Yamaha AES620HB

Incredible workmanship for this price range - Made in Korea semi-hollow mahogany contoured and figured body, PRS style cutaway and close cousin flamed maple top with top notch body finnish, set mahogany neck, 22 frets, rosewood fingerboard, string-through body al a Fender, Yamaha humbucker at neck (no cheap copy), Seymour Duncan JB humbucker at bridge (Real McCoy) ,adequate AES-series bridge and chrome hardware, Grover die-cast tuners - (functional and smooth)
Basically, superficially the semi-hollow version of the AES620.

One and two volume controls.

Just occasionally you get hold of a Guitar that makes you say.."Wow now I was not expecting that at this price". Then you buy it!

I have a PRS Custom Artist 22 and a vintage Greco LP Copy and been thougth the usual journey of Strats, Teles the odd Gibson etc.
I only play this guitar now.
At 15% of the price of the PRS price (??335) is is a gift, a steal!
It sounds brilliant and has more character than the cosmetically perfect but dull by comparison PRS

I'll explain I had one delivered which arrived with perfect action, intonation and set up but a nasty cosmetic flaw,
The replacement was perfect but all over the place re set-up.
However one hour of adjustments had it perfect.
The neck is fantastic - not perfect in cosmetic finish as PRS but functionally v. good.
Body and hardware exceptional for the price.

Looks solid and strong - yet nice and light. Typical Yammy product delivery.

Not a clew - GAK supplied it and sorted out my initial problem very professionally.

Look - the market has got more rubbish on board than ever - personal taste is the driver of all music and largely Guitar selction HOWEVER if you must have a Gibo or a Fender / Gretch etc etc then do yourself a favour and try this Guitar.

I've had em all and it puts most of them in a very deep Korean shadow.

Having said that CHECK it over carefully as the Koreans are amazing at value but not quite at Japan or USA levels of Quality Control!

This is just an update from the review that I already did before.

I love the way this guitar sounds!

Beautiful guitar. Top notch.

good so far

I just wanted to update that I did hear from Yamaha support that this model has been discontinued for some time. If you find one, snatch it up. The only solid bodies are in one finish only. Maybe check ebay

My guitar was made in Korea, but I never checked so I???m not sure of the year. It has: semi-hollow mahogany body, flamed maple top, set mahogany neck, 22 frets, rosewood fingerboard, string-through body, Yamaha humbucker at neck, Seymour Duncan JB humbucker at bridge, AES-series bridge and chrome hardware, Grover die-cast tuners. It is the semi-hollow version of the AES620.

It only has one tone and two volume controls. Most others in this guitar???s price range have separate tone controls. I???m not sure why Yamaha went cheap on knobs, but that is why I downgraded to a 9.

In this area this guitar blew the others away. The Seymour Duncan at the bridge is hot and it sounds awesome! The Yamaha Alnico neck pick up is smooth and warm. They complement each other and are well matched. With the string-through design and the semi-hollow body, the sustain is crazy on this guitar. Feed back is not an issue, even at loud volumes.

I play classic rock, (Boston) blues and boogie, some country rock (Allman Bros, Skynard), and some radio stuff (Gavin DeGraw). I play into a solid state amp (either a borrowed 100W crate half stack or a 20W Drive base amp for practice) and use a Digitech RP200. This guitar is outstanding for these types of music. I couldn???t tell you if it is good for metal or shred.

I got the Old Violin Sunburst. This guitar is beautiful. The maple top is awesome and the binding is perfect. The rosewood fret board is well made. The fit and finish of this guitar is better than that of guitars I looked at that cost more than twice as much. The only changes I made are strings and string height, and both of these I feel are to the individual???s tastes.

Don???t know about durability, but seems solid enough. (Always have a back up!)

I had to send off for an owner???s manual. Yamaha was prompt and courteous with the reply and I had the manual in a day.

I have been playing for over a year. I play every night for at least an hour and take lessons. I am sitting in with a band and we have a large gig (over 4000) planned in a few months. My wife says she is a guitar widow. This is my first ???brand new??? guitar. (My other guitars are an Epi Dot Studio and a Squire Telecaster.) Additionally, I started playing as a hobby late in life.

I originally went to the Music store to get some American made quality with a guitar (I won???t mention the brand.) that was on sale for $400. It sucked and I was going to go home disappointed when my wife spotted the ???Yamahammer.???

I sat down and compared this guitar feature by feature to the Epi Les Pauls, the more expensive Gibson Studios, the Artcores, and a Hagstrom. The string through design, the custom pup, Grover tuners, and beautiful fit sold me on this axe (or hammer). I have heard others complain about the location and angle of the jack, but for me it works fine. It sits up fine on a stand, and at home I use a wall hanger. If I changed guitars a lot, it might be a problem, but its not.

I won???t say a blanket ???go buy this guitar,??? but you should consider it before you buy any of the guitars I mentioned above. Incidentally, since my purchase, I have noticed that these guitars are not available on MF or GC websites. I don???t know if Yamaha quit making them or if they are just out of stock. You can always try the AES620 solid body version.

Vital Stats: semi-hollow, string through body, LP-ish size, mahogany body and neck, rosewood fret board, gorgeous flame maple top, mother or pearl dot inlays on fretboard, grover tuners

The neck is chunkier and C shaped toward the headstock and thinner and D shaped toward the higher frets. I have rarely raved about a guitars knobs, but the knobs are smooth, asthetic and totally enahnce the playing experience. The humbuckers are nothing short of excellent and very well matched. The body is thinner than I expected but contoured and actaually a tad wider at the bottom of the bell than a LP. You might want to consider this when thinking about a case.

This ended my long search for a semi-hollow LP size guitar that was moderately priced. I had an Epi LP (very nice) but wanted a semi-hollow. I had a very hard time finding anything that wasn't enormous like a 335 and that wasn't way more than I wanted to spend (PRS, Carvin, Gibson 339). I played the Ibanez Artcore's and they felt cheap. The PRS semi-hollow was so bright. I couldn't get the sounds I expected from a dual HB or semi-hollow. It was great for rock and chimey stuff, but struggled with blues \ jazz.

I saw this guitar fairly early in my search, but the "odd" looks turned me off. But after seeing pics of the actual instrument in an online auction, I was floored. This guitar is much much better in every respect than the stock phots would suggest. Every detail on the instrument was given alot of thought, and the construction is superb.

The body is thinner than I expected and I was worried it wouldn't have the chunk I wanted. But those worries went away crying as soon as I strummed the first chord. Whatever the reason, the string through body or the wider body. This has all the comfort and light weight of a strat and the tones of an LP / 335. Just superb, effortless tone and that gorgeous open semi-hollow ringing on tap.

The Seymour Duncan JB (only the world's most popular humbucker) can do subtle to insane. The Yamaha neck pickup was a really sweet surprise and a good match with the JB, equally as versatile, toneful and articulate.

The body woods and finish on this guitar are absolutely sick. The natural finish version looks like a piece of art. The mahognay back is in a deep brownish red which is joined with a gorgeous piece of flamed maple and there is a nice maple binding (slightly darker) joining the two. The rosewood fretboard sits flawlessly on the mahogony neck with no binding - so sweet.

Solid construction - absolutely top notch

no opinion - i haven't dealt with them yet

The neck is what I loved about the PRS SE, the overall styling is innovative, yet not odd, just like the Taylor solid body. The tones are versatile and its a looker like the Vox Virage. I can go from Carlton to Slash in one guitar. It's an absolute joy play and the craftmanship of a guitar triple the price. I'm not saying it will scratch every part of the itch for a 2-3 grand instrument, but its a heck of a substitute and far surpasses anything I have seen in its price range. A guaranteed winner in my book.

This is a Korean made wonderful Rosewood fretboard. Esquisite carved Mahogany Body hollowed out and and Blonde Flamed Maple top.
Yamaha HB at the neck and Seymour Duncan HB at the Bridge. Locking Tuners.. 2 vols and 1 tone knobs. Has 3 points to for your strap! The plug for your cable is at an upwards angle - great for playing, but you can't set it on a stand with the cable plugged in. Would have given it a 10 if it had split coils - but not if that meant losing the sound - so I guess I'll give it a 10 if it had it and the tone.

I have a Yamaha DG-100 212 amp and also a 90watt 1-12 Fender.
They are both solid state but the difference is like night and day.
I play mainly through the Yammy. The 620 has a really mellow sound. I also have a 1979 Ibanez Artist, A 1981 Roadstar and a 50yr Anniversary Tele, and owned a 1960 SG Les Paul. The 620HB has the best sound of them all. The neck pu is extremely smooth and can go from a "cool blue" Jazz sound to an almost electrib blue Allmanbros sound. - I love this pickup. I use it for very expressive blues leads- Comparing it side by side to the other guitars, it sounds aged. I don't know how Yamaha did it, the managed to get that aged sound from a brand new guitar!

It is perfect, couldn't find a flaw in it. The string through body design really sets it off from the other guitars. The "F" hole is a nice working touch- I suspect this is what gives it the mellow tone. the Seymore-Duncan really digs in, when you need.

Not long enough - just had it for a week.

too early...

I wish it had cost more so I could really brag about it, but then I really like it. Tried a bunch of Artcores and Epiphones and some Gretsch one - this was the best sounding of the bunch at the store. The Pauls were a bit sterile, - the SGs a bit too cold.

Yamaha AES620HB Blond maple quilted top, LP style body, standard yamaha aes series bridge, grover tuners, with nice case, 2 volumn 1 tone switch plus 3 way toggle. Hummer on the neck, seymore at the bridge.

I,m old so I play a lot of different music from the 70,s. But mainly Allman Bros, Santana, Albert King, Coco Montoya, Gary Moore,you get the picture. I play through Marshall everything. The amp is a 9200 dual monobloc pushing a Jmp-1 pre amp directly into a Marshall 1965b cab.The settings always depend on the type music I,m into on that day. I just got this guitar yesterday, so I,m playing around with different settings and putting it through it's paces. So far It's great. Through my set-up I get a good low growl on the bottom end and plenty of brite highs on the top. Actually I'm also comparing it to my other aes620 and aes720 to my Les Paul Classic. The yamaha's are more comfortable with less weight and the contour of the body. And they sound damn near as good as the LP. With the difference in the cost of the yamaha's their a better deal. So far there are no dislikes to this aes620HB.

Right out of the case I started playing. Had to do nothing. The set-up was great. Couldn't find a flaw anywhere. Everything works smooth as silk.

I've read other reviews about this guitar live and all comments are solid. I don't gig anymore so I don't have that worry. Great finish on both body and neck. I've been a carpenter for over 40 years so I know when something is put together well. I always put strap locks on any guitar I own the same day I get it. Why take a chance when a lock sets you back 20 bucks. If I still gigged I would never solo without a backup. something can always happen.

Never had to deal with any warranty issues. I 've heard nothing but good things about Yamaha.

I'm 63 now and I started playing when I was about 17 years old. I paid 65.00 for my first blond tele. I still have a picture of it. Wish I still had it, but when your jamming in all the clubs and playing the circuit in your area shit happens and things get lost or stolen. Other gear that I have is: PRS Mcarty, 1968 SG P=90 pick-ups one of the rare ones that missed being smashed by you know " WHO " 99 Gibson LP Classic, 99 Gibson ES335,tele,Strat,Schector,Aes 720, pedals, amps ,ETC. Get your toys while you can, and enjoy. I still play almost every day

see the above reviews, nothing out of the ordinary

The sound of this guitar is amazing,It sustains longer than my LP standard, and the JB pickup in the bridge provides a cutting tone suitable for any heavy distortion setting. With both pickups activated it has a huge full bodied sound that is equally suited for moving quick power chords or blazing fat lead lines. The neck pickup is a nice match for the guitar and usefull tool for jazzy clean tones. The semi-hollow body really adds a nice depth to this guitar that adds to the overall sound without sacrificing any tone you may want to acheive or associate with a dual humbucking axe. I have had no feedback issues ( sometimes associated with hollowbodys ), to my ear the maple top really helps balance the bassiness of the hollow chamber with some crisp high end. I gig frequently in a punk funk chili peppers kinda band, a metal / harcore band, and an indie / progressive band and I couldnt be happier with the range of tones this thing has. I use a Mesa Dual rec for rehearsel and a Fender princeton chorus for home practicing as well as a boss gt3 effects proccesor on occasion.

The high E buzzed just a little bit when I brought it home, I raised the action a hair and now its perfect. The intonation is the best I have ever experierced in any price bracket. The finish is stunning, the fretwork is perfect, The pots are just a tiny bit cracky but Im sure some spray will fix that right up. The grover tuners are spot on, It stays in great tune and I play pretty aggresivly.

I can forsee that the volume and tone knobs might wear down from there perfect shine a bit after I sweat all over this thing for a year or two but that adds character in my book. I dont feel the need to install strap locks or make any mods, It feels tough to me. so yeah, I would say its perfectly reliable.

havent had to deal with them and hopefully wont.

I gave it a 9 in the features department because Im a sucker for peizo's and I think they would sound just killer on this guitar but all things considered there isnt any room for improvment in my opinion. I have been playing for about 10 years and gig constantly. I own an Ibanez prestige, a cheap strat, and a Lp standard and I can see this becoming my main axe. I have never felt inclined to write a review on this site ( allthough I utilize it constantly ) and felt compelled to spread the gospel of how amazing this guitar really is. Its one of those rare guitars were you literally can hear every note in the chords you play. So yeah if you were thinking about buying one of these, do it now.

Korean-made, 2005. 22 medium-jumbo frets, semi-hollow maple top with beautiful flamed maple veneer on a mahogany body, mahogany (nato?) neck, a dark, not too dry-not too oily rosewood fingerboard with abalone dot markers (many guitars these days sport very anaemic-looking, dry slabs of inferior quality rosewood). 2 volume, 1 master tone, 3-way switch. 1 Seymour Duncan JB humbucker (bridge), Yamaha alnico humbucker (neck). Flawlessly applied gloss polyester finish. Single cutaway Les Paul-type body, carved top, very comfortable contours. Tunamatic bridge with through-body anchoring. Grover tuners. 24.75" scale length, 43mm nut width, 13.75" fretboard radius. No case included. All required features present and correct. Many reviews of the AES series bemoan the lack of coil splitting options, which I shall discuss anon.

I spent several hours going between this hollowbody model and the solid 620 before deciding on this one, and it was a close thing. The solid model has a fat, chunky, almost chewy acoustic snap which I love. This model has a lighter, less full-bodied sound acoustically, which is to be expected for a semi-hollow guitar. I always check the unplugged sound for a long time before plugging in as this will give a good indication of the quality of the sound. On acoustic performance alone, the solid body had 'that' sound, and I very nearly plumped for that one. However, once plugged in, the sheer versatility and added dimension that the hollow chambers impart to the sound led me to choose this model. Though lacking some of the fatness of the solid, this guitar has a phenomenal range of great sounds. I can still get the fat, ballsy sound of a 2HB solid, though it is a tad ligter than the solid. What the hollow model gives, however, is an extra range of sounds, ranging from pure jazz, through a rich, subtle and funky blues sound, all the way to pure raunch. With judicious use of the volume and tone controls, there are few classic sounds this guitar cannot produce, including a reasonable Stratty in-between quack. This guitar can be as mellow and subtle as you like, and turn up the wick, it can rock with the best of them, though pure metal merchants may be served better with the solid version. This brings me to the oft-mentioned isuue of whether or not Yamaha should have included coil splitting. I once read an interview with John Jorgenson of the Hellecasters who was describing his signature Tele. That guitar has two humbuckers made from doubled-up Tele neck lookalike pickups. When asked if it had coil splitting options, he said, "I like my humbucking guitars to be all humbucking, and my single coils to be all single." I thought this made sense. Too many guitars give such a range of tones that you spend too much time switching between all the variations, rather than learning to use the settings that the guitar was built for. As such, I think it was a good move for Yamaha to leave this series with the three classic Gibsonesque sounds. This would definitely apply to the solid models, after all, humbuckers work at their classic best with a mahogany maple combination, while the subtleties of single coils are best brought out by woods such as alder and swamp ash. However, I'm not so sure that this hollowbody model could not benefit from some single coil options. The lighter, more responsive nature of the sound would lend itself well to a single coil mix in the middle position, and for blues in the neck position. I am therefore considering adding a push-pull pot (shame I can't fit a Yamaha push-push instead - maybe it's worth a call to them to see if they would provide one of these for one of their own guitars) to give the split option. Another switching alteration I may make is to put a second push-pull for an out-of-phase option, which is a strange and beatiful sound, most famously used by Peter Green.
I play maily blues, blues-rock and some hard rock but not metal, and this guitar has every sound I could possibly want, even without the splitting possibilities. The Seyour Duncan is a monster pickup and can do everything from a honky clean sound, all the way to pure filth. Despite some negative comments about the Yamaha neck pickup in the AES 620 reviews, although another Seymour would have been nice, this is a fabulous pickup, warm and expressive, with no mushiness at all, even overdriven, and it also gives a smooth, mellow, beautiful tone for more subtle passages. It's a great pickup and I see no need to change it. The centre position is the perfect combination and can play just about any style. Many people ask if these guitars can do a Les Paul, well, in my opinion, I think Gibsons are highly overated, which is not to say that some of them are not great guitars, but for a quarter of the price, the Yamaha can do all that a LP can do, as well as a whole extra range of subtle, mellow options that the hollow body offers. At any price this is a great sounding guitar. At this price, it's a steal, and gets the full 10.

The guitar came set up as well as could be expected. I've worked in guitar repair for years, so it was no problem to set it up to my liking, with 9-46 strings, and tweak the action to perfection. The action does not go quite as low as some people like, and which I sometimes like, but there's no doubt that raising the action slightly, or indeed as high as you can handle, will give a clearer, deeper sound. With a slightly higher action, the woody overtones and extra dimensions brought out by the sound chambers are greatly enhanced. The general build quality is phenomenal for a guitar in this price bracket. The finish is flawless, the flame top is exquisite and the guitar has been put together very solidly, in true Yamaha fashion, and with great care and an expert eye for detail. Many reviews have complained about the pots, but this is something that Yamaha have long since taken notice of and put right, as they work very smoothly and accurately across the range.

I've yet to see a Yamaha, and I've played many and owned a good few, that was not solidly put together. I've always been more of a Fender man, and have seen too many pals with set-neck guitars reduced to tears as their pride and joy fell from the stand and suffered the dreaded Gibson headstock fracture. I've never quite trusted the longevity of these sort of guitars, and angled-back, scarfed on heads are always going to be more vulnerable than one piece maple jobs, but this Yamaha is as solid and strong looking as I've seen, and hopefully with a bit of care, I hope to avoid broken headstocks. The head itself is quite thick and there's a reassuring chunky volute where the head meets the neck which seems to add some strength to this notorious weak point. All the hardware has been screwed or glued very solidly in place.

I've owned a number of different Yamahas over the years but nothing has ever gone wrong enough for me to contact them. Knowing their reputation, I'm sure that their customer service is second to none, perhaps second only to Ernie Ball whose customer service is fantastic.

I've been playing for 32 years and you name it, I've owned it. Well, I've never had a PRS but I've played plenty and I wouldn't thank you for one. They're not bad guitars, but horribly overated and overpriced. I currently own three Teles, a hand-built, custom Strat, an Ernie Ball Music Man Axis Sport (also a fabulously solid, well put together and a great VFM guitar), an early '80s Charvel, and now, finally, a single-cut, twin humbucking guitar. I play through a Boss ME50 which is a cracking piece of kit, through a silverface Fender Twin Reverb and/or a Marshall JTM 30 watt. I wanted a good twin humbucking axe to complement my usual single coil, Fender sound, but was buggered if I was going to waste a fortune on a Gibson. As so many reviews of the AES series have stated here and elsewhere, you just can't go wrong with these guitars at this price. There is nothing, repeat, nothing at this price point that comes anywhere close. Construction, sound and looks are all top class. I'll never understand why Yamaha guitars seem to be so underated by the guitar playing public. They may not objectively make the very best guitars in the world, but when you add together the sheer quality of their products, their flawless, solid construction and reliability, great sounds and playabilty, and not least, the very reasonable prices they charge, I have to say that taking all these factors into account, Yamaha is the best guitar manufacturer in the business. I don't think that they are necessarily cheap - you're still paying a good few hundred dollars of your hard-earned cash for one of their guitars, but I think their prices are a realistic reflection of what they are actually worth, that is, you pay a fair price for a quality product. Next to comparable products they certainly seem cheap but that is because all the big manufacturers consistently charge obscene, hyper-inflated prices for what they make. All in all, a great guitar, very reasonably priced, which does exactly what it was designed to do with maximum playability, reliabilty and quality. I would certainly look no further than the Yamaha AES series if mine were to get lost or destroyed. Other reviewers have said to grab one quickly before Yamaha realise how great their guitars are and put up the price accordingly, but to tell the truth, that won't happen. Yamaha know very well how good their products are, and have knowingly based their success on charging fair and realistic prices for their fine guitars. Well done Yamaha, you've done it again!

Yamaha AES 620 Hollowbody, Old Violin Sunburst. One Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck HB in the brigde, one Yamaha HB in the neck. 2 Volume knobs, 1 Tone knobs. Medium Neck.

Looks like a "more beautiful" Les Paul. Really nice body & contour. A miss World.

The guitar sounds like a mixture of a lespaul and an ES335. Jeff Beck HB is loud and a bit harsh. Good for lead. The Custom Pickup sounds very nice. Bright and harmonic. The hollowbody colours tone additionally. Great Sustain.

This guitar is good for mainly blues, rock, alternative rock, even punk.

The korean made guitar has good quality. The E and A strings buzzle a bit. Thats not good.

Everything else seems to be top quality.

The guitar seems to be quite tough.

-

This guitar is incredibly beautiful. The neck is a bit thin but ok. Pickups are very good.

It's worth the money I've paid.

Korean made. Semi-hollow version of the award-winning AES620. Mahogany body (hollowed-out single piece), mahogony set neck (I can't see any join near the headstock), standard scale, 22 fairly wide frets in a nice rosewood board with abalone dot inlays, bookmatched flamed maple top, solid not laminated, about 6mm (1/4")thick, art-deco-ish single "f" hole. Twin humbuckers, bridge by Seymour Duncan and neck by Yamaha. Volume knob for each p/u, one overall tone control, nice metal knobs. Two strap buttons for quick and easy height adjustment. Jack socket is angled upward to facilitate passing cable behind strap, a nice touch. Tunamatic-style bridge. Staggered through-body string anchors. Grover machines, non-locking. Supplied with a cable and some allen keys. I'd give it 10/10 if there was a coil tap.

The shape and style is clearly in Les Paul territory which is how I think it sounds, with some unique tonal character added by the hollowed body. The tone ranges from medium-fat mellow to sharp edgy bite, with some nice woody overtones and wonderful sustain. It overdrives well and IMHO is very versatile. With my Digitech RP200 it can do almost all mainstream sounds except for clean strat twang and quirky stuff like Rickenbacker jangle. The pick-ups are not super hot but they are hot enough, while allowing plenty of subtlety when played quietly. No noise or interference. I'm not contemplating changing the Yamaha pickup, it sounds fine to me.

The set up from the shop (Musik Raas, Bern, Switzerland) was very good but the strings were too light for me so I changed them, which necessitated small truss rod and bridge height adjustments. It's very well made and finished, look and feel say high quality.

I haven't gigged with it but it feels very solid.

1 year warranty through the shop. Never tried Yamaha service. I've had three other Yamaha guitars and never had a mechanical problem.

I've been playing for 43 years (aargh! but I was only 10 when I started...). I have a Peavey Predator, a Yamaha AEX nylon electro-acoustic and an Epiphone EBM5 5 string fretless bass, and a modest PC-based home studio with a Studiocraft Spirit Floio Lite mixer. I use a Digitech RP200 pedal and a Roland GA 120 amplifier with an Art Studio V3 for a bit of valve warmth. I play light rock, pop, blues, electric folk. The AES620HB gives me the warmth and versatility of the classic twin humbucker semi-hollow sound in an attractive, playable and affordable package. I tried 12 semi-hollow guitars in 5 shops priced up to CHF1,000, including Epi Dots and Ibanez Artcores; this was head and shoulders the best built with the best components. And it looks so cool! I love it and would be very sorry to lose it. Once the warranty is finished I might add a coil tap.