper fret access is pretty fantastic considering Yamaha's neck joint which really works wonders in getting all the way up the neck.
Getting a nice sound is pretty easy. The guitar has decent enough electronics out of the factory and the overall tone is pretty good. It's a lot like the 1212S I had, very warm when you set the amp right, but it could also get biting and raunchy for '80s style lead work if needed.
SOUNDS
This guitar sounds pretty cool and is definitely in its own class. It sounds like you would expect a typical superstrat to sound like overall. The cleans are pretty bright and wiry sounding, especially with use of the single coil pickups. Bringing in the humbucker thickens things up for a nice bluesy tone as well. Switching over to a drive sound brings in some classic '80s fare. The neck pickup is perfect for Yngwie style shred gymnastics and the bridge pickup has excellent bite for hard rock riffage or thicker sounding lead lines. Fortunately it lacks the compressed nature of the active RGXs which gives it a bit less of a dated sound.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Yamaha RGX612S is a great and underrated guitar that is perfect for the musician who wants a great superstrat that trades the name on the headstock for some serious quality. These can be picked up for $300 and under if you look, which is really a fantastic deal. I'm a huge fan of these guitars and have had a few... they can be hard to find but when they do pop up they're definitely worth looking into!