Yamaha AEX 1500

Japan-produced Jazzbox, laminated maple, very proper finish,
at first sight a very traditional style; but with some modern features
like the blendable Piezo-Bridge- PU. The look of the EQ-Unit doesn't
suit very well to the rest of the instrument - Yamaha could do this
one better!!
I found the neck-playability very comfortable for me as a player
with "medium gauge"-hands, tuners work very smooth. Guitar comes
with an excellent hard case.

I'm a Blues Player, who made some steps into the jazz-jungle - also
try to do some interesting fingerstyle stuff (Chet Atkins-Duke Robillard - Danny Gatton-Joe Pass- Martin Taylor are my favourite material)and for this the AEX 1500 is a very good, professional tool.
Mostly I play it over a KOCH Multitone-Combo or my old Yamaha G 50-Combo with very little Reverb and I have no problems to get some
sounds, that I really like (warm, rich, full).The piezo blended to the HB-Neck-PU is really
great for fingerstyle-playing, it adds some crisp presence. The piezo sound
alone isn'nt very useful to me. With this guitar I've not so much
feedback-problems in a Band-context, as I had with other Jazzboxes.
As I'm really not a great Jazz-Cat - nearly every time I had this guitar at a Jam-Session, Workshops or so, there were people who come around saying: oh what a nice, full sound,... what a lovely guitar ,
ooh, it isn't a Gibson and so on ......

I play the guitar today as I bought it 1,5 years ago . I only changed
the Roundwound-strings to Thomastik-Jazz-flatwounds (12-Gauge).
The overall finish of this instrument is very fine - high japanese
workmanship standard - I owned several much more expensive guitars which
were not produced in that accurate way.

I Play my guitars mostly at home and sometimes on sessions, club gigs
etc. The Yamaha is a professional tool , which seems to make always
a good job without any allures.
You have to watch about the Battery status of the active PU - but
until today I haven't found any weak points in the construction.

The warranty is about 24 months - until today I have no idea, why I should have to use it!
No experiences with the Yamaha Customer Service!

I play guitar for 30 years (with more or less intensity....).My other gear
includes: Yamaha SA 2200 (also great ...), Gibson Les Paul Classic,
Framus Jan Akkerman-Model, G+ L-Tele, G+ L Strat, Music Man Silhouette,Larrivee D 05, Albert + Muller S 4 and a Lakewood A 32.
(and I owned many more in these years ago..)I would buy this guitar
again, if it would be lost or stolen. For any guy, who wants to lay
his hands on a real well made, good and flexible sounding Jazzguitar
I would recommend this one !
In this price range you would hardly get a better instrument!

All covered. Won't repeat.Mine has a honeyburst finish. Looks great.

This is the bit I would like to comment on.
Spent a lot of time trying to get the traditional Gibson jazz sound using flatwounds etc. Now realise that this is a different animal. Best seen as an acoustic guitar and played fingerstyle. It was designed with Martin Taylor in mind after all. His instructional video shows how the guitar can sound btw. Anyway now strung up with roundwounds (Elixer nanoweb 12's) and am a lot happier. Lovely acoustic sound with depth from the humbucker. Sounds good through my Polytone but continuing the acoustic theme,I intend to investigate an AER acoustic amp.
Bottom line: If you expect a Gibson jazz sound you will be disappointed. However it for fingerstyle jazz, it's happening.

Excellent build quality. Yamaha know what they are doing with quality control.

Treat with care and should last a lifetime.

In the UK, excellent. Requested wiring diagrams and other info.
All sent to me promptly.

Playing 40+ years. Owned all manner of gear. Use another Yamaha SA1200S (again excellent quality). If lost or stolen may invetigate the Godin Multiac for the same style. All the latest Godin's I've tried are great value.
Current use Strats, Teles and a Godin with P90's

Natural color, flashy bookmatched tiger maple, I put the pickguard away and it looks far better. 20 perfect installed frets, nothing will hurt your fingers here. Wise electronics, and passive master volume (great: you can disable the battery case when jack is plugged, convenient onstage to save batteries between sets).
The toggle switch(piezo-jazz pu-both) is a good idea to change sounds fast, but you hear it through the piezo... Come on, yamaha...
Tuners very accurate and smooth, a pleasure.
Well done guitar, far beyond the price asked for it. So you dare to take it live... Oh, and it comes with a good case with a strap to carry it in addition of the usual handle: very smart(it's a big baby you know)!

Here is the funny thing: I don't care about jazz! I wanted an ergonomical, atypical, pretty guitar and I found it. Let me explain before firing me:
The body is only 8-9cms deep and the saddle is high(archtop...) so it's very much natural for me(I am not a tall guy).
Construction-based the neck is close to you (not in the same line of the guitar) and it is very better to play without stretching your forearms muscles.
The scale lenght is atypical:640mm, longer than a gibson and shorter than a fender. For me it is perfection because it rings good but I still can play easily.
The sounds... Best piezo I've tried, accurate and warm. And mixed with the jazz pu you do what you want(I play with my fingers on the piezo only and when I use a pick I mix the jazz pu to have milder and midder tone, therefore matching the two sounds I use most).
Perfect if feedback is not an issue,though. (I heard that George Benson's guitarist is playing this very guitar so I figure it can't be wrong...!)
On the acoustic side I tried one which sounded about half as loud than mine(which was then new...) and it was not enough. Mine is loud enough for living room use, and with the pick and Di Meola stuff you hear this guitar from far;-) I mean it responds well for what it is.
Not a bassy guitar but you gessed it I think

Perfect. Maniac japanese luthiers.
Oh, if you look inside where the tail is fixed they used a poor block of cheap wood to reinforce the spot. I find that a real shame since everything else is near to perfect.
At least it will last long without problems and I like that.

I once had a nut problem with an apx 4-12 and they needed 10 weeks to send me a replacement nut... So better be a good prayer!

I like it much, and it is so unique I would buy another one without doubt. It's like it was made especially for me, incredible. I won't play a flat top again, that's for sure! Except for a nylon strings,but that's another story...
I just wish they make a silent toggle-switch, in fact I will on mine.
Price-performance ratio impossible to beat IMHO. That's all folks!

Made in Japan, purchase in the year 2000. Laminated Arch Top with 1 volume, 1 tone knob and a 3 way switcher. Pickup will include a std Yamaha minihumbunker and piezo on the bridge. Piezo should be active while the humbunker should be passive, but will require battery as hum does not work without battery.

Neck should be maple with ebony fret board. Finish of the guitar should be highly flamed top, side and back with a single cutaway. It has a 15 3/4 inch lower bout and a 2 3/4 inch thickness.

Floating ebony bridge with bone nut and a gold coloured byrdland tail pieces included accessories will be a beautiful hardcase. Tuner are Yamaha's.

The reason for the 7 on features are due to the fact that Yamaha uses low quality pickup for a should be above average guitar, And pickup are crucial to electric guitars.

Giving the guitar a good strum you will immediately realise its accoustic quality. Plugging in for the first time, I realise it does have load of problems like feedback, buzzing string and its lack of tonal quality jumps at you. With immediate effect I purchase a Kent Armstrong handwound pickup and brought it to the guitar shop to have it setup with guage 12 flat wound.

Running it through my 65 Fender Twin Reverb, these works had transform the guitar into a mellow, accoustic sounding pleasure, buzzing is gone but feedback was stubborn. Went on to search for a feedback control device, found the Accoustic DI from LR Baggs and that provided the finishing touch.

Feedback had been cut down and the accoustic qualities had been accentuated. It will provide a full Jazz quality sound and will be equally capable of sounding best when played fingerstyle. If like me Jazz is your game than this guitar will perfectly suit your need, otherwise seacrh elsewhere as this is a feedback monster when you add on distortion.

The cutaway had certain rough spot and there are two very minor crack on the paint job of the guitar shoulder under the lacquer finishing, not enough to be notice unless scrutinised closely this may be common due to drying effects in different weather. Other than these minor complaints the guitar is well build and finished. I would definitely suggest that anybody purchasing a new guitar to have it sent for professional setup, this will help to solve unknown problems and provide for individuality.

All Archtop requires care in handling, it has been with me for 3 years and still retain the glow and shine when I first had it. It will, I believe last you a life time if well taken care of. It is also a very dependable instructment and had not fail on me before.

Do not know as I have never dealt with them before.

I have been playing guitar since I was 11, but only got serious these couple of years. Other guitars that I own are Gibson ES175D, Epiphone Sheraton with Gibson 57 plus pickup and a couple of Accoustic. I would definitely buy another but would hate to lose this one as I had already set it up to my fancy, the price had gone up quite a bit too after my purchase.

This beauty has a fast neck, and its small size is comfortable for a small guy like me. The piezo will provide a beautiful Jazz fingerstyle alternative, but will definitely not fit a complete accoustic bill.

The observation that I had made by comparing with my Gibson ES175D is that this guitar had more accoustic quality, while the Gibson is more dark and moody (Jazz style) when played with the neck pickup. The Gibson is versatile and capable of rock and roll, its fault lies in its reliance on amp power, it sound dead accoustically. I can enjoy the Yamaha accoustic quality without having it plug in, but would never part with either.

I believe the best that I can afford is right before me, these instrument are just a means to my goal and that is to play well. Like others the desire to have something better will always be there. Here an advice from Larry Coryell(Jazz Great), (The type of instruments that we are playing will be meaningless if our playing is not there and our finger does not speak the same language as our heart). These are not the exact words but close enough.

has both piezo pickup and mini humbucker that you can blend together or use seperate also has tone controls for each, the acoustic sound that this guitar produces is amazing not the same as my taylor but a nice sound of its own really nice when you blend it with the humbucker , the fretboard is eboney very nice finish , the neck is very narrow for a jazz box very nice feel to it. the top is flamed maple mine is the sunburst finish very classy looking , beautiful finish very good craftmanship in building this guitar.

great warm jazz or blues sound from the minihumbucker , the acoustic sound is very nice also , nice variety of sounds .

the guitar showed up with excellent action setup nicely, great feel ,the finish is flawless , beautiful wood .

my control pots have become loose and needed tightening other than that built very well .

havent dealt with them yet.

well worth the $1200 that i spent i would buy it again it has become my favorite guitar of the seven that i own ,i use it playing for my church in a praise and worship band , if you have any questions about this guitar feel free to e-mail me at guitarhal@juno.com.

22 frets. spruce top. one volume, one tone, controls on the upper outer edge for peizo and a three way selector switch. one floating small humbucking pick up, floating ebony bridge. this guitar has an active preamp. its in the stlye of a med to small bodied jazz guitar with a stressed, arched top. its slightly thinner then your average jazz box. great tuners holds (rough) tuning for days. came with case and lucky for me a lead (woo hoo). gets a high score for the peizo.

well i play jazz on it... but yes it caters very well to a varitey of sounds i need within that sphere however it does not have the perfect tradtional jazz sound its quite a lot brighter and more lean. with enough tamporing and the right set up i'm sure it could easily have those sounds though. absolutly no noise. i rarely use the piezo but evertime i do i'm pleasently surprised. it a very passable stage sound acousticly but with my flat wounds it does sound alittle dull.

the guitar was perfect for me. a very slim/ fast neck for a jazz guitar and a fairly small body make for comfortable playing. its sutnning to look at, mine is a faded burst with gold hardware. absolutly no noise in the controls.

hmmm well i must confess i have played a rock n roll set with it. believe me it can be done theres no wrong in doing it. i fear the floating bridge waw built to take the punishment of this but fair enough. as far as it goes i don't have to replace the battery in this nearly as much as my nashville tele and i have the absence of mind to leave this guitar plugged in. nice generous strap buttons, very solid. its very dependable. i use it often without back up.

I have been playing for seven years. i own a nashville special telecaster with a piezo (kill me, two active guitars i will be buying 9v batteries till the day i die) i compared it to and epiphone and an ibanez. they're both in the same price range and there is no comparason to be certain. this guitar is miles above the rest. the epiphone sounded very weak and the ibanez had lots of fine charator but little versatility. for the money its unbelievable.

Hello kind reader, I'm re-submitting a somewhat abbreviated but importantly amended update to my earlier review one just below. An astute reader kindly remarked that 9/16 of an inch was an impossible measurement for string clearnce from the neck pick up and he was very-very right! That was a mistake I should have noticed on proofing my review thoroughly and the correct measurement is anywhere in the neighborhood of 9/32 to 7/16 of an inch.

In my earlier review I felt that I found my ideal set-up amp wise and that has remained the same. However, important detail changes in the amp were made and I wish to share them. I play through a 2X10 60w Crate Tube amp and single 12" speaker ext. cab, truly a great, yet affordable, smaller to medium size combo and cab. I feel that no boutique solid state amp can produce the detail that a full tubed, in this case, 7 tubed (5 pre amp, 2 power) amplifier can. A solid state may give you a reliable, convincing sound if you play the same settings day in and out with this guitar, I agree, but very little else in terms of tailoring a unique sound. I found that with the AEX it is preferable to have the power section work harder than the pre amp so that feedback can be kept to a reasonable minimum and so that the output signal is fully detailed without being mushy. I'm now using a Svetlana 6L6GC matched duet; what a marvelous, modern 6L6 tube, simply amazing, so detailed and rich and virtually no microphonics! For your pre amp, find the best East European 12AT7/ECC81 for your phase inverter stage (I found what appears to be an unlabeled and older NOS Yugoslav tube, it maybe a JJ though) it so critical to have a relatively quiet, controlled yet powerfully detailed signal get to your power tubes to fully interpret the AEX's very complex signal and most of the heavy work in getting that through the pre amp depends on this critical stage. 3 12AX7s, in this case the Electro Harmonix EHs are a great modern high performance tube that work well with virtually no microphonics are used in the 3 remaining tone shaping and pre signal stages. Again, very critical to get it to suit your needs correctly so tube swap carefully and really listen to your results. Definitely get a JJ Tesla 12AU7 for your reverb/presence drive, most likely a 12AT7 can't deliver there. Finally and very important to note is your choice of cable: Monster Cable Performance 500 Jazz model available in various lengths, 12 or 21 feet should be reasonable and it is world class standard in performance. Thanks again to that kind reader's remarks and finding my mistake. As always, please feel free to ask any question or share your comments and insights with me.

The electronic features of this model have been delved into considerably. Therefore, what I would have written here would be paraphrasing just about everything others have contributed in describing this unique guitar. The feature that really stands out for me, far and away the most important aspect of the instrument, is the quality of the woods used in it's solid and excellent design and construction and once that is appreciated, the shortcomings of the poor to adequate factory set-up that everyone should have been really be harping about should be seen as just that.
What was very troubling for me hardware wise is Yamaha's rather glib choice of their generic looking and functioning low geared tension tuners. A fundemental understanding that stronger tuning machines are needed for jazzers was ignored. I remedied that right away by replacing those clumsy, broad paddled excuses with a gold plated set of Grover tulip-bell shaped tuners, a night to day improvement in string tension and tuning, the fit was perfect as is, and aesthetically the headstock looks like a true classic jazzer with them. On to the second hotly contested gripe with the insrument-the mini humbucker. In a word it is 'excellent', clean, even, and very powerful and you wouldn't know it with the reviews below. The reason however is one that involves care and understanding of acoustic electric jazzers and all electric guitars in general for that matter. The setup of the pickup is what is at fault, is as, it was pathetically set too high, on my guitar literally 1/8 of an inch clearance from the strings. This is where I would love to give the pious who faun over their Gibsons a piece of my mind...did you bother to notice that the set up was all wrong? The answer is fairly obvious kind reader...The ideal clearance for string vibration is in the neighborhood of 9/16 of an inch, and, if you have nimble, confident and handy fingers and could do a modification, by all means do it. Moving the pick up will involve some handiwork including some ingenuity with using small tapered wood dowel plugs for filling in the existing mounting holes and some miniature precision drilling for the new holes in order to set up a new lower position for mounting screws for the pickup clamp which is non-adjustable and the reason for all of this in the first place. If you can't do this yourself, bring your guitar to a luthier with a care worn visage that reflects experience with jazzers. So far, 2 changes made but we're not finished just yet. The pickguard, very classic in it's huge gaudiness and curves and yet, as is, conributes to feedback problems. I cut it down to resemble a slim pickguard look, like on a Benedetto, which exposes a good portion of the lower F hole which would otherwise be covered producing an eddying and buffering that gets caught in the neck pickup. This is an excellent guitar and if Yamaha really focused on set up details with it no doubt it would be more expensive because of the tinkering and extra work that would have to go into a rethinking a proper setup it deserves and so I don't completely disagree with those who say 'you get what you pay for' but I see that statement as rather myopic and snobbish. I did more work on my guitar which would be so boring to describe in all of the tedious detail but it was worth it. Potentially, this is one of the finest guitars you can own if you have a loving appreciation of acoustic electrics. Can you imagine if Yamaha decided to make just a plain, one pick up version of this guitar thus leaving the body completely clean of cut outs for the piezo electronics...? I can.

Fantastic sound, period. I play her through a 2X10 all tube 60 watt combo that has Celestion Vintage 10 speakers and an excellent reverb stage. My clean channel has no gain control so therefore volume settings on the amp are at full gain. This is signicant because that is quite a bit of juice for a jazzer and those who play through tube amps know that great tubes and speakers make the difference, especially in delivering beautiful clear sounds at pronounced volumes that have the effect of filling a sound scape in a way that is like a piano with it's foot pedals pressed for sustain. This guitar can do all the beautiful churnings of that reflect Wes' hearty palette as well as a myriad of deep and clear sounds a la J. Smith, tone dial settings on the guitar are great. I hardly use the piezo and will go to it when chord comping has to be gentler in tone with a mini humbucker/piezo blend or articulation in the bridge has to accentuated there with finger picking away from the warmer area of the string near the neck pickup. I found that Thomastik jazz swing series medium strings to be the best match thus far, fantastic strings, try'em and you will find that they are very mellow and rich in timbre.

Beautifully binded in cream and black 5 and 2 ply through out, ebony fingerboard with tasteful pearl dot inlays, excellent frets, very cleanly profiled. The neck...superb and comfortable, not figured maple but a beautiful selection of bonded rock maple. If you ever have to remove the piezo back plate you will notice a nice hunk of mahogany used to set the neck. Ebony and bone floating bridge and a bone nut. My guitar is the blonde/light amber finish which captures the excellent flame of the maple in all it's aspects. I wonder what a hand carved spruce top would sound like once in a while, and then I realize this is a very fine laminated box. C'est la vie.

I like this guitar's comfortable smaller dimensions which translate for me an ease in playing situations that 17 inch lower bouted guitars just can't provide. This guitar is very dependable once you get to learn it's particular idiosyncratic qualities. I'd use it without a back up and it is always treated as a hollow body jazzer, lotsa TLC.

I haven't dealt with Yamaha directly or indirectly in relation to anything involving the guitar but I've heard good and favorable things from others who have concerning their axes.

What I really love about this guitar is its depth of tone and in all honesty I have to once in a while turn a blind eye to how much wood had to be cut out for the piezo controls and back panel. Like I mentioned before I really hope that Yamaha makes a simplified one pickup version of the AEX-1500 and again would it be a thing or me of seeing a cleaner body with the same acoustic characteristics, who knows? What I do know is that this is a very sensitive instrument and a lot of time and consideration has to go into really understanding it. I'm partial to mini humbuckers as my other guitar is Gibson's excellent Nighthawk Landmark solid body which can emulate a hollow body jazzer because of its excellent woods and pickups but the AEX has far more larger jazz tone naturally when I consider it more objectively and subjectively too. I compared the Yamaha to several Guild's and Dearmond's, an older Ibanez and my AEX held its own unique voice in distinction to them. For everything I described in my modificatons to the guitar I can only hope it inspires other owners to think twice about giving up on it and I would welcome any correspondence to further explain what I did and to share some photos of my work.

Mine's a antique sunburst finish. Bought it new from Yamaha - the agents had it in the shop window for ages. Apparently nobody wanted it so sold it to me for a good price. I think it was about US$900. Features are covered in previous reviews.

Nice range of sounds, but it tends to feedback more than I like. My band has to fit in quite a small area, so the Yamaha is very prone to feeding back from the other musicians - notably the bassist. The piezo sounds quacky if used alone, but dial in the humbucker and it mellows out well. The humbucker if used alone sounds a bit muddy. Once again, dial in the piezo and you're OK. I use roundwounds cos I think flatwounds are too dull for this guitar. The guitar seems unusually sensitive to string types and gauges.

No complaints here. Set up well, nice finishes.

So far so good. Had it about 2 years.

No experience here.

I play jazz and honestly, this Yamaha is a far cry from my L5CES. You get what you pay for, so don't expect miracles. This guitar is very good value however, and is a good introduction to the seduction of jazz boxes. I've been playing 28 years.

Bought my Aex 1500 18 months ago from a dealer in Yeovil , Somerset , England. Very impressed with the support and service provided. Maple /blonde finish. complete with sturdy hard case. Only complaint was the lead provided by Yamaha, about 3 feet long and of dubious quality, Why bother insulting a #1500 guitar with a # 2.00 lead?? The tonal palate available from the pick ups is enormous.It sounds brilliant through an AER compact 60 amp .The battery life seems to be about 1 year, tone quality going 'off' before the warning light came on! Play ability is superb.the neck and action is close to heavenly. I run 052's to 012's which seem to suit it well.

The guitar provides every sound I require and more. It cuts through in a 7 piece band but produces mellow tones for solo work.The graphic and mixing facility is superb. It really suits the AER compact 60 amp I use .

Finish was superb, I've had some dodgy fret finishes on some ( more expensive) guitars, this was excellent from the word go and after a reset at 1 year old, I can't see how the guitar could be bettered in this category.

I have had no problems in the 18 months of ownership. The metal work looks like new, there are no blemishes on the wood. i never take a backup on gigs either!

No probs so no comment.

Have been playing for 29 years. I own an epiphone emperor in addition , which I use as a 'practice guitar' when away on vacation etc. I would have to replace the AEX if it were 'lost'. It is such a versitile instrument with such a varied tonal range and superb playability. I couldn't find anything to match it in the 'mass produced' sector of the market at the time of purchase