Yamaha 302s

Just like a fender tele, easy to adjust and find what you want while you're playing without any difficulties.

Not bad for stock pickups, but you'll want to change them if you're thinking about doing any gigs in the near future.

Setup very nicely. The paint job and finish that yamaha put out on these will surprise you. The gold hardware really sets it off.

Built like a brick. Very well put together.

Never tried.

I also own an American Strat and a Gibson Les Paul, And this guitar really gives both of them a run for the money. If you can find one....grab it!!! You'll never be sorry.

This is a follow-up on my 12/16/03 review on my cherryburst Yamaha 302 S tele. On 02/04/04 I had a Seymour Duncan Broadcaster singlecoil pickup installed in the bridge position and a Seymour Duncan Vintage '54 single coil put in the neck position. These are the same pickups that the rightfully famous Hamer T-51 hand made tele has in it and it makes for a pure and thin tele bite. The Broadcaster alone is pure tele ala Luther Perkins. The neck pickup gives off a little fuller but still thin tele bark, but when played together, they both produce a well defined and full articulated sound. I play the devil out of this guitar and it has held up perfectly. Out of 6 Yamaha guitars that I have, only one 311MS is stock. The others all have diferent combinations of Seymour Duncan pickups with the exception of one 1990 Yamaha Strat 512W with S/S/H pickups, these are Kent Armstrongs. I play these guitars very regularly and they've held up excellent plus give off some great tones. I was very apprehensive out the Taiwanese made guitars but they have continued to hold up so I'm sold on middle and upper priced Yamaha guitars.

These gems were made in Taiwan between 1995 and 1998, retailed for $479 new w/no case. Made in 10/23/95, mine is finished in a perfect cherryburst finish over a solid (not composite) alder cream bound body. It's bolt neck is a typical and unique Yamaha 13.75" radius maple neck, rigged with 22 medium frets on a rosewood fretboard equipped with stock Yamaha (easy turning) tuners. Tele style string thru body design with 2 single coil passive stock pickups, 3 way selector switch, gold plated hardware and fancy white pearloid pickguard round out this pretty fancy and well made guitar. I see no factory blems at all, the pickups are not noisey, excellent fast and low action, body finish and body binding are top notch. Great bang for the buck regardless where it was made. An eye catching model that plays as good as it looks.

I play old country, rock-a-billy and older pop using clean amp sounds with reverb, some chorus and tremolo at times thru my Fender amps. The bridge pickup has a perfect tele bite, the neck pickup is more mellow but when put together they produce a pleasant clean and an articulate tone that I like. Not bright or thin, a well balanced tone that handles all lead work well. No dislikes here, all positive. The pickups could be better quality but for the money, the entire guitar is a great buy. Maybe someday I'll consider installing a pair of Seymour Duncans pickups like the early pre Kaman Hamers had, a Broadcaster in the bridge and a'54 in the neck. What a sound that combination of pickups and guitar put out, but hauling around a heavy pre Kaman Hamer tele gets very tiresome after a while.

Everything was set up by the factory, then checked by the dealer then re-set by me. We all prefer to set up our own guitars. Pickups are set per Stew/Mac stats and sound great at their recommended height, no flaws, poor quality woods, no rust, no loose tuning pegs, nut was cut correctly, the saddle's allen screws needed to be cut shorter and to fit better so not to protrude above the saddle but other than that, all was great. Again, for the money it's not a bad buy at all. No headstock snob here !!

Well balanced, very eye appealing, great sounding with bright gold hardware that looks like a million, this guitar can withstand the rigors of live playing. Very dependable and with a medium light weight body, it's comfy to wear especially with it's back routed for players. I've never broken any strings with it so it is ready to go with 09-42's on and I expect them to last. Yamaha guitars intone and set up exceptionally well. This is my own experience with 8 different Yamaha models that I own or have owned. I install strap locks, one of the first tasks to be made on any guitar.

Yamaha is a great customer minded company with good customer support. If you have any questions at all, they will help out. Limited lifetime warranty is offered so you know the company figures this guitar will last a long time or they'll repair it if need be. My experience with Yamaha guitars has been great, I've stayed with the upper quality line always and have never been disappointed. No problems at all.

I've been playing 50 + years, all music that I grew up with as a kid I still play today. I never outgrew the great music of the 50's and 60's. Yamaha has done their job well on this model guitar offering a quality made yet affordable priced guitar. You can find a few around yet so look for one in nice shape. Try it and you might bring it home with you. Would I look for another, I sure would. These little gems aren't all that bad at all. It isn't fair to compare these to a Les Paul or something costing 10 times more, but I think I'd rather play one of these all night as compared to a Les Paul, PRS and have a pocket full of $$ left over. I sold my heavy Hamer T-51 and bought this gem, thinking of maybe replacing it's pickups someday. But that is all I intend to replace or modify. It needs nothing else.

I'm pretty sure this guitar was made in the mid-ninties. It has a twenty-fret rosewood fingerboard, which is joined to the neck as nice as any guitar. It has a light alder body, which has a beautifull amber sunburst. It also has a strat countour in the back (nice change from a fender), and a really well-applied cream-binding. It has gold hardware which includes a 6 string through bridge system. This is nice, but i had to smooth out the saddles a bit so the strings wouldn't break. This guitar also has 2 tele style pickups which are terrible-thin and whinny, or muddy and thin. This guitar has terrific unplugged tone, and while likely sound great plugged in with high quality pickups. I Should also mention it has world class tuners(way better than fender, like most of this guitar), and doesn't go out of tune.

It sounds great unpluged , but the stock pickups are useless. but it'll sound brilliant with a set of nice pickups.

The action is beautiful. this guitar is twice a fender at half the price. With 10-52 strings, it's feel's like it has nines. Perfect intonation, no buzzing. There are several things you may want to modify:smooth out the string contact points on the saddles, or replace the bridge, as it is not really made out of the right material
to interact with tele pickups properlly. You may want too replace the pickups also.

This guitar has been played for hours in a jam room, under hot lights, and colder tempetatures, and stays in tune. If you don't fix up the bridge you'll break the occasional string, but no worse than most guitars.The tuners are execellent and this is a very well made guitar. When i first looked at buying a tele, yamaha wasn't even a consideration. I played more than thirty telecasters (including some
american deluxesd). Then i tried out this little yamaha, not really even considering it, and my jaw dropped to my knees. Plays better than a deluxe, costs less than a mexican standard. Buy one or try one , you'll be glad you did.

I think i've siad it all. try this thing out, and don't overlook yamaha as a serious contender to fender(like i once did)