Yamaha AES500

I don't know what year it was build or where, my guess 1999 in Japan?
It has a a nice silver finish and a silver gray pickguard. Retro 1950's look. Pickups, frets and control all same as the rest of the reviews. This was my first electric guitar and I bought it at a closeout price. Since I have bought AEX520,PAC311 and PAC604W all great guitars. I love yamahas, great bang for the buck!!!!

The sound is great very versatile. Kinda heavy like as gibson les paul. It sound good without a amp. If you hook it to a amp it can give great distortion or a nice warm sound. Like the one review said everything from funk to surf.

I've had it for over a year and haven't found any flaws,was set-up great. The fret are a little high and this could bother some poeple?

I live in the graet white north and my yamaha's have made it thur the dry winters with absolutely no warping. This guitar construction is solid. Since I only play a home I always have back-ups. I guess if I did gig I would bring a backup, but just for broke string and such.

Never dealed with them????????

I been playing for a few years, and have had Dearmond,Kramer and Ibanez guitars. This guitar is very reliable,durable and can produce.If you like a retro look at a inexpensive price,this the guitar for you. If not yamaha makes alot of great guitars!!!!

Betalade 2795kr p? musikborsen (300US$)
2 Humbuckers,splitbara till singlecoil med en push/pull p? gitarren.
Tung solid gitarr med mycket fin finish.Halsen ar smal och gitarren mycket lattspelad.Finns i fargerna Svart,Cream white,Silver och guld.
Originell form mycket vacker,Gibsonstuk!

Gitarren ar en riktig allround gitarr for b?de nyborjare och proffs.
Tack vare splitbara humbuckers passar den till all sorts musik,fr?n Janne Schaffer till Black Sabbath.Du behover sallan stamma gitarren,den "h?ller ton" mycket bra.Gitarren har ett mycket klart och rent ljud och bastryck som gor den till en riktig h?rdrocksgura.
Jag anvander den tillsammans med en Peavey Rage 158 och det var en mycket lyckad kombination.Gillar du dist s? ar Peavey forstarkaren verkligen att rekommendera.

Gitarren var blank och fin inte en skr?ma,val emballerad med en utforlig bruksanvisning.Allt var perfekt forutom att gitarren inte var stamd,kanske man inte kan begara hehe

Den har gitarren har kvalitet i toppklass,vill jag lova.
Den kan jamforas med Gibson,Fender helt klart men till ett mycket battre pris.Allting kanns bra,fininshen,den tunga solida kroppen och den fina mekaniken.En gitarr du kan lita p?.

Har inte behovt anvanda support.

Jag har spelat gitarr fr?n och till under n?gra ?r.Med denna suverana gitarr har intresset vaknat till liv igen.Jag kan inte namna n?gon brist eller n?got som inte motiverar ett kop.Om min gitarr blev stulen skulle jag tveklost kopa en ny med detsamma.Jag klassar den har gitarren lika hogt som en Gibson eller Fender eller annu hogre..Den ar soooot!
Mitt sista ord: KOP DEN! finns ingen battre gitarr for det priset!

The Yamaha AES500 that I have was manafactured in 1999, and the country was Taiwan. Its got the 22 frets as mentioned in the other reviews. Its a solid body guitar made from Nato, dont know much about the wood, I heard its an acoustic wood, but not sure. 2 Humbuckers n the Les Paul fashion. Its got 2 volume, one tone and shift button to shift from humbucker to single coil mode. And a groovy pick guard in fact one of the grooviest going.

This guitar is fairly versatile in that I play a range of styles from candy pop, to metal, and is able to cater to most styles. I personally am into Chilli Peppers, and it does a pretty good job to cater to that rock/funk sorta style that I like, it certainly looks the part. At the moment Ive only got it thru a Peavey Practise amp, but Ive run it thru a Fender 2x12, and found a beautiful clean tone coming out. Its pretty good with distorion as well. Id have to say its got a pretty nice tone, especially considering the price.

The set up was pretty good I thought, and I prefer the low action and was consequently made that way. The major qualm i have with this guitar is the fret buzz I get. I like having the action low, and this means i tend to get an awful amount of buzz. I wouldnt say it affects when Im playing thru a gig amplifier, but if im home and practising it gets apparent. The frets are fairly high like earlier mentioned. The neck however is pretty nice quality tho. Yamaha are renouned for their exceptional quality, and I think the quality of my guitar is brilliant. The finish is great, and finish wise guitars like Gibson and Fender get a run for their money. I do have a problem with the fretboard drying out, it could be my problem as in me not oiling it properly. But other than that fit and Finish is great,.

I think this guitar would cope with a lot of stress and strain. Ive dropped it a few times while it was resting on and itd drop on to its face or side, after a bang, id still be able to play it in perfect tune. I dont recomeend dropping guitars tho. Quality and finsh is great so id deend on a yammy any day.

never dealt with them

Ive been playing for about 18 months at a Gigging level. At the moment Im in the process of aqcuiring professional amp and gear as Im gettin more serious about ym musical career. Id never get rid of my guitar and Its my first electric which I learnt a lot on. I love the look fo the guitar, I love the quality and the sound. I sometimes think the tone canbe a bit iffy sometimes, comparing to my mates $2000 Gibson. And the fret is too high causing the buzz. I wouldnt mind getting new pick-ups installed. If youre a beginner, or semi-proffesional you cant go wrong, my guiatr tutor wants one badly hes pro and he reckons he loves it, and them might even acquire a cult status for the low numbers around and the great sound.Get one.

This is either a 1999 or 2000 model Yamaha AES500 guitar. It has a Nato body, maple neck, and rosewood fingerboard. It has two vintage-style humbuckers, each with their own volume knob, plus a single tone knob which also functions as a button to switch the sound from a humbucker to a single coil sound. It also has a wraparound style one-piece bridge. This one has a nice silver finish, with a cool grayish pearloid pickguard. The body style is similar to that of a Les Paul Junior, but more funky-retro looking. 22 frets.

This guitar sounds good! The bridge humbucker gets a nice bright sound. I run it through a Boss DS-1 distortion pedal into a Crate 30 watt practice amp. The pickups let a lot of distortion through, but you still get nice definition with chords. The neck pickup has a smoother, warmer sound. The tone knob switch does give it a different sound, but I prefer to keep it on the humbucker setting. Clean tones are excellent also. I play everything from funk to surf on it and there is very little noise.

I am very picky with my guitars, and I looked it over very closely. The only flaws I could find were two tiny rough spots on the back of the neck. It could easily be sanded, but they're not noticeable enough to really worry about. Most people probably wouldn't even notice. I've heard that Yamaha's manufacturing is great, and I find that to be true in this case, everthing was great! You will not find a better put-together guitar in this price range.

This guitar seems very reliable. The finish looks pretty tough, the hardware seems durable, and the strap buttons are nice and tight. A backup is always a good idea, but I'm sure this guitar is dependable.

I haven't had to deal with them, so I can't say!

I've been playing for about 7 years, and this guitar is the best value I've seen. I got it from American Musical Supply on a special for $179. At one time this guitar's list price was over $500. I think this guitar would be a good buy at $500, but at $179 it's a tremendous value!

See other reviews for specifications. Off-white in color.

This guitar can produce most any sound you are looking for. Very versatile and very well wired. Not jazzy though. Very good for most every other sound.

Finish is outstanding. Fit neck socket is the best I've seen. Everything is great but the neck. Some guitarist like very high frets and very narrow necks. I am one that prefers a low action with a little room for my fingers. In fact, the frets are so high, you can make any note sound out of tune by applying varying presure. This became quite annouying. After lamenting for 3 weeks, regardless of the price, I took it back. 9 for fit & finish, 2 for action.

Very well constructed and may be used as a primary instrument.

Had some initial buzzing. Called retailer, who was quite unresponsive and arogant on the phone. So I decided to contact Yamaha for a recommendation. Yamaha's customer service reps were great - giving a work order requisition over the phone. The problem is, each dealer or repair center they recommended did not deal in guitars ... pianos, electronics, brass and woodwinds - yes... not guitars.

This was obviously a great price for a very sturdy, well made guitar. This thing was retailing for $599. However, I did not like playing it. Although they are much less quality guitars, cheap Squire, De Armond, or Ibenez guitars are much more enjoyable to play. No wonder this model was discontinued.

this guitar is Tiwan made, in about '99, i think. bog standard 22 frets, solid top, two volume's and one tone which changes between humbucker and sinmgle coil. DiMazio humbuckers, bridge and neck. a nice satin silver paint, and a soft indie type shape. nice neck and brige.

it is perhaps to soft a guitar as i play heavy stuff. i go through a line 6 and morley wah, buzzes on high E 12th harmonic, bright sound, good variety of sound with the humbucker/single coil.

well set up but adjusments needed. the Humbucker/sincle coil selector is a bitch as it breaks, alot!

used in gigs, perhaps not a long lasting guitar, chips easily, i do back up with a shitty strat.

they took a long time to sort problems, but did the job well, the warranty was for a year

i have been playing for 8 years and rate it highly, i would prefer a PRS or Parker, but i havent won the lottery, yet. i would have preferred to have the H/SC selector to have stronger and more durable, but its OK, i love the coluor and how well it plays, i compared tgo the AES800 and its not far off the Quality. CHECK OUT YIELDS WEB SITE WWW.YIELDONLINE.CO.UK

Made in 1999, in Japan (I think). It has 2 volume controls (one for each pickup) and a tone dial. The tone dial can be pushed to toggle 2 humbuckers/singe coil pickups at the bridge and neck positions. Selection of 3 pickup positions. It looks like a bit of a mixture between a standard strat and a les-paul, with single cutaway. The tuners are locked, which is a bit of pain but no big deal. Comes in many finishes (visit yamaha website to see), mine is black, and the pickguard looks SO cool. Its like a slivery granite kind of colour? This thing is HEAVY and can really start to hurt you shoulders after a while. Still, it's a beautiful guitar. For someone who wants a more original look and good sound variation this guitar is great. Its got a bit of everything in it.

Im using this with a vox-wah into a Fender Frontman 15(Reverb) amp. THe amp is alright but gives a good sound for its size. Because you can switch between humbuckers and single coil pickups this guitar gives you a lot of versatility when playing. Distortion sounds great with the humbuckers on and you can get same really twangy sound out of it if you but it on bridge/single coil. I think for that strat sound its isn't the best, but it makes up for it with the many other sounds you can get out of it. Its great to fiddle around with and I can get some pretty varied tunes out of it. I like to play Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and Led Zeppelin. It can get a good sound for all these bands. Sometimes I'll be playing a song on single coil, look down and turn the humbuckers on and WOW. Its such a difference. Its worth getting this guitar for the variation. As I said, if you want specifics get the specifics, but if you want variety, and good variety, this is the guitar for you.

Action was pretty high, but its not a big deal. Other than that it was all good, Im thinking about putting other pickups in, but i have no idea which ones, still checking arond. The tuning knobs on the head are pretty sensitive, which is just something I noticed. Other than that its great, except as I said REALLY heavy.

This guitar is solid, and can only get better with age. Id definitley rely on this guitar, and also Yamaha is a reliable brand so Im not worried.

never dealt with them

Id definitley check around before buying it again if it was stolen, and in any case I got it half price (its normally AU$900). I love the way it looks and sounds, and also the variety that comes with being able to switch between humbuckers and single coils. It could be lighter, and the action could be lower. It sounds really good on distortion with the humbuckers on. I recommend humbuckers and bridge for dirty, and single coil and neck for clean, or whatever you like. The good thing is you can fiddle lots to get the sound you want. For the price I got for it im really happy, the only other option was a squire strat or tele, but Im happy i didn't get any of those. STRAT is the good name, not SQUIRE. Dont be confused because its 'by the same company'.

What year was it made? 1999 model, more than likely made in Yamaha's Taiwan plant. 22 frets on this solid Nato bodied guitar. The neck is rosewood on maple. Two volume pot's and one tone...nice old LP style knobs with a three way selector switch. The tone control acts as a coil split for the two Yamaha humbuckers. The guitar I believe is going out of production (sad trait of Yamaha Corp.) but mine is a perfect classic gold metallic and others were available in white and black. Yamaha is exceptional when it comes to detail even on a $599 guitar like this one. The body is a twist of LP styling meets Tele with a single cutaway. Go to www.yamahaguitars.com to see pic's. The bridge is a stop tailpiece arrangement with non-adjustable saddles, but the intonation is on the money!!! Tuners are Yamaha's own which work fine, but I plan on putting Sperzel's locking tuners on ASAP for my own convenience in changing strings fast! I can't think of any neck to compare it with. Seems to be of average width and depth. The strings feel close together compared to my USA-2 Pacifica, and the frets are taller than I prefer - but it's my back-up guitar.

My main purpose in buying it was to have a guitar that wasn't too cheesy yet inexpensive to mount my Roland GK-2A synth controller to. The finish is so nice on this guitar I'll hate to use the sticky tape on it. I was going to buy a used Pacifica 712 or 912, but this guitar popped up at such a bargain price I thought it would be fun to have for the humbucker tones and I'm not disappointed. I play a little of everything. Although I'm not going to get classic Strat tones from splitting these hum's, it does delver some sweet depth and some great twang. This is a rocker's guitar for sure!!! So far I've just horsed around with it straight into my son's cheap Crate amdp and then in my Fender Blues DeVille. Man, you can work the tones out of this guitar. It can howl like a good blues machine, or be a pretty sweet jazz guitar. You can bring out some country spankin' too. No noise with the humbucker's and the single action is above average in quietness. GP said it was too bright for them, but I have to disagree. This guitar has some depth and fatness to it. It will be a fund guitar and the "bowling ball" 60'ish pickguard fits its personality. Although I'll mainly use it to drive my GR-30, it will be a fun rock machine and good for slide action.

The action seems to be a tad high for me, but how can you compare a $599 guitar to your main guitar that retials for $1900. Fellow players - let's be reasonable. It's workable for me and I know my favorite guitar tech can get it down if it becomes unbearable. I changed the strings from 9's to 10's and like the tone and touch better. The pickup's are hot enough the way they are in a pretty much flat position. The bridge pu appears to be a little loose, so let me find my tools and turn a screw or two. No, NO, Noooooooooooooooooooo cosmetic flaws - ZIP and NADA! Neck is tight and solid and that's why I've bought Yamaha stuff for the past 17 years! They deliver quality and that's why I can buy one of their guitars sight unseen. They've never failed me.

The guitar has a rock solid feel to it. I have no knowledge of nato wood (the body) but it is heavier than my maple topped USA-2 Pacifica. Seems sturdy and the neck is a "working class" beefy kind of neck. Not fancy in any degree, but snug and strong. The hardware is above average and will be more than enough to last considering I paid $175 for this $599 guitar. Why people are blowing them out at low prices is beyond me. Yamaha needs a new USA sales department. They don't advertise or promote enough and they keep killing off great models like the Pacifica 904, the Weddington and SBG series. As I stated before, I'll replace the tuners for locking ones and perhaps look for a bridge with adjustable saddle options. The finish is gorgeous and better than many American made guitars. THUMBS UP YAMAHA - you never let your standards down! It seems to be a good solid paint job that could withsatnd a teenager wailing on metal and since I'm a middle aged fellow I'll get some miles out of it. The 3 way switch seems average and may need replacement in a few years, but the pot's are super and all other details looks great. The pickguard is first class.

Yamaha has the absolute best people in customer service. I needed parts for a second hand guitar I bought and got first class treatment and help. Once they sent me a pack of replacement neck screws FREE. Now don't expect this all the time, but I'm loyal to Yamaha because they have been loyal to me.

I've now entered my 35th year of playing. I own a Yamaha Pacifica USA-2, a Godin ACS, aTakamine ENC-10 and this fun little AES-500. I sold a Wedington Classic before getting this guitar simply out of economic needs. Hope to get one back soon, but this guitar will be fun. No regrets on my investment so far. If it were stolen I may buy another one or perhaps pick up a used Pacifica. I love the looks, the interesting soulful tones and the road-worthy feel. The Yamaha quality is a big plus. Ibanez doesn't even give this kind of qulaity for the money and it far outshines a Fender import. If I hate anything it's the height of the frets - a little too tall for me and I think more of a finsih on the neck would make me feel more comfortable (at home) with it since all my other guitars do not have "natural" finish necks. Silly isn't it, but my favorite feature is the design and retro looks. I never compared it to other guitars, just trusted in Yamaha's consistancy and it worked! Reminds me some of some Ibanez Talman models as far as the pickups. I wish it had a five way switch, and who knows - I may add one or save up to get the 800 model version. Friends, everyone is selling these at low close-out prices and if you only have $200 to spend - this is an excellent value that will astound your musician buddies.

This is a recently-made Japanese guitar. It's a beautiful single cutaway body with a flawless gold finish with a blue-ish perloid pickguard, with a maple neck, rosewood fretboard with either 22 or 24 easliy-accessible, frets (I'm at college and wouldn't risk bring it!). It comes with a fixed bridge with stationary saddles (hence the 9). To top it all off, it's equipped with 2 humbuckers and a push-pull coil tap when you press the volume dial. One look at it, and I had to own it.

For such a beautiful, contemporary- looking guitar, it was wired to kill! Playing it through my Peavy 100-watt head, the cleans were absolutely beautiful, with so much dimension and clarity with either pick up. With the tap set on single coils, you get the bright, strat-sound without the single coil noise. When it's set on humbucker, the signal gets a little fatter and a little darker, but pleasant nonetheless. Perfect for clean blues or even jazz. But when I set it to the overdrive channel- oh, man... I almost dropped dead. It came from the factory with .009's (which I plan on slapping on some .013's) and the sound was thick and unrepentently heavy!!! Not a sign of muddiness on either coil tap settings- in fact, the singles howled like a demon and crunched like a bucker. On the humbucker side, it was gloriously heavy, and I could practically taste the scooped mids on my amp when I laid my palm on the bridge. The lead tone was so inviting that I, one a little shy with soloing, I got lost in some dirty blues and lost track of time. I never thought I would ever afford to own an axe that sounded so good.

The finish on the guitar- perfect. No flaws I could see and I'm afraid to hold it in risk of marking it up. The neck fast and incredibly comfortable. The only problem was the fixed bridge saddles. They're non-adjustable, so intonation is a little iffy if you want to put some heavy wires on it and keep it in standard tuning. I'm going to string it with .013-.058's and tune it down a little to accomodate.

My only inhibition is wrecking the beautiful finish! Otherwise, this guitar will last forever and I would depend on it. As for bringing a backup? Strings break, you know, regardless of what guitar you play. Not having a backup would not be wise. For the sake of the question, I would be able to depend on it enough.

Haven't had to take advantage of it. I bought it on clearance, and I don't think it had a warranty.

I've been playing for around five years, and this is the best guitar I've ever owned or even played. I have a Peavy 100-watt amp run direct without effects. I also own a Jay Turser SG copy (the other reviews for it really cut it down, but I guess I got the pick of the litter) and have gone through a few crappy guitars in my past. Overall, great guitar, great tone, great everything- except for those damned fixed saddles!!! If it got lost/stolen, I would despair greatly, because I paid $99 on sale for it new, while it runs for $699 new. I'd probably buy a cheaper one to replace it, then save my money for another AES500 in black finish. What a damn good guitar!

Mine is a 1999 Silver made in Japan I believe. It has 22 medium frets, the upper frets are very easy to reach. Its a solid body guitar with a super fast bolt-neck. It has two Yamaha chrome humbuckers wired with a push-pot that lets you spplit the neck and bridge humbuckers into single coils. Very quiet pickups with medium output and a deep, thoaty low-midrange growl into a tube amp. Clean, this guitar sounds like a crystal stream in spring. I mean cleeeean! I ran it through a Bosss acoustic pedal and it sounds better than my Taylor 414CE!!! Looks like a Gibson Les Paul to boot!

I play country-rock, blues, and 70 Rock. This guitar is PERFECT. I just tried it through a Tube Screamer! It wails! Very deep, rick sound. Sounds just like a Gibson Les Paul. WIth the pickups split, it has a very Clapton-type Strat sound, but on the neck split, think Deep Purple.

Amazingly high construction quality for the price. It beats many Fender Strat USA's I've seen.

Last week it fell from the top of a marshall stack onto a wood floor. It hit the headstock, bounced, then fell face down. The only damage was a 1/8 inch chip in the headstock finish and the A string dropped half a step. I had it thoroughly tested-no problems. Amazing guitar!

Emailed a question to Yamaha, received a prompt response!

In the 20 years since I started playing, I can't remember being so excited about a guitar. I just found one on eBay, and I'm gonna win it!!!