Yamaha AEX-500

as my previous review

An update of my previous review. I've found a new set of string that give a better response (for now) from this guitar.
The set is by GHS the Eric Johnson signature Nickel Rockers 011- 052 with unwounds G string (019). The string are partially flatten and tone is warm.
I've use this guitar for recording and the sound engineering was amazed about the mixed sound of the two pu.

as my previous review

as my previous review

as my previous review

As my previous review on 01/03/2007, this guitar has got an important place in my gear. I've extended my review becouse I believe in this guitar and I use it every day.

Piezo (Yamaha) plus mini humbucker (Johnny Smith). Eq for the piezo, pot to mix the two and one volume. Excellent tobacco sunburst, golden tuners. Acoustic type bridge with intelligent trapeze to let install heavy strings without compromising the bridge.
Bolt-on neck, with an easy to play 20 frets fretboard.
Lacks a tone control for the mini humbucker.

Playing blues, acoustic blues and easy jazz, often in duo with a female singer, this guitar produce the right sound I need a kind of old semiacoustic blues sound ad in some old recordings.
Sometimes used on a Laney VC 15 or normally in pa system. I've tried jazz strings (D'Addario Chrome 011) or normal electric (Ernie Ball 011) but without satisfaction. I've tried Ernie Ball Earthwood (011 - 052) an acoustic bronze string set with good response.
Has a nice unplugged sound too.

As used guitar, I can't tell about factory settings. Mine is easy to play, in every neck position. Only a fast truss-rod adjustment due to the change of strings.

I've bought this guitar for Christmas, so I've no gig with it but for my experience this is a well built guitar and I believe it is solid.

No experiece.

With piezo and mini humbucker is the guitar I need for studying, teaching and gigging in small clubs. The sound is ok, it's light and small and easy to carry.
I'm playing since 1974, fist bass the guitar. I own a lot of electric guitar (Fender, G&L, DeArmond) and acoustic (Guild, Dayon, Dobro) and this complete my setup (if a guitarist can be satisfied).

Black flat top semi. Piezo bridge pickup plus mini humbucker in neck position. Trapeze tailpeice. 3 Band EQ

I used this guitar for about four years and was initially attracted to it becouse of the hybrid nature of the instument - cross between a jazz guitar and an electro acoustic.I used it with a Laney GC 80A amp. Sound wise, I think it is more successful on the jazz end of things with some nice bottom end. The 3 band EQ helped in getting a decent electro acoustic sound, but was a bit thin sounding for my liking. It is quite a slim guitar though.

This guitar was set-up reasonably well at the factory apart from the action being too high - with no easy way of adjustment. Frets were ok, maybe a bit scratchy. A great guitar to look at - this one was black. Visually pretty flawless. On looks alone id rate it as a 9 but the high action and lack of adjustability brings it down to a 7.

I didn't gig this guitar but played it reasonably reglarly, but had no reason to think that it would cause any durability problems if properly looked after

N/A

I've been playing for twenty years and have owned a few guitars in my time - fender, ibanez, amongst others. This is one of the more unusual of my purchases, but i certainly dont regret buying it. I just feel that it doesnt do any one sound as well as it could. I sold my Yamaha about a month ago and replaced it with an Ibanez AS103 NT (which is fantastic) because I'm concentrating on Jazz guitar. Maybe the strength of the Yamaha would be in a live situation and its ability to switch between generic sounds.

No need to repeat the features again. What I will say in this section is that the most irritating thing about this guitar by a long way is that fact that it's only got 20 frets - though I suppose that was done in order to get a mellower tone from the mini HB.

I very rarely plug this guitar in. It has an unusual acoustic sound, loud enough to play unplugged, but not so loud it would p!ss people off if you sat around the house playing it all day, as I often do.

Plugged in it's okay - not screaming with personality, and pretty unsuitable for gain but what do you expect from a jazzy design?

Mine was sold to me very cheaply as shop soiled. It took me a month to find the single scratch that was on it. Perfectly well made I think. Set-up ws fine - I've never had to alter a thing. The neck is fantastically comfortable.

Of all my guitars, this is the one I play just for fun. I play it all the time, and have had it for 5 years. I play heavy blues on it, and I bend the neck quite alot for tremolo effects. It has withstood all this with no complaint. I've worn some pretty deep grooves in the frets, but this has not effected to tone or the pitch. It's almost impossible to break strings on this thing. I've only ever broken one in 5 years. Because I play it more for fun than anything else, I leave sets on strings on there sometimes for the best part of a year and still without breakages. The gold finish on the hardware is still in very good order too.

Only very recently has it started giving me a little tuning trouble on the top E and B strings, which I am totally puzzled by, as thiese stings keep going SHARP! I've never experienced that before, they normally go flat. There's nothing worng with the nut, so I think perhaps the strings are moving latterally across the bridge, which does not have any grooves on it for the strings to rest in, as it is an acoustic type bridge.

I dearly love my AEX500.

Never had to use it

Not versatile, but great player.

wen i first playd this guitar, i dide'nt really nodis it. but, the looks and the handeling got stuck in my mind, and after a few weeks i playd it again. the sound on a 15 watt marshell was inpresive and, the acoustic sound was just what i needed.

wen i bought this guitare, i knew it was alreadyy there for 2, maybe 3 years, and so some oncarefull person playd it with jacket on and slichtly damaged it. i got discount for it, and i hardly even nodis it. the wide neck provides me with the room i need to play with my eyes closed and the weight makes it easy hold.

i don;t know much, just have it over a year. the tuning stays on pretty well.

for me, it's the ideal guitar, it can handle rough sounds, grunge or even metal are no problem. the acoustic is warm and clear. i have a yamaha acoustic to. and it sounds just as good.

The AEX500 has a Spruce top and Nato back/sides. It has a bolt-on Maple neck, Rosewood fingerboard, 20 frets, Rosewood bridge and gold hardware. There is 1 mini humbucker at the neck and a piezo bridge pickup. Controls include volume and blend control knobs, and a 3-band EQ control. The Particular model I have is a black one with gold hardware. I purchase it on the net. The piezo unit did not work when it came. Soundland has sent a new one and did not charge the transport cost.

Guitar sounds good if you play it clean. Forget about overdrive even if the sound is a funny grunge. Two main criticism : the piezo sounds a little bit crispy and you can not control the tone color of the humbucker. Two adjustments that I've made dramatically improve the guitar :
(i) I strongly advise to change the strings for half round : I've put some 11/50 D'addario chromes and it did all. The piezo sounds far more natural and the humbucker gets darker. Your fingers will slide smoothly on the strings without noise.
(ii) Just install a tone control pot : the easiest is to install a 25 k-ohms potentiometer with a capacitor right just after the volume knob(try several capacitor to find the best to your ears : it does not cost a lot). You'll get that dark jazz tone and it allows you to mix the tone of the piezo and the humbucker together. The installation is very easy : see on stewmac.com for tone control installation scheme.
(http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Components:_Control_pots_and_knobs/5/Control_Pots.html)
Pick it through an acoustic amp and you will get the best of it. For more flexibility, try to pick it through a V-AMP or a POD.

The action of the guitar was suitable even if a little bit high for my taste. Easy to play. The finish is correct (the edge of the frets needs to be polished). The gloss of the neck is very woody : I would have rather preferred it more satiny. Be carefull : the gloss of the guitar is very fragile : I will install a pickguard.

Don't know but I experience that you should be cautious if you want the guitar to last.

Don't know. Please note that the guitar is no more available. Find it used or after stock rebate.

This is a very usefull guitar : good for jazz tunes, acoustic and even rock tunes. Good value for any player that needs to play chord melody behind singers. It can improve a lot if you make the adjustments I mentioned above. It does not cost a lot and it is a good value for money. However, if you have the extra-cash for it, try a Duesenberg Starplayer Chris Whitley : this is a fantastic piezo/magnetic guitar (only in red :-(( costs ? 1,500)

Ymaha made in Taiwan - not sure what year but late 90's/early '00's. Now disocntinued in 2003. Replaced the former model which was a conventional hollow-body electric. 1 neck floating mini-humbucker and 1 under-bridge piezo. Master volume, pickup blend, and piezo (only) EQ on top. A very dark/subtle tobacco sunburst finish. Flat hollowbody, "gold" hardware, 21 frets.
My only complaint here is that it seems maniacal not to include a simple tone pot for the magnetic pickup. It doesn't complete ruin everything, since as long as it is possible to EQ the piezo (which it is), you can EQ the two pickups *relative* to each other and then EQ the entire guitar at the amp. (Notwithstanding the fact that the EQ on the guitar is only a simple 3-band model with no sweepable mid). But it sure makes things a lot more difficult than they had to be. I can't imagine why Yamaha didn't include this (maybe there's some subtle technical reason?)

Well, I have read complaints and to be honest they are somewhat founded. The humbucker sounds good but is not naturally jazzy - it tends to be bright and clear. It also has a significant hum to it (ironically). However, before you complain make sure you string it with flatwound jazz strings! This made all the difference for me...
The piezo (which is the same as on the BEX bass at least) is *extremely* brittle and scratchy. (On the upside, however, it captures all the acoustic frequencies pretty well underneath it all).
I'm not complaining at all because I happen to own an amp (Tech 21 Bronzewod 60 acoustic amp) with an *excellent* EQ built in. All from the amp, I'm able to dial in an excellent acoustic sound (not a scratch on a real acoustic, but very genuine and nice nonetheless) as well as an excellent magnetic sound - either clear and bright *and* (with drastically different settings) jazzy (though I admit I'm not yet an expert on the latter). Most importantly, I'm able to mix the two pikcups together very nicely without altering the amp EQ based on the mix.
The upshot: guitar in general: average; guitar with my amp: wonderful.

Excellent action (this guitar has a non-adjustable acoustic bridge, so this is very important!). Excellent finish - the guiatr is gorgeous. I especially like theminimalistic brass bridge brace, the f-holes, the simple, elegant cut... well, just about everything really. I love the frets - they seem big and fat (which is great), but it might just be a shorter scale to the neck. One of the knobs did not fit correctly - it sat too low on its pot and was scratching the wood underneath it. Not much excuse for this, but I fixed it in a few seconds with a hex key and some kleenex.

No clue. Just got it.

Dunno.

As with all Yamaha instruments, this is outstanding value for the price. It's serving me great as an intro jazz guitar. Make sure to string it with flatwounds! PS I heard the brass brace at the bridge is necessary to electrically ground the strings, and so one should not be tempted to remove it for cosmetic taste. No big deal for me, since I think it looks cool anyway.

Yeh you've probabably got the features by now.

As a few others have noted it's a guitar best played through an acoustic amp (a Trace Elliot in my case). The sound can be a bit painfully bright and thin at times. I suppose the main draw back with the guitar is that it's a bit of a jack of all trades. The piezzo sound is a bit thin and the humbucker just gets a bit muddy. In short it doesn't sound like a jazz guitar and it doesn't sound like a well amplified acoustic - but it does get close. And that I guess is the point - it's a functional guitar rather than one you will fall in love with.

For the money not bad. I had a bit of a problem with the pick up select nob initially but this was easily fixed.

I have also had a few intonation problems when using a capo - I think this is to do with the height of the frets.

I've been playing it live for the last year with no problems at all and with no back up.

no idea

Despite the slightly negative tone of what I've said above this is one of the most useful guitars I've ever owned. What I was looking for with this guitar was a way of rationalising the gear I used on stage. I also own a Ibanez Lee Ritneour and a Yamaha acoustic both of which I used to use live. The AEX is not a patch on either of them in many ways and I certainly wouldn't use it for recording work. But for live work the AEX does the job and it means I don't have to lug around two guitars.

And that's the main thing about this guitar - it performs a function It's the guitar equivelent of a small Japanese car - reliable and it does the job. I can't imagine anyone falling in love with it or feeling passionate about it in anyway but what would you expect from what is a pretty cheap instrument.

Would I buy another one? Probably not, but this is becasue I have an AEX 1500 on order. Now that guitar is class and I am fully expecting to ask it to marry me when it arrives.

i've had this guitar for 3 years. it's been my primary road guitar for most of that time. black finish, lam top, very thin body like everyone else has said. the reason why i keep it around is it features the piezo/humbucker combo and the fluid mix knob. i think that's totally great and I haven't seen it anywhere else.

i agree with the "good for not waking the baby" comment i read here. unplugged it's basically a good guitar for writing in the dark when someone is sleeping in the next room -- i would never mic it. but that ain't what it's for, fortunately. i think the two pickups and their distinct personalities give an incredible range. i've played this guitar in jams, bands and solo, in styles ranging from indie rock to new orleans jazz. it holds up extremely well in all counts, because if you don't like something about the sound for the situation you're in, you have some really effective tweaking options; the mix knob with the eq on the piezo really does it for me.

umm. the body is basically not worth mentioning, except that i have dropped it and banged it and it's still here. like any guitar it's taken a while to really get it where i want it to be. it's a funny guitar because it's essentially electric, but with an acoustic bridge and without the option of tweaking the intonation really. but luckily, it's never given me any problems. the neck is wonderful, i think -- a bit wider than some, but action isn't hurt by it at all. works just as well with flat or nickel-wound strings. not a lot of action noise. the complaint i have is the parts in general have a tendency to be a little loose and wonky -- i've had probs with the knobs, the cable jack, and the electronics wires bouncing around inside. i just recently had the bright idea to take off the weird useless tailpiece that yamaha puts on there to make it look like an archtop

it'll withstand some gigs, like i said. i've pretty much been playing it out at least twice a week for the past year, and it's been cool. stays in tune admirably well. i don't have a backup that would match this guitar, and as long as you take care of it and don't play like a total maniac there's no need for one.

donno haven't needed em.

if this guitar was stolen or sat on or anything like that i would cry, especially because it's discontinued. in my opinion and experience every guitar has some flaws that are more like personality traits. this guitar's been essential to me in the last three years and i wouldn't give it up for anything.

Acoustic/Electric Jazz style guitar. Piezo and single Johnny Smith pickup. Knob that fades between the two, EQ for piezo, volume knob. Both of these knobs have a center detent for the half way point. The bridge is an acoustic style but still has a trapeze tailpiece.
The top is laminate spruce with alder back and sides. Single binding on the top only. The neck is maple bolt-on and has a satin smooth finfish to it. I changed the tuners to a gold Serzel that I had and it stays in tune much better. The fingerboard is rosewood and has small dot inlays. The scale is 24 3/4 like most Gibsons. The frets are medium round like an acoustic. My guitar is black and is not the best paint job but who cares.

The guitar is light but neck heavy so I attach my strap at the headstock. The sound acoustically is enough for playing around the house but sounds like a cardboard guitar. When plugged in, it has a tone of it's own. The magnetic pickup more treble than you'd want an does not have a tone control. As you mix in more piezo, the sound gets more round. The piezo though has a 3 band EQ which works very well. The battery is very easy to change, no screws to undo. I play through Polytone amps and sometimes direct into a PA. I've tried a Peavey Ecoustic amp and that sounds very good. I have used a Boss EQ pedal and I can can some full and jazzy tones to it. I also have a Tech 21 bass DI and that also can give you a sound you may like. I play hawn, folk, James Taylor and light jazz tunes. I play in a hawn show and surprisingly this guitar has pulled it off. I can get a real nice stringy acoustic tone and yet play some jazzy solos. It has an acoustic ring to it, probably cause the top is spruce. So here's my suggestion for others. Change the tuners, attach your strap to the nut and use some outboard EQ pedal. My Polytone amps might contribute to the sound I have cause I don't use distortion and all. I just play good.

I wanted a lower action on the guitar without shavind the saddle. So what I did was to shim up the neck with a heavy triangle shaped pick. Also tighted the truss rod to where its nearly straight. Not bad for a cheap guitar, $250 w/o case. I bought it used from a store where it hung unsold for 3 yrs. Everone said it's a piece of junk. I bought it and I've made about $3000 with it in 3 months. This is a hybrid guitar with different sounds. This sounds better thatn the Parker Fly or Godin Acousticaster that I've owned.

Spruce top which is thin, be careful not to crack it. Bring an extra battery with you. It's as solid if you are not an abuser musician.

I bought it used and have done all modifications on my own. Don't ever expect to talk to the factory. This model may have been discontinued but I still see it on Gbase.

40 yrs, and I've owned almost any guitar you can imagine. Even had some expensive Gibson L5's and Johnny Smith's. PRS archtops that were way more expensive than they were worth. This is a cheap, diretic guitar that makes money for me. When I look at it I hate it but when I go to the gig I forget about what it is and just play. It gives me the sound that I want onstage and the next morning I go to the bank and cash my check , put some gas in my car and my me a nice lunch. What more can I say! It does what it's supposed to do. Do I love it? No