[AcousticAl]

Hi Folks,

I've been thinking about going electric and have been looking around for a decent used guitar. I saw an add for a year old Yamaha AES620 which I believe retails for about $800. Not sure about that price, though. Has anyone played Yamaha electrics? They don't have the glamour of Stats, Teles, or LP's, but if they are anything close to the quality of my Yamaha acoustic FG700S then I would go for it.

The other brand that I'm considering is a Godin. Centre Stage Music in Kingston has many Godins on display. I haven't seen any used Godins, though.

All thoughts and opinion are appreciated.

Cheers,
Al

 

[Arc Angel]

Nice guitar. Well reviewed (check Harmony Centra, MFl) and great value for the money. Street price IIRC is about $599 to $699. Used, you can probably find one about $400 or so. For the money, IMO, hard to beat.

 

[guitarzan]

great guitar, the AES620 is extremely well built and it makes some more expensive guitars seem cheap.
i no longer have mine ( stupid me) and i must say the neck and fretwork of the Yamaha makes my LP Vintage mahogany seem "rushed".

 

[Bevo]

Nice guitar, tried one at L&M for a few months..Would of got it to but went over to the Bass side.

I found the balance and feel was super comfy it just sat right. The PU's were SD's but not sure of the model, the tones were perfect for me everything from Metal to Blues with a twist of the knob...with a bit of gain of course.

If you can get a used one the go for it, Yamaha makes some good stuff.

Bev

 

[AcousticAl]

Yamaha AES620 advice

Thanks for the advice. I saw one listed on Kijiji.Kingston, but they haven't got back to me yet. This guitar looks like it would be a perfect instrument to lead me into the electric world.evilGuitar:

Cheers,
Al

 

[Baconator]

Yamaha makes good instruments for the $$ - the AES620 I played was quite nice. There's one listed for $400 at Capsule Music in Toronto - perhaps you can use that fact to talk the guy down if his price is too high.

 

[guitarzan]

the bridge is a Seymour Duncan JB and the neck is an alnico magnet Yamaha HB.
i was suprised how nice the Yamaha pickup in the neck was on mine.

unfortunately i have neither of these anymore. the Godin was apiece of work as well.
p90's oh yeah!

 

[dwagar]

I picked up an AE500 big box on their 1/2 price sale. I thought it was extremely good for the $.

I thought the bridge is crappy but it seems to work okay. Electronics, pickups, tuners, nut etc were all just fine.

From my experience, I think they are a very good inexpensive guitar.

 

[sneakypete]

the top of the line Yamahas are great guitars. Even their low end stuff has fabulous necks. Seems they get the most respsct from owners, me for one. I have a USA II, a Pacifica 10th anniversary, a Mike Stern 1511, an SA-2200 and an SAS-1500, plus a couple of other lower end models but those high ends are as good as any MIA I have, and I own a couple of F/USA team built custom shops. They make guitars in just about every price range and their high ends are not cheap but in my opinion you`d be hard pressed to find a better made guitar by anybody.
Never played the model you are talking about and if I`m not mistaken those are made in Taiwan... should have a small sticker under the finish on the back near the bottom, they had another model from the series that was MIJ.

 

[guitarzan]

the AES620 is Korean and the higher end AES920 is Japanese.
the Japanese model has a full thickness carved top in quilted maple (the 620 is a veneer).
the 920 has dual SD 59's.
on a side note Yamaha's SG series has been brought back.

 

[sneakypete]

they never left...they`ve been available in Japan, maybe they will start exporting them again or something. I know they did some research ond produced some kinda new and improved models. In 2004 they had an anniversary model that was about $4000.oo. Didn`t get to see one in person up here, probably meant for the big Japanese cities...I was chatting with the staff of a local chain shop and asked him why they don`t have any Edwards strats and teles...he said they just can`t sell em up here, everybody wants Les Paul types ... even the Yamaha shop in this city has no Yamaha electrics, only acoustics with some Fender Japan electrics.
Bit bumpkin up here.

 

[Stratin2traynor]

My search for a reasonably priced and good quality dual humbucker guitar ended when I found the AES620. I'm more of a Strat guy so I didn't want to pay big bucks - I limited myself to $400 - $600. I tried the Epi LP, Dean, Ibanez and some others and wasn't impressed at all with the finishes or playability. I found the AES620 looked kinda weird but I tried it out and was sold right off the bat. IMO it's the best bang for your buck in that price range. :rockon:

 

[jcon]

My Yamaha experience has been great so far. I picked up an SA503 TVL a few months ago. At the time I was in the market for a guitar with a Bigsby and stumbled onto the Yamaha - the P90s were a bonus too. I was a little weary when I found out it was made in Indonesia but my doubts were gone when I tried one out - bought it on the spot. She's a beaut and sounds great.

Cheers,
Joe

 

[Stratin2traynor]

Nice. That was my second choice if I couldn't find a decent Epi Dot 335. Luckily I found one. Saw the TVL got great reviews in one of the Guitar Mags.