Yamaha Guitars

[ShredCow]

Hey guys,
I need some verification on this...

I was at Tampines Mall Music Plaza and I was looking at the guitars (duh 8)). I was very impressed with the fretboard and overall fret conditions of the guitars!

I mean, the rosewood fretboard was not dry, looking well oiled. Frets were very shiny and nicely rounded, very smooth. Really impressive. Also, even the lower range guitar (PAC 112) had that same finish/look! VERY impressive!

Asked the staff if someone setup those guitars and nope, straight out of the box.

Man... if thats all true, then its really thumbs up to Yamaha for the QC in frets/fretboards.

Whats your take on it?

Note: I was looking at those fresh out of the box.. those guitars that have been hanging there forever, of course the fretboard is dry and the frets dulled. I know, I visit the shop very often.

 

[theblueark]

Yamaha QC all along is great. That's why I always reccomend begginers to start with Yamaha, cos hard to go wrong with them. Other low cost brands tend to be a bit of a hit and miss.

They aren't the best guitars around, but they are very good for their price, and they make very few mistakes. Good quality and value for money.

 

[tany]

i have the yamaha starter pack ERG121 i think it sux. the pickups are muddy and weak, the neck is great, but the body is having cracks already. the 10W amp also sux now it's starting to have no sound even though cranked up to full volume

but when it was new, it was nice, everything was nice, but the amp had no power and so do the pups :lol:

but beginner la huh...now is $515 i bought for$360 lol!

 

[mulyadi]

hehe.. i own a yamaha pac112m, which is my main axe here.

when i bought it, it was in good condition, well...i had beez pick out the guitar from like ten different ones, and after several 'upgrades', like chaning the bridge, the tuners, the humbucker to a SH-11, changed the 5 way switch to gotoh ones,...i can't be separated from it..

haha..cheap, and yeah...value for $$...

 

[atee]

Yep, it's good for its price. I've got a F-340 dreadnaught acoustic and even though it's a low-end yamaha, it's really sweet.

 

[theblueark]

Ya the ERG sucks. I wouldn't buy anything lower end than the PAC112. But for an alder body under $400 man it's sweet. Yamaha works wonders with alder.

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

too bad they stopped production of ash pacificas...

 

[jdawg]

I would say that Yamaha is one of the most consistent mass manufacturers of guitars. The fretwork is always very clean and excellent. i'd dare say that the quality of Yamaha is more consistent than Ibanez (and this is coming from an owner to two Ibz guitars)...

 

[Indigo_blues]

All my guitars are from Yamaha.. I have an APX-6A acoustic, a BB604 Bass, and a Pacifica 312MS. All very nice. Bought the APX 2nd hand, and the pacifica 3rd hand.. both in fabulous condition. Only the bass was bought first hand. Yes i do like the Yamaha necks. To me they are good value for money and reliable too. QC is topnotch. The showrooms I think take quite good care of their guitars.

 

[Mobius]

All my guitars are yamaha too! My first electric was also the starter pack, the amp was ok, but the guitar pickups was damn noisy, esp if u crank it up, the neck is smooth, but the fretboard feels "artificial".

But last year i upgraded and got myself a shiny AES620, it was a dream to play with. The rosewood fretboard was smooth, the neck yamaha alnico pickup is very warm sounding, pretty good for a stock pickup. The setup was pretty good too. Not much of a prob, and there were no flaws in the finishing at all. And the flamed maple looks so gorgeous, even though it list for 900+.

Here's my baby

See the gorgeous flame? Heh..

 

[ShredCow]

Ah... so it is pretty true aye? Yamaha has QC. It is better than Ibanez for sure when comparing low to mid range guitars.

I can't say for Yamaha acoustic/clasical guitars... their low end (<300) acoustics/classicals are horrid in terms of wood and fretwork.

Anyway, there was this PAC 905 or something at the Yamaha TM shop... it was going for 2k! Heh... sure, sperzel (i think) locking tuners, warmoth neck and a 2 point screw vintage trem bridge, and guess what? Stock pups.

Anyway, if I were to get a yamaha, I want their RGX420 or something, the one with a hot switch that when on, bypasses all controls and goes straight to the bridge pup for raw (REALLY RAW) power. Pity the floyd ain't the best... but for $600, its a great axe to mod.

 

[theblueark]

They still have RGXs with floyd-style bridges? Haven't seen them..

I miss the old models, the new ones lack the features I want.

 

[ShredCow]

They have some left over stock.

I rem that one I like... 24 frets, RG styled body but curved like an arc top, 2 humbuckers, 1 tone, 1 vol, 5 way, hot toggle and the yamaha trs floyd. Going for like $680, year end sale. NICE!

VERY moddable.

 

[stillwater]

I'm a fan of yamaha guitars too. but can't say that all of them are good for their value. I've played some terrible RGX ones, some very good RGX also! :lol:

i think the pacifica models are better made generally... I've seen a PAC112J in tobacco sunburst and man, it just made my knees go weak... so beautiful...

 

[psionic]

yea man i own a pac112xj and it rocks.... top notch construction

 

[jumbofret]

They have some left over stock.

I rem that one I like... 24 frets, RG styled body but curved like an arc top, 2 humbuckers, 1 tone, 1 vol, 5 way, hot toggle and the yamaha trs floyd. Going for like $680, year end sale. NICE!

VERY moddable.

Ah... I used to be one of Yamaha TM's regular visitor... Since my poly is nearby, and I had lots of free time a couple of years ago...

Back then, there were 2 guitars with crazy special prices... The electric guitar is the one you mentioned above... It was like going for $500 then. If I remember correctly, it has an alder body, right?

The acoustic guitar FG502 was going at $500 as well. All-solid top, sides and back. Crazy...

They stopped this pricing after a month or so...

IMO, Yamaha stores should be visited once every now and then, to check for discounted items... Too bad regular prices are pricey, tho.

 

[Mobius]

Wait for their midyear or end year sale, their prices can go down as much as 15%. I got my AES620 for $785 after 15% discount during their last year's mid year sale

 

[bin4christ]

hey,the AES n tt kinda models(something resembling LPs...) were around $800++ last yr at yamaha PS but they're around $1000++ now!!!

 

[theblueark]

I went to Music Plaza some time ago. Interestingly the AES420 was priced about $200 more than the AES620. I asked the salesguy how come like that, cos the 620 has a seymour duncan JB and through body stringing while the 420 just had Yamaha stock hums and a wrap around bridge.

The guy went to look at the guitars and the price tags and went "Ya hor how come. Maybe some pricing error."

Funny people at Yamaha.

 

[popeye]

Wait for their midyear or end year sale, their prices can go down as much as 15%. I got my AES620 for $785 after 15% discount during their last year's mid year sale

in fact, NOW they have 15% discount! :lol: go get it boys!