Yamaha AES620

you will not find many guitars with better features at this price

wow i play rock blues ,but i like to finger pick some classicl tunes too this guitar does it all.

you can play this right out of the box...but the strings will need changing..

this is a robust machine only time will tell how it will be in 3 years but first impressions say its here to last

never needed it

been playing 30 years,iv always owed fenders and paid over 4 times what i paid for this.i was,nt looking for a guitar when i bought this i just saw it in the shop and thought ...cool...i played it for 20 min and fell in love with it.the neck is wider than the fenders im used to but i soon got used to it.the yamah was not priced when i saw it when i was told the price i was shocked,this is a great guitar,it plays as well as my fenders.i giged it for the first time last week and it felt like i had been playing it for years.i would like to say something bad about this guitar but i just cant ,well done yamaha

This guitar has all of the features that you would expect from a guitar costing 4 times as much. It is probably one of the best guitars that Yamaha has ever made for any price. The guitar is a perfect weight and balances well. The neck is a vintage guitar players dream....slightly chunky and deliberate. The first thing that I did was to set it up for 11s. I like the feel of this gauge on Gibson scale necks. It feels just slightly heavier than 10s on a Fender. You can really play this guitar cleanly. You can easily bend the strings to a minor 3rd and it still has enough "back pressure" for accuracy. Did I mention bigger tone? Another interesting thing is that with the beefier neck with 11s is that this guitar stays in tune. I have had a chance to play it on stages where it sat under an airconditioning vent for hours before it would pick it up.....in tune! The pickups are some of the best "stock" pickups that I have ever heard. They both have a perfect balance of body and definition.

I love the way it sounds. I was looking for a guitar with mini humbuckings because I like the "focus" that the smaller pickups have. The combination that they came up with for this guitar really works well. I have played it through Allessandros, Buddah's, vintage Fenders, Yamaha Digitals, and Line6 digitals and the guitar does wonderfully. I don't think that you can "bag" this guitar into being just one thing. It will give the amp what you want it to give.

My guitar is the faded burst and is absolutely beautiful. Amazing Flame and the color looks like a vintage guitar. The finish is perfect and everything is fitted flawlessly. The guitar feels expensive. It doesn't feel like thumpy green wood. You can feel the guitar vibrate in your hands without amplification. To me this is one of the most important tests of a "living" instrument.

I don't see any reason why this guitar wouldn't be as durable as any of the better instruments....unless you are doing a Peter Townsend revival.

I don't know.....I haven't had to deal with Yamaha on warranty or repair. That's a good sign....huh?

I've been playing guitar since dirt was made. This is the best brand new guitar that I have seen in....in...I don't know if I've ever seen a better new guitar. Fancier...maybe...better...no...(especially for the money)

Features are unusually above and beyond in this price range. There is a too good to be true bookmatched Flame Maple Top. I got the faded burst and I tell ya pictures do not do it justice. AAA at least! Also features Grover tuners and a Seymour Duncn JB in the Bridge.

I play a variety of styles. Mostly blues and rock. Some metal. The bridge pickup is great. I have never played a SD JB before. Responds really well to dynamics. Plenty of crunch in there. The neck pickup I am still undecided on. It is a stock pickup but unlike most stock pickups it has a lot of depth. Kinda impressed really as most stock pickups in guitars in this price range are really sub par/one dimensional and can have trouble cutting through a mix. Who knows I may still swap it out for a Seymour Duncan 59.

Action was ok. Hate the factory strings. Came stock with 9's. Gonna get it changed to 10's. Frets were just a tad bit uneven but a proper dressing will change that. No big deal. Finish is excellent! Not a flaw that I could see. No gaps or glue bits. I have seen other guitars twice the price that didn't look as good. I really like the string through design. Seems to add a little "snap" to the strings.

Unknown. Seems pretty solid. Time will tell

Have no idea. Never had to deal with them

I won't bore you with how long I have been playing. Overall I think this guitar is massive bang for buck. It seems better and better guitars are coming out of Korea these days. Only a matter of time really. I remember 15yrs ago when guitars from Japan were considered pure crap and know Japanese guitars are some of the most well made out there. I currently own a Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, and a PRS. I think for the money this guitar rocks! In the past I always considered Yamaha a keyboard maker and never took the time to check out their guitars. Don't make that same mistake. Give this a whirl. If it was damaged or stolen I would definately get another one.

Brand new. trans red top etc. for a list of features see below. Came with grover tuners but i immediately switched them for sperzels. Very versatile sound wise and has a great vibe to it.

This thing kicks ass. Huge sound through the JB. Beautiful blues/jazz through the yamaha pup in the neck position. I play through a GT-6 into an Aphex guitar exciter into a randall rg100sc (w/ ext cab) and it sounds perfect. I mostly play hard rock/metal

Great action, although I did have to adjust the intonation a little. Beautiful finish and a big yet fast and smooth neck. Fret work is flawleww

Gigged with it for the first time last night and it was perfect. I would depend on this but I never play without a backup

Never dealt with them

I love this guitar so much I just can't put it down. I'd read 3 amazing reviews in various magazines and now I know them to be true. This guitar rocks! so much so that I'm going to be picking up another one. One of the best guitars I've ever owned (been playing 15 years). great value with custom shop quality.

Brand new AES620, purchased through musiciansfriend for just under $500. Mine is the faded burst, with a beautiful quilted top, tune-o-matic bridge, respectable inlays and all-together stunning look. The asethetics of this axe are the grabber, with its very unusal body shape. The neck has been described as "chunky" in some reviews, and it is a bit thicker than my usual preference, but I've grown accustomed to it. For the price, the craftsmanship is very, very impressive, rivaling far more expensive guitars like a Les Paul or Paul Reed Smith.

This seems designed for the nu-metal, down-tuned crowd, but it is versitile enough for the jazz, funk and alt that I play, in additional to very heavy rock (although you can also get a nice Allman-bros sound). The combination of the Duncan JB and the Yamaha alnico works very well; clean, the guitar sings nicely, with a clear, full sound. You can play around with the two tone knobs and get some very complex souynds, like a warmly convincing hollow-body jazz sound and some biting country bends. WIth effects, though (especially distortion) the ASE60 comes alive, and roars. The sustain is excellent.

Out of the box, the guitar was ready to play, although the factory strings were pretty bad. Adjusting the bridge was relativly easy (although the tne-o-matic dials were painfully stiff and difficult to turn manually), and I was happy not to require a professional set-up before I coudl start jamming. The tuners are first-rate, and I really like the optional strap pegs.

This axe feels sturdy enough to take a beating and still deliver, butr it's so beautiful that I wouldn't want to rough it up too much. I think it will keep its luster indefinately.

The instruction booklet Yamaha provided was worthless, but, for what it's worth, I've always been pleased with musiciansfriend...

I bought the AES620 after reading three unanimous raves in the three big guitar mags; the review in Guitarplayer especially convinced me to sell my Standard Tele and plunk down some additional cash for this baby, and I have no regrets whatsoever. I'm somehat surprised that I haven't read a host of ASE620 reviews on this website, given the wonderful value and quality this guitar offers. I would reccomend it to any advanced player of any genre -- it's really that versitile, and it may be considered a classic in years to come.

im not sure what year and where (probably korea or taiwan) this guitar was made. there are 22 frets, and i would say the only bad thing about this guitar is that its hard to reach the upper frets, let alone doing bends on them. i guess its mainly for rhythm playing. separate volumes for both pickups. mine is in royal blue on a beautiful flamed maple top. the rest of the feature u can find on the yamaha website.

this guitar sounds better than it looks. thats how GOOD it sounds. one of the reason i bought this guitar was the duncan jb pickup in the bridge position, and as expected it sounds really good.

i play mainly metal, and also hard rock and ocassionally blues. my set up is really simple and i plug this guitar into a line 6 guitarport. for rhythm and lead playing, the jb does a really good job. for blues, i use the neck pickup, and suprisingly, the stock yamaha pickups is better than i expected. at first i was thinking of changing the neck pup to a duncan 59, but now ive changed my mind. the mahagony body also helps a lot in producing a good rich sound. the sound for both pickups is good too, tho i seldom play clean.

as expected from yamaha, the set up was almost perfect when i play it for the first time. besides a few minor painting flaws, the finish is almost perfect. the only gripe i would say is that the blue colour is a bit too dark, causing the flamed pattern to be only visible under direct light.

everything on the guitar is very solid and they will definitely last for a long time.

not dealt with them yet.

this is my third guitar, and it is the best guitar among the three. i compared this to a few guitars including a very similar prs trmonti se, and this guitar surpasses the rest. i would defintely recommend this guitar to anybody.

For a five hundred dollar import guitar, not friggin' bad. It actually has a flame maple top. Getting that in this inexpensive of a guitar is an achievement in and of itself. But it's also a set neck, an even more surprising feature, as most guitars this cheap are bolt-on. In addition, it has a Seymour Duncan JB humbucker for the bridge. No skimping here. They did put a Yamaha-made Alnico pickup in the neck position, but I think it was more for tonal variation than to be cheap. The chrome knobs are a bit slippery, but excellent nonetheless. The bridge is a Yamaha original that not only looks spectacular, but is built sturdy as well, and adds a nice snap to each string that you don't always get with one piece bridges. As far as I can tell, it has a chambered body as well. On top of that, it's a STRING-THRU body, and it has wood binding. It even has Grover tuners, a feature shared among my guitars only by my custom shop Gibson LP. I just can't think of anything bad to say about the features on this guitar. The only thing I'm changing is the nut because I support the Buzz Feiten tuning system. I simply cannot believe how well this is made considering that it's an import. I refuse to believe that this is an assembly-line type guitar. This may have been made in Korea, but it must've been a custom shop that just happened to be in Korea.

Great sounds. Sonically, this guitar can follow you anywhere. The idea of having two different brands of pickups on the guitar was a smart one on the part of Yamaha. It seems to lean a little more toward the rock direction, but that's mostly because that's what I play. It sounds fabulous through the amps I've played it through--a Rocktron of some sort, my Fender Deluxe 90 DSP, and a Mesa Road King. Clean it sounds great, especially with the string-thru. Heck, because of the chamber, it sounds pretty nice even unplugged. When you turn up the distortion, though, that's where the AES620 seems most at home. It will kick your ass into next Tuesday if you let it.

The feel is spectacular, especially the contour. It feels like it was made to fit my body. I enjoy playing this more than any of my guitars. It reminds me of a PRS...minus the extra 2000 dollars involved in buying one, and plus it's a single cutaway, which looks lightyears better than the strat variants that make up most of their line. The finish is a gorgeous royal blue trans on a flamed maple top. The rest of the wood is mahogany, which I've always been a fan of. I love the action on it, too. No cheapy bolt-ons for me anymore. =D

Haven't had it long, but no complaints so far. I've tested out the components enough to tell that they're not going anywhere for awhile. As I said, it's set-neck, so it's built to last.

I only dealt with the company once, when I was trying to get more information on dealers before I bought it. The people on the phone were worthless, but the website was very informative and helpful in and of itself.

I've been playing off and on for seven years. Been playing steadily for two. I own a Gibson LP Black Beauty and BC Rich Beast with EMGs installed. It blows the Beast out of the water and it's in very high contention with the LP. The LP has a slightly larger distorted sound because it's solidbody, but the feel and weight on this more than compensates for something that can easily be fixed by turning up the bass on my amp a notch. I have never spent $500 in my life that I was more glad of. Even if you have 2+ grand to spend on a high-end PRS or G&L, seriously consider this guitar first if your local dealer's got on e in stock and save the 1500 or spend it on other gear. I cannot stress enough how great of a value this guitar is. It's definitely changed my mind drastically about Yamaha and partially about import guitars altogether. If it were stolen I'd call up Musician's Friend or my dealer and have it on a plane over here next day shipping if I could.

Korean made. Bookmatched maple flame top, 1 piece Nato body and neck. Rosewood fretboard w/pearl inlays. Grover Tuners, Seymour Duncan JB bride PU and Yamaha Alnico neck. Both HB's. Fixed Bridge. 3-way switch with V/V/T controls.

Plain and simple, this guitar sounds great. The bridge PU gives a big modern sound with a nice bite and tight low end. The neck PU is milder and warmer and very full. And in-between the two there is a sparkle for bright clean chording. The two volume knobs can be used on the middle setting to blend some interesting tonal variations. This guitar will suit a lot of playing styles though harder rock may be its main forte. Guitar will suit many amps as well from a hard edged Mesa sound to the thick crunch of a Marshall.

This is a cool looking guitar with a modern-retro look. The fit and finish are absolutely perfect!!! Tht flame top is beautiful, the chrome hardware does not look or feel cheap and the tuners are very good quality. The body shape is a bit low profile similar to the Ibanez S series gutars. This guitar hangs on the body well and has two strap bolt locations. My only gripe is that I wish I could lower the action a tad more but the bridge won't allow it (I like ridiculously low action though).

Seems to be built very well. All hardware is sturdy and the finish is as good as anything I've seen. There are really no delicate parts.

Never had to deal with Yamaha. The manula that comes with the guitar though is just a generic yamaha manual and actually doesn't show any of this guitars details in it.

I've been playing for about 18 yrs, mostly rock music. I have always been a fender and Ibanez guy but this guitar intrigued me enough to buy it. I always thought Yamaha made great quality products that always flew below the radar of guitarists. This guitar is great and on par with other guitars 3x its cost. Cool guitar at a great price!!!

2003 model-- made in korea under exclusive license--22 frets with a flame maple top-- mahogany(nato) body and neck--3 way toggle switch--2 humbuckers--Yamaha HB in neck--Seymour Duncan JB in bridge--single cutaway LP style body with a stop tailpiece bridge and string thru body--Grover tuners--medium jumbo frets-

My playing runs the gamut from blues to jazz to contemporary music--I run this thru a Yamaha DG80 Guitar Amp--the best way to describe the sound is that of a solid body with a resonance approaching a semi-hollow electric, but without the weight and cumbersomeness of the latter--the top of the body is graduated to a thickness for the bridge and pickups--and thinned out toward the end--a very ingenious idea, similar to the Ibanez S guitars--this instrument is extremely versatile--think Robben Ford, Jim Hall(yes, this guitar is that resonant), Jeff Beck--the beauty being that it does not exhibit in any way the 'muddy' quality of a Les Paul, or the weight again--so its succeeded on both ends of the tone spectrum--

Near perfect set-up right out of the box--there were 3 at the store I bought this one from--a trans red(the one I picked)--a vintage burst, and a blue burst--all were exemplary, but I liked the tone of the red one the best--there are no flaws whatsoever--Yamaha has once again, delivered an exceptional instrument at a very reasonable price--the binding, finish, matching of the top, the nut, etc. are perfect--

This guitar is very well put together--I like the 2 strap button idea, a la Tom Anderson/Schecter--would most assuredly use this w/o a backup--

Yamaha is a totally professional company--I've dealt with them on other occasions in the past, and have found them to be friendly, courteous, helpful and knowledgeable

I have been playing for 36 years, and have used Yamaha throughout my career--they are THE company--I'd suggest that anyone who wants a lighter LP style guitar with some of the resonant qualities of a semi-hollow to seriously give this instrument a listen--