Yamaha AES Series

[AT]

http://www.yamaha.com/guitars/aes/0,...600002,00.html

Is anyone here a fan or have thoughts on the Yamaha AES series of guitars? The music store I teach at carries a lot of Yamaha stuff, and I'd routinely try out the AES line after hearing a few different players rave about how great they were. (Among others, Sammy Hagar endorses his "Cabo Wabo" AES620SH, and one of my absolute favorite guitarists, Ty Tabor of King's X, plays the top-of-the line AES920--he gave up his signature line to play it.) I thought they were great, but not really a fit for me and nothing compared to my Wolfgangs. Then we got the AES620HB in (semi-hollowbody), and I really got into the tone shooting up at me. The owner offered it to me at half of list ($450), then on eBay last week I found a new one with a slight blem (a small clear coat scratch on the side) for $275. So I grabbed that one and have now been playing it for a few days. All mahogany body and mahogany set neck, "blonde" flame top (veneer), 25 3/4" scale, chrome hardware and Grover tuners, an SD JB bridge pickup and matching Yamaha humbucker in the neck, two volumes and one tone. I'm still working to get the setup right (balance between truss rod and bridge height), but it seems fairly stable. I like that it offers some very different things than any of my other guitars.

Pic is attached.

[tommywho5150]

i have played quite a few of them and never played a bad one, im thinking in investing in one in the very near future, infact most of the yamaha guitars ive played all seem very well produced from the cheapest right up to the top of the line stuff, something i think some of the other manufacturer's should take note of.
good luck with it buddy, ill let u know when i get mine...i fancy a trans red one.

[AT]

25 3/4"

Type-o. It's Gibson scale: 24 3/4".

[AT]

i have played quite a few of them and never played a bad one, im thinking in investing in one in the very near future, infact most of the yamaha guitars ive played all seem very well produced from the cheapest right up to the top of the line stuff, something i think some of the other manufacturer's should take note of.
good luck with it buddy, ill let u know when i get mine...i fancy a trans red one.

Post a pic when/if you get one!

Yeah, Yamaha does well overall with their instruments. I've had students bring in some $150 pieces of shit, and it's both frustrating to watch them try and eek out chords and frustrating to have to listen to fretting out and intonation issues. Our store's "starter kit" guitar is a Yamaha Pacifica which almost always has a decent neck that is stable and can be intonated.

Worst cheap guitar I've encountered: B.C. Rich Warlock (whatever the low-end one is). I have yet to see a good one--or even a fair one, for that matter.

[lovemachine97(Version 2)]

The under $200 PAC012's and PAC112's are IMO, supieror to most strat copies out there for beginners.

The AES series is GREAT, and the HB version does have great tone, but all of them are nice. I can't for the life of me understand why I can't sell them to anyone...sometimes, brand is just king--people see Gibson on the Epi headstocks, and that'll sell them over ANYTHING I have to say.

Anyways, even the RGX series is a nice instrument.

[AT]

The under $200 PAC012's and PAC112's are IMO, supieror to most strat copies out there for beginners.

The AES series is GREAT, and the HB version does have great tone, but all of them are nice. I can't for the life of me understand why I can't sell them to anyone...sometimes, brand is just king--people see Gibson on the Epi headstocks, and that'll sell them over ANYTHING I have to say.

Anyways, even the RGX series is a nice instrument.

I'll admit the look of the AES guitars didn't appeal to me much at first. I had to listen to what others had to say and play them quite a bit to let them grow on me.

The power of the 'Gibson' and 'Fender' logos reigns. There's much better instruments out there and definitely instruments of equal or better quality for much less. Still, people want to own the "original" rock guitar(s), no matter what the cost or value.

I'll put my best Wolfgang up against a top notch Les Paul any day.

[h*bunter]

The Sammy Hagar Yamaha is f-ing great...I own one, of course....

[Charvel2]

It's a long time since I worked in the guitar trade, so I can't say what current Yamahas are like, but they used to be top notch. Even their most basic guitars were very usable instruments, and quality was always consistent.

[AT]

The Sammy Hagar Yamaha is f-ing great...I own one, of course....

Hey, is that a real thick quilt maple top on that one or a veneer like the other 620s?

[tommywho5150]

[QUOTE=I'll put my best Wolfgang up against a top notch Les Paul any day.[/QUOTE]

i would second that, all my wolfs hands down kick the snot out of every les paul ive played/owned over the past 24years (and theres been a few..lol).

as for the yamaha aes....the bugger i had my eye on in the store has been bought.....by my bloody dad!!!!
i went to the store and noticed it had gone asked the store guy he said "it went this morning to some old bloke"(his actual words!...lol) and not 10mins later i got a call from my dad saying he'd just bought a new guitar, where he got it from and what it was!!!.....lol so now i can play it when im there but i cant own it till he's dead!!1...lmao
anyways they are getting a couple more in so i might buy it then.

[h*bunter]

Hey, is that a real thick quilt maple top on that one or a veneer like the other 620s?

Don't know how "thick" it is, but it looks way better than the standard ones....