A wonderful, versatile, bluesy guitar
Written: Aug 09 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Best value for money in the world, this guitar can play all styles well.
Cons: Doesn't handle bass boosting very well, especially for a blues guitar. Also, it comes in ugly brown sunburst or bright orange.
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| parkavery's Full Review: Yamaha Aex520 Semi-Hollow |
Yamaha are experts at making a guitar for every type of music. Those into blues-rock-jazz crossover styles will immediately fall in love with the AEX-520.
This guitar is a semi-hollow model, which gives you depth to your tone, even if you're pushing your treble to the max. This is perfect for that fat, blues solo sound, but this guitar can also kick out some serious jams.
Turn up the treble and punch on the distortion, and this guitar surprisingly performs better than more expensive "heavy music made" guitars. This is aided by the two humbuckers featured on the guitar, which are shockingly similar to those on a Gibson Les Paul or Gibson SG (two very famous crunch-rock guitars, along the lines of Led Zeppelin and AC/DC.). However, I recommend this to blues-rock players, not Korn wanna-bes.
The rosewood fretboard adds even more ambiance to that fat blues sound. The guitar is sweet and soft in it's soloing style, great for quick little musings on stage. The neck is typical of most Yamaha guitars in that it is thin and has great action. This makes soloing easy for even young, lesser-experienced players.
My only complaint is that the guitar does not respond well to certain effects, or shall I say, amp settings. If you try to set your amp on the wrong side of midrange (i.e. deep, rich bass), the sound is way too distorted for the typical blues-rock player. This is a serious problem for fans of bass in their solos, because it just doesn't fit with the idea behind the guitar. I personally, however, am a treble fan, and the guitar responds quite well.
Overall, this is probably your best option when looking for a blues-rock or multiple style guitar. It retails for around $800, but because Yamaha released it in some eye-sore colours, you can find it selling routinely around $299. A great buy for someone into serious blues tone (minus the serious bass).
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID: parkavery
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Member: Sharon Walls
Location: Kingsville, MD USA
Reviews written: 77
Trusted by: 13 members
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