Yamaha AES920

Excellent finish. Flamed Maple top looks so nice. I got the Cherry Sunburst one instead of Charcoal Gray. Bodystyle is similar to a Les Paul. The cutaway isn't as deep as a Les Paul but it works well enough. 22 Frets. Tuners are non-locking (don't need em since this has no whammy bar anyway) Scale is 24.75 inches and its nice for bar chords. Neck is kind of like an acoustic guitar, but very comfortable at least for me since I have really long fingers. Made in Japan, dunno when. 22 frets. I think I read somewhere that it is a Nato body (mahogany family) but with a 1/4 inch maple cap on the front. 2 volume and 1 master tone. No coil taps. dual humbucker seymour duncan '59s and they're passive. I dunno about the neck but it feels great. Didn't give it 9 'cause for the price it could have had more features even though it doesn't really need em.

Sounds great. I like rock, metal a lot and it sounds way nicer than my RGX320FZ even though both sound pretty good through the amp. It has a bit of that Les Paul heaviness sound without actually bringing down your shoulder from the weight. Very controlled and quiet guitar...it sounds very good. Hmm 1 thing I don't like is how there's no coil splitting function but I hear that many times the single coil emulation sousdn like shit anyway.

Action could use a few minor adjustments but for not having been set up by a professional luthier, I can't blame em. Its pretty damn good. Theres a tiny bit of buzzing on the big E string but most pro's get a professional set up anyway after they get their guitar. Pickups were adjusted well. Bridge is great. Fretwire was all smooth. Finish was better than most any guitar in this category. Everything seems solid on here.

Hell yea it'll withstand live playing. Not that I'd ever actually bring this into a crowded room with drunk dumbasses. I would not like to see this guitar have beer spilled on it or anything. The hardware will last a lifetime and even more if you take care of it. Strap buttons are solid. Yea I'd gig without a backup but I wouldnt gig with this guitar. Its almost too nice to risk messing up especially since its discontinued now.

Never talked to customer support except once when I was asking about a guitar. They are pretty speedy especially for a giant company whose main focus isnt even on guitars.

I haven't even played for a year so if that kind of disqualifies this review to some of you, just try the guitar out for yourself. Trust me, its amazing. I haven't had any real high level gear yet but I've tried a whole bunch at guitar center. For some reason strats styles never appealed to me, probably 'cause i hate floyd rose floating bridges and I just think they're too much trouble. If it were stolen I'd be pretty fucking mad and maybe not play that much anymore. But I love the look of the guitar, the balanced feel, the shorter scale, the semi-simplicity of it. The one thing I wish it had was a coil-splitting function even if it wasnt great. I would have given it a 10 but like always theres almost always a few things that you could improve about a guitar. This definitely has its flaws as minor as they may be, but they're still there.

This is Yamaha's new "flagship", "Made in Japan" electric guitar. Here are the spec's from Yamaha:

African mahogany body with a Modern Sculpted Design
Book-Matched Quilted Maple top
African mahogany Set Neck with Rosewood Fingerboard and Abalone fret markers
22 Frets, 13 3/4" fingerboard radius
Grover Tuners
Seymour Duncan '59 Pickups

It's a pretty straight forward LP-Style guitar, but unlike an LP it has only one tone pot for both the neck and bridge pups. Not a a lot of features but enough to get the job done and done well. Body weight is about the same as the current production LP Standards, 9 lbs. It's well balanced and the neck is the perfect blend of chunk and comfort.

I own a few amps, Tremoverb's, TopHat Emplexador and a Soldano Avenger. I've owned two LP Standards, and while the LP is one of the defining tones in rock history I've always found the ones I owned lacking is certain areas. Mostly it's been either too muddy or just plain uncomfortable to play. The AES920 seems to have addressed the "issues" I found and made one damn fine guitar at the same time. I've owned the guitar for over two months now and have had a chance to really put it through the paces. The unplugged, acoustic tone of this guitar is just awesome. It rings out so nicely and has such a clear topend w/great snap, and has all the low-mid and lowend weight of an LP. Sustain is excellent and the string through body setup really enhances the overall tone. I didn't know if I would like the Duncan 59 in the bridge but it seems to work well in this guitar and I don't think I'll need anything hotter,...but we'll see. A 59 in the neck always works for me. Clean tones sound amazing for a dual humbucker guitar, almost bell-like through the clean channel of my Tverb, and overdrive tones are fat and thick with just enough raunch. But the thing I like most about the guitar is how comfy is feels in my hands, it just seems so easy to play. It's quickly becoming my go-to guitar for the hard rock band I play in. Honestly, there's nothing I dislike about this guitar but a 10 rating is almost impossible to give to any piece of gear. I think it's solid 9.

Bought the guitar new from Sigler Music in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Got a great price on it and they did an outstanding job packing and shipping it. Came in a nice HSC as well. Setup was very good. The overall look of the guitar is beautiful and you can tell that Yamaha put extra effort into crafting it. The fret work is flawless, quilted maple top is beautiful (I got the Charcol Gray), binding looks great and I gotta say just the overall build quality tops the current production line Gibsons. The only small issue I've had is with the pickup selector switch sounding a bit scratchy on occasion when switching from neck to bridge.

It's a solidly built guitar and I have no doubt it will serve me well for many years to come in the studio, for rehearsals and in live/gig situations.

I haven't dealt with Yamaha directly, but they always seem to make quality products, ie, Electronics, Motorcycles, Instruments, etc.

Been playing seriously for over 10 years now. I own a couple Fender Telecaster's, two Guild S-100's and a 62 RI SG. The S-100's have been my old standby's for awhile now but the AES920 is about to de-throne them and take their place is my "number one". The more I play it the more I dig it. It's a well made, great sounding guitar that has all the great sonic qualities of an LP (but improved IMO) mixed with some of the comfort you get playing on a PRS. Nice job Yamaha.