Yamaha AES620

This is a follow up review for the product: I just got back from my first gig with my guitar and I have to say that I'm thrilled! It held out really well and even tuned down to D kept up without goin out of tune. I played it through my friend's mesa boogie 50 caliber + 50W 1x12 combo with a metal zone pedal and I was totally satisfied with the sound I got =D Obvisouly if I would have used a better pedal then I would have gotten a better sound but for my purposes I'm happy with my mt-2... lots of sustain and harmonics and a great metal sound. This guitar rocks!

Out of the box the action was really low, which I really liked... Unfortunately because the action was so low my bass E string buzzed a lot on the 5th and 7th fret which irritated me like crazy so I decided to get my guitar set up properly... After that the buzzing was almost completely eliminated and now I couldn't love my guitar more! The charcoal gray finish like I metioned in the review below is beautiful and as far as I can see has no major flaws. Just a small line of glue residue which doesn't really bother me at all so what ever... pickups are great, hardwear seems sturdy so I have not complaints here!

Dependable but I'd like to put strap locks on it just in case =D

in Austrlalia Yamaha gives a 5 year warranty =D

Awesome guitar people: for the money nothing really comes close... Honestly, as nice as Gibsons are, I don't think I would get a "real" LEs Paul over this because I'm not going to get a much better instrument and I'm goin to spend a lot more... I've played some new LP's and I'm not as impressed as I should be for an expensive guitar. The yamaha aes 620 is a sturdy, beautifully crafted, great sounding guitar that's comfortable to play... and it's very well priced so I give it an overall 9 cuz nothing is perfect =D but this guitar really is awesome people =D try it out and see for yourself!

This guitar is awsome. It has 22 frets with a very comfortable body style. It has 2 Duncan and 2 humbucker pickups. The knobs are built right in to fit nicely and the finish is flawless. It is also one solid peice of wood, so it holds a note longer. Mine is a dark green, sweet. i bouth it for $600 (usual $900) and it came with hardshell case, patch, strings, strap, picks, the works!

I tried many other guitar (over $1000) and this beats em all!

Sweeeet! One of the best sounding guitars I've heard. It is great for both rock and blues. It is loud(not the annoying loud). Every setting is great, no buzzing or any of that. I like how the sound is just so..together with the pickups.

The finish is amazing! It is glossy with a nice pattern on it. It is one solid peice of wood with a nice neck. Very easy to tune. The pickups are perfect aswell as a perfect bridge. The one and ONLY flaws are that it's staticy when turning knobs and one of mine fell off... Easy fix however. You just need a allen key and screw it back on again. Tada!

This guitar is great. Playing at home or on the stage. It is very tough with a thick finish. It is just a nice ass solid built guitar.

I'm 15 and I've been playing for two years now. (still not in a band) :(
I like the sound mostly. You can't really describe it, you have to hear it. I say BUY THIS ONE because of the features, the looks(oh yea), the sound... everything. I know your thinking, wtf Yamaha?!?!?!?!?. I know how you feel, but, although it's a Yamaha, it sounds like a Les Paul. BUY IT! DON'T PASS THIS ONE UP!

Mahogany body with a maple top, grover tuners, sd jb humbucker at the bridge and a yamaha alnico pickup at the neck..... Individual volume knobs for the buckers and master tone and 3 way selector switch.

Unfortunately I have not had the pleasure of playing my axe through a cranked tube amp but from what I've heard it sings! I play it through a fender 60W princeton 65 dsp with a boss RV-3, MT-2 and a SD-1 and I get a pretty killer sound. The sustain is superb and the Jeff Beck pickup kicks out some awesome tones... I can't wait to play it through my friend's mesa 50 caliber!! The Yamaha neck bucker is nice as well although another seymour duncan would have been nice but what the heck.... I got a great price for it and this little baby sounds every bit as good as any Gibson that I've ever played.

I took a look at the charcoal gray finish and my heart skipped a beat... It looks every bit as good as it sounds. Beautiful guitar and from what I can see solid as well... I expect this guitar to last a long long time. As far as electronics go Yamaha have built a professional instrument. My only complain is that my low E string buzzes at the 5th fret but I guess it's just because the action is a little low; it's just a matter of getting it adjusted and that's about 20 mins worth of work. Great job Yamaha!

I just got this guitar and haven't played it live but like I said earlier I expect this guitar to take a beating! It survived a plane trip from one side of the world to the other so I'm not worried about my aes... Dependable and durable all the way!

5 year warranty! Who else does this? nuff said...

I'm really impressed with this guitar... For the price nothing else comes close: it's really not hard to see why it won the guitar of the year award cuz this baby sings! If it was stolen I'd definately buy another one: ladies and gents... This one's a keeper!

All the features have already been covered. Would have scored 10 if it had locking tuners, fourth control pot, coil tap and Seymour Duncan Jazz Neck instead of the Yamaha Neck pickup. What's really impressive is that Yamaha use their own designed hardware, as well as other companies (Grover, SD). Original Volume/tone knobs, bridge etc. Nothing generic here.

Without a doubt the best sounding guitar on the planet bar none. Although I would prefer a SD Jazz neck, others may understandably prefer the Yamaha pickup, it sounds gorgeous. The Jeff Beck pickup is as detailed and powerful as ever. The overall tone of the guitar is like a mix between a Gibson Les Paul, a PRS and the ultimate rock tone. It sounds better than either of them on their own. I use this guitar stringed with GHS Boomers 11-53 through a cranked Marshall Silver Jubilee. No one in the world can come anywhere near the greatness of my tone.

For the average player this guitar was set-up perfectly, not for me I use a very high action at the lower strings. Flawless finish, PRS and Gibson's prices are a joke in comparison. I've sold my PRS since I got this guitar. The Yamaha is as good as anything built in the USA. Don't get me wrong, I love Les Paul's and PRS's build quality. But now that it's availible at a millionth of the price there's no need for Gibson or PRS to even exist anymore. Yamaha should make a nitro finished version of this model. I'd pay the extra cost. I also find this guitar more comfortable to play than anything I have ever played. I really love the comfort of resting my hand on the Tune-O-Matic when palm-muting etc. Much comfier than Gibson's. The upper fret access is as good as it ever could be on a single cut away.

No problems whatsoever. The hardware seems as good as it ever could be. Yamaha says it should age gracefully, I'm sure they're right. When live, I would prefer the wood around the Tune-O-Matic to be thicker so that it raises the bridge, without me having to raise the action any higher than I already have it. But that's only when I'm standing up, when I'm sitting down it's fine as it is. And I'm asking the impossible there. A guitar whose wood gets thicker around the bridge when I stand up!

Never used.

You might as well get rid of your guitar collection. Get one of these, this Yamaha deserves to be known as the most classic guitar ever made. It sounds better than anything, and is perfect for the bluesy, classic rock that I play. And it's available at an amazing price.

Solid mahogany body with a flame maple top in dark red, Les Paul shape (but sufficiently different to avoid being sued. Two humbuckers, one of which is a Seymour Duncan JB (yes genuine, not SD Design) and the other a slightly warm Yamaha Alnico V. The hardware is chrome, non-locking tuners (not like the AES820 with its Sperzel locking tuners - pity). I would also have liked to see either a coil tap for both pickups or the three-way tone pot that Yamaha fits to the AES820, which has a setting which simulates a coil tap. It would have just rounded out what is really a very good package.

The finish is typically Yamaha - high standard.

This is a lovely guitar. The sound is probably a little raucous for me straight out of the box, so clean jazz is a bit of an ask. But blues and rock are this baby's natural sound. The bridge JB is as you would expect. The neck is a bit of a contrast. Together they may be a bit too far apart for comfort, so I am going to fit a Seymore Duncan '59 to the neck. With the JB this is a classic combo and should really rock out.

Well set-up straight out of the box. The finish is excellent - somewhat at odds with what a previous reviewer wrote, still even Yamaha can sell the occasional 'Monday' guitar.

Seems good so far. I will report back in 12 months if I am unhappy.

I bought it from a local dealer on sale. They have always been good to me and I have no reason to doubt them. Yamaha have always stood firmly behind their products, so I feel equally confident.

40 years. broad range of other gear. I would buy another if the 620 was stolen

Not too much need to repeat based on the other reviews but this guitar was made in Korea and features a mahogany body and maple "flamed" top. A couple of humbuckers (one of which is a Seymour Duncan), Grover machineheads some very very nice knobs and pick up selector combine to make a quality package.

I have only had this guitar a few days so it is hard to judge the sound fully but it's first impression is fabulous! The Seymour Duncan bridge pick up rocks for sure and the Yamaha neck pup produces some very nice rich/smooth tones which are great for soloing in particular. I guess over all it has the chunky rich tone of a Les Paul type guitar.

The finish/build of this guitar is absolutely fabulous (especially for the money). The faded burst finish looks glorious, the sculpted top is both attractive and very comfortable to play and the over all feeling is one of real quality. I have two US made Fenders but this Yamaha probably has a better over all finish than either of them.

Action from the box is also pretty good, no need to adjust at all.

Everything on this guitar has quality stamped all over it and I have no doubt that this one will last. Everything on it feels solid and I have no doubt that it would take the rigours of regular live performance without any problem what so ever.

Never needed to contact them.

Given the relatively low cost of this guitar it is an absolute complete bargain. The sound, playability, features and appearance are all oustanding.

The thing I like most is that you get a Les Paul style and type of guitar without having to buy a copy! I am so glad that I found this before I bought that "wanna be" Epi LS Standard!

I won't get into the features too much. Those have been well covered.

I think though..... yamaha could have added coil taps. Come on.. how much more would the price be with coil taps? 1 coil tap for each pickup. Saves us the trouble of having it done ourselves. But... still. Its not unusual for complanies to not go the extra mile.

I think its great they added a jb pickup. Sadly... I took it off.
(damnit! you cant make everyone happy! eh yamaha?). I prefer paf style pickups. But awesome that they would think to do that instead of installing some cheap pickup from korea (not that korean pickups are bad. I just consider them a "cost cutting copout" ). It won't be wasted. I will sell it.


I'm giving it a 9 for features. Would have been a 10 if it had coil splits and 2 volume/2 tone knobs.
The fact it is set neck... saved it from an 8.
If I were a wammybar fan........ I would score it lower.

I have spent every week of my adult life....trying guitars at guitar shops and pawn shops....And guitars of friends.

And I have to say.... that in this midrange price category of guitars.... this model by yamaha.... is one of the best I have ever had the pleasure of touching. Finally a guitar that has cured my dream for another les paul. THIS IS A SPECTACULAR LEGIT SUBSTITUTE for a les. Rather than getting a les... get several of these (install different pickups). I can think of NO REASON to spend the extra cash on a gibson .... the guitar you will get will NOT be much better than this one. (granted.....gibsons hold their resale value but since I rarely sell guitars I buy..... pffft).
. Great sound. Great sustain. Great fullness of sound. Nice "woody" tone that gives me a woody. A legend in the making.

When I first picked it up..... my first thought was "crap. a chunky neck. I've always been a thin neck guy"....but after an hour of playing my thought changed to "crap. I don't ever want to see a thin neck again".

The playability is spectacular. Guitarists LOVE fast necks... and this IS ONE.


I love the sculpted contours of the guitar (one of a kind)... and the finish. Great job. Only carvins are prettier.

I can't rate the reliability. I've only had it a short while.
Feels solid. I've had flimsier guitars.

rarely have I ever dealt with the manufacturer of any product I have purchased... ever. But yamaha is an exception. I once bought a used Yamaha PSR-320 keyboard but it didnt come with a manual. One call to yamaha... and my manual was on its way. No hassle. No begging.
I don't know if this great service is typical behavior of yamaha...but they sure impressed me for that one interaction. So I will give them the benefit of the doubt and give them a 10.

Of all the guitars I have ever played in my life........

In the cheapo "entry level" guitar range... my old discontinued peavey predator (94ish) still rules the game.

In the middle price range of guitars.... this yamaha is my NEW ALL TIME FAVORITE. I will buy more than one of these for sure. A classic. I wish I had known about the semi hollow version before buying this one. I would have liked to try that first.

In the upper range of mass produced guitars ($1000+) my favorites are the Brian Moore guitars due to their computer connectability right out of the box.

2 Coil taps and 2 tone and 2 volume knobs (4 knobs) would make this a 10. (but.. beggars can't be choosers. Great job on this guitar)
9 you get.

The features on this guitar are all pretty standard, there's nothing unexpected except for how good they are. The tone and volume pots are probably the most beautiful things in the world and the bridge and through stringing is great to. Its a good weight and everything is where it should be.I wont list everything out because the others alredy have, all you need to know is that this guitar has the standard of features that you'd excpect on something much more pricey.

Quality not quantity

When i got the guitar it had 10's on it and it sounded real good, lots of range. However I'm using it with 11's now and tunned down to CGCFAD. After a few tweaks to the brige and truss rod it feels spot on and has a lot more meat. I'm running it through a Peavey 5150ii, Marshall cab, Boss bass eq, and some chorus and delay through the fx loop. It sounds beautiful. full sounds and crystal clarity even with a tonne of distortion, this guitar just sings. the two pic-ups work well together, the JB provides big drive sounds with tight bottoms and razor sharp highs which is contrasted well by the stock neck pic-up's warm round tone. i like everything about this guitar, well except for the fret board inlays, but thats just because im not used to any.

good action, fits like a glove, finish is top notch for the money.

I havnt had it long but working in a music shop i know how reliable yamahas are.

Yamaha are a very helpful company. they started out making instruments a long time ago and i think they should be up there with the gibsons and fenders.

I've been playing for a while now and have a gibson explorer gothic which has been my number one for ages, but compared to the yamaha its a bit limited. i think i found my new number 1.

I saved a bit of cash on this gutar so im gonna get a fernandes sustainer fitted in the neck and coil tap on the bridge. once thats done this will be one very fine guitar.

Go buy one now!! theres not many left!!

This guitar draws mainly on the Les Paul type electric solid body design. It has a flamed maple veneer over a mahogany body, set mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, abalone inlays and 22 medium frets, Grover tuners, twin humbuckers (neck: Yamaha Alnico-5; bridge: Seymour Duncan JB) and a 2-way switch located in the customary place for this style of guitar.

It differs from a Les Paul in that it has a more bulbous, but still very appealing shape. This includes a recessed cutaway to improve upper neck access (like a PRS). The bridge is a combination of a Tune-O-Matic with a Telecaster-like string through body system. One word on the neck: it's chunky like a wide/fat Les Paul neck so again Fender players, it'll take a while to get used to.

The finish is thick, heavy and highly glossy. The neck is also finished like this. This, combined with the tapered neck angle, extra power of humbuckers and shorter neck scale means that Fender players (like me) will need some time to adjust!

You get two volume controls (one for each pickup) and a master tone. The lead cavity is like an Ibanez Jem's - it points upwards so that you can thread your lead through your strap. You get two strap buttons (I suppose to allow quick adjustment???). Apart from that, you get a lead a manual and a toolkit.

Most importantly, the features all work really well together. This is a singing, beautiful guitar. It's probably not as well crafted as a decent Gibson or PRS, but for this price it is excellent. Only improvement I would (and eventually will) make is coil taps.

I bought this guitar to fill the tonal hole that my two Strats cannot: the fat, singing woman tone of Clapton and Slash; the chunky, powerful rhythm and lead playing of Angus and Malcolm Young.

I play the AES620 through a GCB-95 Crybaby wah, Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive, Akai Headrush E-2 then (dry) into a Fender Pro Junior and (wet) into a Fender Deluxe 85.

The guitar is never noisy. Using the bridge pickup (JB), you can go from that ever-so-slightly distorted tone of Jimmy Page to a really stinging Angus Young lead sound, or a chunky Malcolm Young riffing tone. Afetr kicking in the overdrive, you can go further, getting into early Van Halen territory with powerful tone and harmonics. The neck pickup is very much like a Strat neck pickup but just so much more powerful in output. The tone is delicious. I had my doubts, by Yamaha has made a great pickup. It sings with a cranked valve amp ala Slash or Clapton. I played 'Crossroads' and was quite chuffed :D The JB does push a higher output than the neck pickup, so if you play rhythm on the bridge and lead on the neck (well most of the time) like me, you will have to use those two volume controls. The middle setting is great - you can mix in however much of 'mellow' or 'rock' you want simply by adding more or less volume from each pickup.

Clean, this guitar sounds good, but it cannot touch a Stratocaster. Not a chance. It does have a pleasantly natural, 'woody' tone that is definitely usable, however.

My only complaint is that, like an SG, this thing is not well balanced and the neck nosedives a tad. I'm so used to my Strat that my observations are probably overstated and quite normal for a mahogany guitar.

The frets were finished uniformly and with little noise. It was set up with a higher action than I am accustomed to, so I adjusted it - no problems. The rest of the guitar is finished superbly. My only complaint is about the finished neck, but again this is just one of those 'getting used to it' things.

This guitar is well built and flawless in finish. I cannot see any reason why it would not last a very long time with the proper maintenance and care.

I've had this guitar for a month now. You get a 5 year warranty with it. Apart from that, I know nothing of Yamaha's customer support.

In this price range, for a similar type of guitar, you can buy an Epiphone, an LTD and various other 'knock-offs'. Epiphones, in my view, are poor value for money as their fit and finish is not on par with LTDs and Yamahas. Korean guitars come in all shapes and sizes and levels of quality. Overall, I'm pleased with my purchase and would buy one again if I had it stolen.

2005 AES620. One more tone knob and it would have everything a guy too cheap to buy a Les Paul could want :)

Very cool look for my tastes in the translucent royal blue striped top.

Thick & wide neck for people used to shred machines.

I play bluesy rock & metal through a PodXT (for practice) and a Mesa/Boogie Triaxis through a Boogie Studio.22+. I get a beautiful throaty tone from the Yamaha neck pickup with the tone control backed off about 20%. The JB sounds different than the trem-spaced one that came with my Jackson SL-1 - seems a little harsh in its brightness. No noise and the tone is incredibly fat, even unplugged. The JB is great for chugging on the low strings with definition and the neck bucker does a great job on smooth leads. Sustain is excellent.

The electronics on mine seem great, with no crackling and smooth taper when rolling off the vol & tone.

I sent the first one back to Musician's Friend because the paint did not go all the way to the binding on the top just under the fretboard. The second one had a similar problem in the same area (much less though) as well as what looks like glue residue under the clearcoat on a couple of parts of the wood faux binding, preventing the stain from settling evenly. Fortunately you and others can't see it when you're playing. Also the nut doesnt' have a neat slot it sits in but seems to be propped up on a base built up with glue or clearcoat. The pickups were also a little scratched up. The top was otherwise very attractive in the royal blue color and the back was flawless :)

I would have given it a 5 and sent it back to MF again but the playability was flawless with great action, fretwork and setup. The neck heel which looks a little clunky is actually very nicely rounded and provides effortless access to all the frets. It's such a dream to play that I don't want to risk getting a worse replacement. I guess that's what a sub $500 guitar is like but my Jackson has spoiled me forever in terms of build quality.

Feels pretty solid to me. The finish seems pretty thick in most places. The strap buttons are holding onto the strap surprisingly well. The bridge hardware looks like it might corrode easily but who knows, I've only had it a brief time. The jack location is great for playing standing up but when I try to play sitting down with the guitar on my left leg, the cord is pressed hard against my right leg and feels like it might snap off.

Too soon to tell. I don't anticipate talking to them since the guitar works exactly as I expected and I do my own set up and tweaking.

I've been playing 20 years. I've had a Heritage Les Paul, '84 Ibanez Roadstar, Jackson SL-1 (current), G&L S-500 (current). It's cosmetically on a par with the Ibanez (the worst) but plays better than any of them except the Jackson which is the best guitar I've ever played and was twice as expensive.

I was also looking at the ESP Eclipse II. In general, I tend to go for the higher-quality product but in this case, I was buying the guitar mainly for recording so the extra money for cosmetics was hard to justify. At times, I wish I'd bought the Eclipse so I could drool over it but then I'd be whining about the first ding I put in it. Plus the Eclipse really is a Paul clone and I was looking for something just a little off-center.

Anybody who needs a solid guitar built for playing without worrying about it's safety should check this model out. Don't get hung up on cosmetics like I did, count yourself lucky for getting off so cheap and play the crap out of this guitar. You'll get great tone and playability with a classic body shape that's just different enough.

I've pointed out some negatives but hopefully the review was fair. After all, I bought it, I'm not sending it back and I don't plan on replacing it with a higher-end model, despite the cosmetic flaws. You may wonder how after all that bitching I can give it a 9. Its less than $500, people!!! Now that's value.