SeriesYamaha RGX

The Yamaha RGX 112 is one of the lower level superstrats in the RGX line of guitars. Its features are pretty basic to keep the costs down but overall it still feels like a quality instrument. It features a sculpted agathis body, maple neck with rosewood fretboard and 24 frets, medium frets, standard sealed tuners and a 6 screw fulcrum point tremolo. The electronics are pretty standard for the guitar type. It's got an H-S-S pickup setup and is wired to a volume, tone, and 5 way selector switch. Pretty simple, yet it works very well and feels/sounds great. UTILIZATION The design of this guitar is pretty ergonomic. It falls under that Ibanez vein, and is more or less the typical design for a 24 fretter superstrat. The body is nicely contoured and is of a medium weight (thought not as light as some other guitars from Ibanez or Jackson that I've tried). The neck is quite thin, similar to a Wizard or something to me. That being said it's still quite comfortable to me, and I'm not a big fan of thinner necks personally. The upper fret access is actually quite nice because of the all access neck heel (similar to Ibanez) that is really conducive to getting right up to the top of the fretboard. Getting a nice tone out of the guitar is pretty easy. The stock pickups are actually decent, compared to some from Squier or Ibanez that are awful at this $200- price. SOUNDS The tones out of this guitar are pretty good and I dig 'em for what they are. The single coils are pretty mild sounding, with a nice glassy top end, especially in the split positions on the selector switch. They're not really very hot pickups so that makes them more ideal for clean tones. Switching over to the humbucker kicks the sound up a few notches and gives a really cool tone that's great for rock and blues. Using this guitar for overdrive is where it shines. My personal example sounded fantastic for eighties metal and shred stuff even with the stock pickups. I later retrofitted it with a Duncan Full Shred to get more output for modern tones which worked very well too. Either way, whether you're staying stock or modding this one, you've got a decent platform for tone here. OVERALL OPINION All in all I think Yamaha RGX 112 is a guitar that is a great example of a superstrat at a good price. They can be had for about $200 or less used which is a great deal. Yamaha is historically known for quality in their instruments and this one blows away many of the cheaper Ibanez or Squier guitars I've tried that were a similar design. The stock parts are not bad either which is nice, though I later gutted mine and made it into a hot rod rock machine, and hey, that works too. This guitar is just there, ready to rock.

The Yamaha RGX 112P is an electric guitar, best suited for a beginner. I don't own this guitar but my roommate, who is not primarily a guitar player, has it for messing around with. I've messed around with it a bit myself and it's actually not bad for the price. Yamaha can afford to make decent instruments at cheap prices since they are indeed the largest manufacturer of musical instruments worldwide. I'm not sure what materials the guitar is made from, but it has two single coil pick ups and one humbucker. UTILIZATION The overall feel of the Yamaha RGX 112PYamaha RGX 112P isn't the best but it's playable. It looks like the guitar is made for hard rock or metal players and it seems to have a wide neck like that as well. The pick ups have controls for tone and volume as well as a switch to go between or blend the the two single coil pick ups and the one humbucker. It's not bad sounding plugged in, but it's not great. SOUNDS I wouldn't say that the Yamaha RGX 112P is best choice when it comes to overall sound. It's not bad for a beginner's guitar, but let's just say that you're not going to want to record with it if you're an experienced guitar player. It's nice that it has a bunch of control between the three different pick ups, but it's still not the most versatile sounding guitar in the world. This all said, for beginners it's absolutely going to do the job. OVERALL OPINION Considering the Yamaha RGX 112P as a low cost option, it's a pretty good overall choice. I'd mostly recommend it for metal or rock guitarists as it not only has that kind of sound, but the look to match. It's a great deal for the price, but if you're looking for a great guitar, this isn't it.

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!

The Tascam DP-004 has 2 ¼ microphone inputs and records in WAV format. You can record up to 2 tracks simultaneously but playback 4 at the same time. There are no effects on this console, it would have been nice to at least have some studio reverb of some sort just to add a little something to what you record. After you record you can then connect the DP-004 to your computer via USB to track out. It is very easy to get your recordings into your computer. This console has 2 microphone preamps and they are pretty good. But there is no EQ on this console, with no effects and no EQ I say do not purchase it. You can almost get the upgraded version of it with 2 band EQ and effects for about the same price now. This recorder takes the sound you record and puts it directly to an SD card. It only comes with a 1 GB SD card which probably will not be enough for anyone because I know it was not enough for me. If you want to get a 32 GB SD card it will cost a good amount of money. I wish when they sell the DP-004 they would just include the maxed out SD 32 GB card to save from having to go out and spend more money after you have bought this. But with the DP-004 you can record anywhere because it takes AA batteries. But it does not come with a AC adaptor. You will have to buy the AC adapter separate which cost over 30 dollars. So by the time you buy a good SD card costing anywhere from 15 to 40 dollars, then you have to purchase the AC adapter; it is just too much extra money to be spent on a console that only cost 150 dollars. It really is not worth it.

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

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

Local Shop, Amsterdam - Holland for €390 The nicest feature of this guitar is the direct-out switch to send the signal of the bridge humbucker straight into the amp, passing by the volume and tone settings. This gives a very nice bright tone. But: I think every guitar should sound that good without a direct-out switch. A guitar that sounds good, also when you use your volume and tone controls! And I like the 5 way switch which gives you the options of coil splitting the humbuckers. Without that options you woulnd't get to many different sounds out of this guitar. I allready owned a Yamaha RGX121 which I like a lot, especially because of the playability of the neck. So I thought I'd buy almost the same guitar with a Floyd Rose tremelo. It has the same neck radius and rosewood fingerboard. But: although the Yamaha catalog suggest these guitars are almost the same, they are NOT! The RGX420s has a wider neck and jumbo frets. Making it close to my Ibanez RG2570, which is not what I was looking for. I didn't want a cheap copy of my expensive Prestige line Ibanez, I wanted a slim and fast Yamaha neck! Besides this I think the tone of the pickups miss distinction and personality, but I must admitt they are very powerfull and ideal for shredders and metal heads. It's even hard to get a clean tone from this guitar. The tremelo takes some work on it, make sure you tighten the arm well or it's useless. You can adjust swinging movement with the nut which you can reach from the back of the body. But all'n all this tremelo doesn't garantee the guitar stays in tune. Construction's fine. Absolutely no comment there. Quality of body and neck are good. Hardware is good enough for this price range. After a few hours of setup work a good guitar started to appear. The neck reacted well to truss rod changes, I adjusted pick-up height and polepieces, and did some work on the vibrato arm. This guitar should have been a Yamaha (and it sounds like one which is not bad) but it feels like an Ibanez with this neck. If that's what you are looking for (but maybe you can't afford an €850 Ibanez) this is a cheaper alternative. After some setup work it plays well and it sounds realy heavy! (but I wouldn't buy it a second time, I like guitars with a bit more personality) This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Purchased used on eBay in May 2004 for USD 96. Typical Yamaha build quality even for what some people call a "entry-level" guitar. Sure, this is a sub-$300 instrument made in Taiwan, but Yamaha always manage to apply very high standards of quality control on its instruments and this is no exception. Very nice thin neck, cool looking (solid) double cutaway body, nice double humbucking pickups that deliver decent sound in clean and saturated mode. Nice red glossy finish, tuners and bridge are reasonably good. Once tuned the guitar stays tuned for a long time even when using the tremolo bar (it does not have a locking nut or locking tuners either). Nothing really, for the price I paid this guitar offers excellent value and is very nice to play! The bridge is fine but I don't think it would sustain years of use with the whammy bar, which is not an issue for me because I don't use it much. It is my backup guitar, although I use it as an alternate instrument. AS noted before, body and neck are superb, hardware is fine, and the two pickups prodece all the sounds I need with a Peavey Bandit 75 amp. Feels very solid. If you cannot spend lots of money on a guitar, get a Yamaha! Nothing beats them for the price/quality ratio, from the economical modest models up to the most expensive axes. I already own several electric and acoustic Yamahas and I never regretted any of those purchases. Unlike other "brand names" the quality on all Yamahas is constant and one never regrets buying one. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I puchased this nice axe at Sam Ash in Sarasota, FL (USA), about a year and a half ago. It went for $239.00 and at first I was skeptical about it, but after one sitting i was very much into the instrument and home with me it came. I've been tinkering with guitar for about 3 years prior to my Yamaha and have since become a serious guitarist. Adding to my list of instrument i play and now record in my home studio for hobby and recreational purposes in allforms and types of music and finding new ways to express myself in music. First thing i noticed was the tremlo system. it resembles the typical 'Fedner' style yet can be swung both ways for sweet divebombs to soaring climbs. the best part of this is after you've had a GOOD set of strings installed and properly pre-stretched. it stays in tune after heavy hanging on the whammybar. the finish (Blueburst transparent) is very nice and the matched flamed maple and paint finish make it stand out quite well, in all three color choices. the electronics are decent as the pick-ups are very clean and hum-free. Hardware is nice and solid as is the set-up on the guitar out of the box (though i had mine set to personal specs for my style) and using good strings (B52 Rockers by Everly are hands down awesome strings) and properly installing/ stretching them coupled with awesome looks and sweet playability makes for a good investment and sweet instrument. you'll actually be proud to say "Yeah, that's MY Yamaha, and I love it!" there's not much to list here except a couple things that could be incidental and not a common problem, however my toggle pick-up selector switch 'buzzed' alot when switching from pick-up to pick-up. i had this replaced by Sam Ash via Yamaha with a high end switch and since then, no problems. the only other thing i dont particularly care for is the stock tone & volume knobs. they are chrome nubs with a pair of cheap looking "O-Rings" around each one. these too were replaced with knurled 'typical' chrome knobs and all's fine. the first thing about the guitar is the weight when you pick it up. you would expect, like with many imports, it to be superlight or mega heavy and with the RGX620Z you find it has a very "Fender" weight to it. reading the specs it has an alder body with a AAA flametop of mahagony, a ahrd rock maple neck with a slightly thicker than average rosewood fingerboard. The headstock is maple and painted black with a damn near 1/4 inch laminate of macthing maple flametop as the body which gives it a nice balanced weight in all honesty though the strings come very close to the laminate on the pegboard. Electronics are sound and pick-ups are nice and noise-free (aside my switch problem) the rest of the elecs were well soldered and the interior had the metal tape lining the inside of the areas with wiring for good, clean grounds and no interference. The neck itself is more like a cross between a tung-oiled Gibson LP neck with a stylized Ibanez headstock and is unsymetrical and the double cutaway makes it easy to reach all the frets and the radius is pretty flat so bending notes and finger picking is a dream. Tuning pegs are sealed and in black-chrome, the strap pegs are solid and do not wigglee loose or are too small. This whole guitar has that "Just Right" feeling especially the tremlo, which ironicly enough is not a locking tremlo in any way shape or form. and yet still keeps in tune and chaging/ replacing strings is a breeze and done quickly enough. the paint and finish is of very high quality and lovely in a room, outside, or on stage. This instrument is part of a 6 guitar collection of mine including a Les Paul, MM Axis, Strat (Fender Highway series), and an Ibanez GSA60 (my first axe) and is the second most played in my collection for live or studio. Fit, finish, playability, and value is waht this guitar embodies very well and is a dream to play and show. not really a "first guitar" type in my opinion, but one WELL worth being an intermediate/ recording guitar or a second one for stage if not a primary. Get them while you can as the RGX620Z's are not made anymore but they are available out there. once gone, that's it and even Yamaha's Corp site mentioned how impressed the music industry was with this axe (maybe they'll bring it back or make a new line with it's same features). This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Bought two of these - both used at two different Guitar Centers - about 3 months apart. I wanted to get a Musicman Axis guitar because I love the pickups in them, but couldn't afford to get one. I picked up the Yamaha just to check it out and I was really impressed. Very controllable feedback/gain. This thing has extremely hot pickups that are very controllable. The neck is thin and quick. The overall design is very comfortable and the guitar is very lightweight. I like the Wilkinson bridge. The coil splitter is pretty cool too, but I haven't found a song where I want to use it yet. The finish is amazing - I have the red and the purple ones. Even if you don't like King's X (which I'm not really into), this guitar is great. I actually play metal with it and it's great for pounding out heavy riffs. You can check out my band's site at http://www.coilback.com if you want. Don't like the fact that you have to use an allen key to take the tremolo arm off and on. Makes quick set up and break down a little annoying at the clubs. The locking Spurzel tuners work ok, but I already have one that has the locking mechanism screwed up on it. I did find that after a bit of use, the strap buttons tend to want to pop out. A little pro-bond and they are in there good now. The construction and quality is impeccable. One of Yamaha's best guitars in my opinion. I would suggest this guitar for anyone wanting to play a wide variety of hard rock / heavy metal. It's fast, heavy and capable of many different types of sounds. I rank it up there with the Musicman Axis, and Peavy Wolfgang. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The 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!

The Yamaha RGX1212s is another guitar built by Yamaha to answer to the shred market of the late eighties. This particular one was top of the line and featured neck through construction. The overall design, fit/finish and tone is almost exactly on par with the Jackson Soloist Pro or Charvel Model 6 guitars. It features an alder body, maple neck, ebony fretboard with 24 frets, sealed tuners, Yamaha RM (Rockin' Magic) Pro locking tremolo system (kinda a hybrid between a Kahler Spyder and a Floyd Rose). There were two variations of this bridge, but in both you don't have to cut off the string ball ends, which saves quite a bit of time. It features an H-S-S pickup configuration with Yamaha passive pickups as stock. The control layout is a master volume and two tone controls. There is also a push/pull coil tap for the humbucker, and the switching is a 5 way. UTILIZATION The design of this guitar is quite ergonomic to me. Considering that it's neckthrough... the playability is a breeze. The guitar isn't the lightest one in the world like most RGXs I've tried or owned, but it does have a nice solid feel to it that says quality. The design is almost identical to a Jackson Soloist, and those are a really high quality shred instrument as many people are aware. The upper fret access is pretty fantastic too. It's also worth noting how easy it is to set these up for a really low action that's really conducive to fast playing. Getting a good sound out of this guitar is pretty easy. It has a pretty typical passive setup electronically and the H-S-S pickup layout is quite versatile. The tones are pretty standard eighties fare, nice and thick sounding with a smooth midrange and a nice ripping top end great for rock and metal styles. SOUNDS The tones out of this instrument are pretty awesome considering the price. It's pretty awesome sounding overall. Definitely has a cool vibe to it that is comparable to Jackson and Charvel tone wise. The clean sounds range from being very wiry and spanky (think a Strat on steroids) to thicker and bolder when the humbucker is in use. It does lack a bit of the punch that I would look for in a single coil, but for the eighties style clean tones it works fairly well. Switching over to the drive sounds yields a fantastic range of tones that work for a variety of styles from classic to modern. The single coils offer some great tones from Hendrix to Yngwie and the humbucker kicks things up a notch for harder rock and metal settings. OVERALL OPINION All in all I think the Yamaha RGX1212s is a great buy for anyone looking for a well made shred guitar of any sort. The construction is top notch (these were about $1,500 new back in their day) and the feel is pure shred. The stock parts are remarkably high quality and it definitely runs toe to toe with a higher end neckthrough Jackson or similar. They can be had as low as $400 or so used which is an extreme bargain in my books. Definitely worth a look if you get the chance.