Yamaha AEX-502

Semi-hollow/chambered LP body, laminated top, S/S P-90's w/3-way, bolt-on maple neck w/rosewood f/b...yada, yada, yada.

Yamaha pups are both @ 8.2 ohms, sweet tone but the neck needs to be underwound for better balance.

Plays thru. '56 Tweed Deluxe clone, JStation and Peavey Pacer(solid state). NICE! for blues and rock.
Forget-about-it!, this thing is rich, chimey and there's no ice-pick bridge(very full for a 90 bridge).
I planned on messin' w/pups b/c I wanted a 520(mini-hums)model, but this thing is quiet, so I may not hide a set of SD mini's under the covers. Big step for me to not take the iron to it, but the tone is big, open and bold.

Pups could be balanced better(identical Ohms).
For any guitar, I added a cap to the vol. pot for consistant tone and changed out the cap on the tone pot for subtle variations.

Can it get better for this price? Not really Thank you CNC precision. Tight and solid build. 3-way selector is a touch loud. The neck is straight and had the correct amount of relief. No fret buzz @ descent string height. Nice string height @ nut too.
Paint is nice.
Good action, played great and inntonation is correct.

I had to tighten jack and 3-way nuts.

I wouldn't kick or punch it near the f holes to be sure. I don't play out and about.

Almost 30yrs. playing now. I'd buy one in an instant if stolen. The tone is worthy of love. It's big and open with enough mid to drive the pre-amp but not honkin'. Good stable axe. Unfortunately discontinued.

As listed in previous reviews, the features are pretty basic - semihollow, single cutaway body, with a pair of P90s. This one is Black. I'm giving it a high rating as it has just the features I was looking for, no more, and no less. Simplicity!

Very versitile and responds well to both type of amplifier circuitry. This guitar is a blues screamer, a dark jazz-horse, a funky rhythm machine. It can do anything I ask of it. Sure there are guitars that have other voices, but the AEX502 excells in delivering just what I was looking for in this guitar.

I bought this guitar via auction on E-Bay. Thus, I am not sure if the setup was factory. What I do know is that the guitar was never played due to it's absolutely mint condition. So, I suspected it is the factory setup. The action upon receipt was just fine, but I lowered it just a bit to fit my liking.

The Yamaha bolt-on neck joint is a really sound design and is fit very well. All components are well fitted and connected.

This is the first guitar manufactured by Yamaha that felt the need to buy. I was impressed by the gloss and coating depth of the black body finish. The clear satin neck finish is really smooth.

The guitar is fairly light in weight, but certainly designed to last. If you are looking for an axe to bound around a stage with, maybe this is not your tool. For everything else, I'd consider it dependable.

When the AEX502 first came out I tried it and decided to wait a year or so to buy one. By the time I was ready to buy, Yamaha discontuned the model and they were being cloesed out. This lead me reconsider buying one because they were obviously not regarded high enough to be retained in the product line. Thus, I did not purchase one when the buying was good. I've regretted this decision ever since and have been looking for a mint used one for a couple of years. Finally found one.

Sometimes a really good product is discontinued for who knows why. I can tell you that this guitar is one of my very favorites. Its simplicity is brilliant and the playability is great. Simply, I have fun with it. Isn't that why we play...to have fun?

Other guitars I own are a couple of American Std. Strats, Ibanez AS120, Gibson J45 and Takamine 330. Even though the AEX502 is the least expensive and has the lowest snob-appeal of all of the above, it is on the top of my list.

all features have been mentioned already.

I bought this one at ebay. Jesus, halle.....
New one, beautifull black finish. included a manual and a guitar cable.

I think i'm going to love this one. The picks are Yamaha, that's it, no S.D, no gibson. It seemes they have their own sound, but still p90.
In front of the amp they make some noise, uh... so. Through my small solit state practice amp roland 405 they don't impresse me. But through my all valve ENGL bluesscreamer, they sound good. I think this is a nice bluese axe. And that's why I bought it. I've one Ibanez custumised with a S.D. p90, sounds different, not better\worser.

Out of the box, i bought it new, it was great. really great, intonation o.k., no buzz, action has to be lowered a bit. Compared to a gibson smartwood this is absolute top, the smartwood i had to bring to my repairmen. I liked the sound of the guitar but always hurted my hands on the frets !!! very poor fretwork, i suggest incidental.
The yamaha : It's not a fast neck for my taste, it might have been less bold.
I'll get used to it.
The Black finish is great, if it stays that way.... time will show.
I don't like the thin wood they've used for the front. I'm afraid it might break down, again time will show.

I think, and hope, it will last quite some time. The gold finish won't live a life time

This guitar is for the price I paid absolute great !!! I paid 'bout 210 US for this one, new out of the box. I wish they made this guitars for this price when i started playing guitar, 25 years ago. This is no top guitar, but again for the price it is. Recently i tried 4 different blueshawks, i'm glad i didn't buy one of those, soundwise they were a better deal. mainly because of the varitone switch. If there 'd been only three sounds on it, it would lose from this Yamaha.
Here in Europe the going price was bout 500 euro ( 450 US ), a good price. 210 US, i paid for, this is the best guitar there is ! If i can get my hands on another one i'll buy it.
Stuff i play(ed)\owne(d) gibson sg, gibson smartwood les paul, ibanez as200 ( great guitar ), fender strat.stand., fender 72 thinline, etc. I compared this guitar to the ones i owned. This is my first guitar with p90 picks, so i cannot really judge the sound with other p90 eq. guitars, except for a customised ibanez with S.D. p90, more power\bottem end. But i think this yamaha will cut through the mix, i just hope theres not to much feed back.
Playability might have been better, for the price again superb.

Playabillity compared to the blueshawk, this one wins !

All said before. It's got everything an electric guitar needs including a tone control to get in the way between the pickup signal and the valves.

The voicing of this guitar is excellent. The combination of tried and tested tone woods, semi hollow body and P90ish pickups produces a full blooded rich sound with bite and aggression. A tactile guitar that is very responsive to how it is played. If you want a multi-voiced guitar to play through a black box to play covers, forget it. This is a guitar for playing through a good valve amp.

The finish is flawless and puts some of the legends to shame showing what can be achieved on a much tighter budget. Forget the factory set up, fretwire filing and adjustments - who plays a guitar as it is when it comes out of the factory. The important consideration is does the guitar have the potential to be set up well. The answer in this case is the AEX 502 does. (The irony being that it was pretty good with the factory set up.)

I have no reason to doubt the life expectancy of this guitar and the bits on it. Naturally any semi-hollow guitar is not as robust as a solid one, but then what musician abuses an instrument. The gold plating on the bridge and stoptail are a bit distressed, but you pay a fortune for this on a pair of Seymour Duncan Antiquities!

Bought second hand.

I've been playing various guitars for about 40 years. My current one was custom built - single cut ash body with internal chambers, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard and a pair of Rio Grande humbuckers. The AEX 502 gives me a completely different and almost unique sound. Yes I would try and replace this guitar if lost, but I feel that this model may become collectable. It is pretty individual, it is revered by those in the know and there weren't that many made.

I didn't compare this guitar with any others. Once I played it, it sold itself.

See the other reviews for features. Mine is completely stock. This model only had three versions from what I can see ... Brown sunburst, Orange, and black.

The features are why I bought the guitar .... semi hollow, P-90s, and a cool looking single cutaway shape. Bare bones, nothing fancy (just the way I like em!)

I really like the frets. Wide and taller than anything else I've played. Easy to bend .......

I like blues and early rock. This guitar design was an intentional journey into the past. The sound that comes out is just like what you hear on early Chuck Berry, early BB King and Howlin Wolf era records.

The variety comes from your pick attack and the left hand techniques you use. A very percussive sound. You won't really duplicate it with Strat type single coils or humbuckers.

Play these through a tube amp. I plug directly into a Peavy Delta Blues 210 and have "the tone". The cheap Crate practice amp I use doesn't sound good with any single coil pups I've ever tried. Go tube or tube emulating amp with P-90s.

Purchased used from a music shop via eBay. They said they set up the guitar but it buzzed like hell (open strings buzzed!!!!!!!!!) and with a high action no less! I'm a little surprised that the other reviewers didn't experience the same thing. That's got to be why the first owner sold it in like new condition.

My luthier took off the bridge, rounded it off with a file and solved the problem. Other than that the guitar was in excellent shape. Looks great with the Brown sunburst, black pickups and rosewood fretboard. All the knobs, tuners and switches funtion beautifully.

I consider a file to be radical surgury for a musical instrument ... hence the low rating.

As good as any semi hollow guitar from any other guitar maker.

Never dealt with them.

I gave it a 10 for fantastic value. I've been looking for a guitar like this one for under $400. The best prices I've seen for P-90 hollow bodies are ES-135s ($1000), Guild Bluesbird 90 is ($1100), Gibson Blueshawk is also a $700 ticket or more. The PRS, Heritage and Hamer are all over $1K. Those are all great guitars but I'm not a pro player so I buy $300-400 guitars and am more than satisfied. I've been playing 25+ years on and off. I own a Strat and a Raven RP450 w/ humbuckers.

This guitar has such a great vibe that I can't "practice" on it. I pick it up and go off into another zone for an hour or so. Get another one .... oh yeah. Hey Yamaha, bring em back! Discontinued?!?! Are you guys nuts?!?!

I really don't know where this guitar was made...but in fact I don't care as this guitar is very well made, ,elder body, beautiful flame top in orange ..F holes,tune-o-matic bridge ,gold hardware, single cutaway, 2 P 90 (dogear)Pu, bolt on neck, 22 frets..the neck is comfortable..I 've got this guitar with a luxury hard case from yamaha

the sound is perfect for Blues /rock blues..not so noisy..awsome..rich and fat with also glassy tones

this guitar was well set up, no buzz..stay in tune

I bought this guitar used..so..

It's a pity, yamaha discontinued this model, as it is a very good guitar for the price..if you find one..buy it..I would compare (a bit) with Gibson Blueshawk but this guitar is really nicer..

22 frets, laminated top, in orange. Pickups are single coil P-90's, which give a wide range of tones from nice clean, dirty blues, and even some awsome sustain.

I play blues, classic/acid rock, funk, and some rockabilly. I played it through a small Create all tube combo. I have always liked the sound of humbuckers, but really enjoy the sound of the P-90's. The single coil pickups do give off a little bit of hum but that is their nature. Overall the sound of this guitar is very warm and fat on both of the pickups.

The guitar was set-up by a buddy who works at the music store and the action was set-up nice on it. The pick-ups were adjusted to a good height that let them shine through. The top on the guitar was bookmatched well with the entire guitar showing the same throughout.

Yamaha guitars are very well built and a lot of times are over looked as good guitars. I seriously doubt that this guitar would have any serious problems granted it is taken care of.

I have only sent the company one e-mail and I did get a response from them which is more than most companies give you now'a'days. I do not have any other experience with the company.

I've been playing the guitar for seven years. Overall this guitar is a nice piece that will last a long time, has nice playability, and it sounds very warm and fat. I think the blues and rock players would enjoy this guitar very much especially played through a nice warm tube amp. If you find this guitar (it is discontinued) then I would suggest you give it a try and if you like then it would be a great guitar to own.

Not sure of the year but it was made in Taiwan. Same as everyone els, 22 frets, laminated top. The finish is beautiful and makes it look like a slightly smaller version of a Gretsch Nashville. Pickups are single coil P-90's, which I love, give it a wide range of tones from nice clean, dirty blues, and even some sweet sustain. I love to use the neck pickup for really thick, muddy, sounds. The tuners I replaced with Sperzel locking tuners. I recommend these to everyone, as they improve tone as well as help it stay in tune. I also added a pickguard, which it lacked and needed. I also, for the hell of it, attached a Fat Finger weight to the headstock for even more improved tone and sustain.

Nice clean tones to down and dirty blues. I play blues, surf, rockabilly, oh hell just rocknroll. I play it through a Marshall Valvestate Bi-Chorus, with occasionally a J-Station, for differnt cabinet sounds. This thing can handle it all. I have always been a humbucker man, but these P-90's have sold me. Even though I do get some hum from time to time, but thats just single coils. Could stand to have the pots replaced though. I play it mostly using the bridge pickup but when I want soemthing real down and dirty I use the neck pickup. Play this thing through a clean channel with the neck pickup and you'll get a killer tone.

I got this guitar from Center and the only problem I had was the intonation needed adjustment. I took it back and they took care of it in five minutes. Finish is beautiful. Guitars are like pieces of art to me. i can look at a beautiful guitar for hours and I never get tired of looking at it. Brings a smile to my face everytime I take it out of the case.

After having numerous problems with my past guitars, especially my last a Ibanez Roadstar with a fucked up neck. I was so frustrated I was about to quit playing. I finally purchased this guitar and I am very happy with it. My girlfriend told me that she has heard me call every guitar, piece of equiptment I own a piece of shit, at one point or another, except that guitar. I've never had a problem with it. Would I gig with it? Hell, I wouldn't think of playing anything else.

Never dealt with.

I've been playing (seriously) for the past seven years. Unfortunately my budget doesn't always match my level of playing ability. I am also one of those tone, setup compulsive nuts. So when something doesn't sound right or feel right, no matter how small, it drives me nuts. So this thing is a dream come true for me. This is definately the guitar you keep forever. If it were stolen, I'd hunt the person down, as well as their family, friends, and anyone who owed them money!

AS BEEN STATED IT,S APRETTY BASIC GUITAR LIKE A TELE BUT SEMI HOLLOW. YOU CAN MAKE IT SOUND LIKE A SG JR THRU A MARSHALL IF YOU ROLL OF THE TONE POT. I,VE OWNED 150 PLUS GUITARS AND THIS IS SORT OF ORIGINAL.

ROCKABILLY CLEAN +LESLIE WEST GRIND USE THE TONE POT

HOW MANY PEOPLE IN TAIWAN PLAY GUITAR ?

IT WOULD BE MY BACK UP

Don't know the year of manufacture, but made in Taiwan according to the hang tag. One volume and one tone control (that works). Smooth maple neck, as good as any I've ever used. Wonderful subtle flame on the maple veneer.Tobacco sunburst, and I chose the darkest sunburst in the store. I do love the smooth grover style (unbranded Grovers??) machine heads.

Difficult to categorise. This guitar sounds like nothing else I've ever owned. I'm a Fender-holic,love the out of phase Strat middle position sounds, and when I bought this, I was out to buy a Levinson Blade, saw this at a bargain price, and loved the bite. After 3 months, I'm still discovering new tones, and all with a 3 way selector, one volume pot and one tone pot. This guitar is an enigma, but I love it, I think.

As previous reviewers have commented, rough fret edges. The action was a little high when I bought it (I love to bend, but also like a fast action, so I have to compromise). Love the subtle flame, the binding is second to none, in a beautiful creamy white. Lowered the action, and now have some fret buzz, but I'll get my local guitar guru to sort that (he sets up Def Leppards guitars, so he ain't too bad)

I've played live with this guitar, and yes, it can take it. Did discover a ding in the back of the neck one night, and I don't remember dinging it. Got some pickmarks on it, other users have commented about a pickguard, yes, it could use one, but for the money, what would you expect. The gold plate is wearing off pretty quickly, but I do rest my hand on the bridge all the time, and the gold plate wears off on Les Paul Customs too, so no marks deducted there.

Not dealt with them

Been playing for 35 years (with a break). As I said before, I'm a Strataholic. I'd never used a guitar with P90's before. I'm a wrinkly rocker, who plays stuff mainly from the 70's, but can I get a great authentic Andy Sumner (The Police) or The Edge (U2) sound out of it!! I play normally a 77 Strat or a Tele through a Crate valve 30 watt, but I love my Gibson Lucille. I've been searching for years for a guitar that can produce classic Les Paul tones along with classic Fender tones (the nearest I ever found was a strange thing made by Gary Levinson) but this thing doesn't produce either. At the price, everyone should have one, it's certainly opened my mind. All I can say is that I'm still playing it. I play it more than Lucille now, because I can't work it out.