Yamaha AEX-502

same as all other reviews

Fat rich sound. Sounds a little like a gretsch i used to own. I'm playing it through a marshall with little other effects nad it just sounds fantastic....oh, and LOUD.....

Finish is unbelievable for a guitar of this price, or any price for that matter.

Action was nearl perfect straight from the store. A little fret buzz, but easily cured.

Seems solid enough, only time will tell. I tend to look after my guitars, so it's not something i'm worried about.

n.a.

I've been playing about 15 years and also own a usa tele. Amps have and will always be Marshalls. I was on the lookout for a gibson 335, but this guitar has changed that and i'll probably now go for a les paul. If this guitar was stolen, i would HAVE to replace it.

If you see this guitar in any music store, i would strongly recommend a play...though be prepared to be smitten.

Mine's orange.

Having owned Les Pauls, Strats and other usual big deal guitars...well this is another big deal guitar...and it costs, what, about a third or evn a quarter of the price of the usuals.
I love the woody mid-range bark of the bridge pu. It makes LPs sound too thick and Fenders sound too thin. Perfect for roots/blues/jazz.
I love the fact that it's a cheap guitar yet brilliant.
Works great for jazz on the neck pu. I play it at home ( as a retired local gigger ) through a PV Classic 20 and an Alesis Nanoverb...and get a perfect blues sound with no effort.
I prefer it to my American Standard Tele...which cost an arm and a leg. I would rather have this guitar than a Les Paul.

Plays fine. Set up better than average. Don't like the almost varnish-less back of the neck: It takes a scratch way too easily. The gold plating started wearing off within a couple of weeks. The tone capicator is OK rather than brilliant. Pickups sound best with a little top rolled off.

Not sure that it would take a fall. But semi-acoustics are more delicate. I'd use it without a backup for blues/roots gigs but maybe not for a top forty or pop band.

Never needed it.

Thirty years. Two Teles. No. -Definetly- would replace if stolen.
Love the sound, playability, looks, poor-man price.

Features are well covered in other reviews. Mine is the "brown-burst" finish, and it really looks very nice for an extremely cheap guitar. It came with no accessories.

I play modern to roots rock and I think it does well for those genres. Not extremely versatile. It is a semi-hollow w/ P-90s, and sounds like one. I use it through a '67 Pro reverb or a Peavey delta blues 2x10. For lead on the fender I use an Ibanez tube screamer. It *is* noisy, especially w/ the fender, but the electronics are cheap, and P-90s are... supposed to be noisy. :] It is mostly a very bright sounding guitar. I imagine that you can take some of that edge off if you've got a tone pot that works, which I don't. Mine is only effective between 7 & 10. Anything lower is like turning out a light. I think it would probably be very well suited to "rockabilly" style music. It has a certain "telecaster" kind of quack and twang, if adjusted correctly, but I like that the P90s are a bit hotter and thicker than your average single-coil. I like to run through the bridge p-up, with both volume & tone pots on about 8. A great 1,2,3,4 rock n' roll tone.

Setup was pretty good; had to tweak the truss a hair to get rid of a little buzz. Pickups good. The top is really nicely finished (again, for a guitar in this price range), but I wonder how many years of abuse it will stand up to w/out cracking or wearing through.. the veneer seems so thin.. The electronics are cheap but effective. Tone pot is lousy and I suppose that I'll need to replace it one of these days. Not a big deal.

Yes, it will take live playing. (but maybe not rowdy live playing over the course of a few years) Yes, the hardwarewill last. Covered the top/finish above. Strap buttons are solid. I can depend on this guitar. I'd use it w/out a backup if I had to.

Never dealt with. No warranty.

Playing for 15 years. Yamaha AES800, Ibanez '79 concert, Yamaha pacifica, various others. Fender Pro reverb & Peavey delta blues. I would buy another one. Love it's vibe. It is a very cool little guitar, for very little money. Seperate tone & volume pots would be handy, or maybe a "blend".. but generally I like guitars "less is more". This is an "economy" model guitar, it isn't incredibly versatile, but if you're looking for a semi-hollow with some cool tone and feel, and don't want to spend a fortune, this is it. If Gibson made this it would cost $800. The sum of the parts definitely greater than the whole.

Two P90 pickups, 3-position switch, single volume and tone control, simple but efficient. Pickups have individually height-adjustable polepieces.
Tunomatic style bridge, unbranded machine heads that both look and feel solid.
Bolt-on neck. "Gibson" scale length.
Dark tobacco sunburst, nice subtle flamey top, golden hardware.

Unplugged is not much louder than a normal solid-body guitar, which at first surprised me. Plugged in paints an instant smile on my lips... these P90 pickups might not be the best in the market, but they do sound very nice. I plug the guitar into a Boss GX700 for effects (a little reverb, compression, amp simulation...) and then into a Fender VibroChamp. The tone control is very effective on this guitar. I have it usually set at around 5, and slight alterations either way can easily be made, it's very responsive.
In the shop a slight hum could be heard, which is typical of single coil pickups. However, at home and even with moderately loud volumes, the hum can be completely removed with a little touch of the GX700's Noise Reduction, without affecting the overall sound/sustain.
These pickups sound more like standard single coils than humbuckers (they are single coils after all), but with an extra layer of "cream" that makes them sound smooth, fat... just lovely. The bridge pickup can be sharp and bright, or it can be made to sound quite mid-rangey by using the tone control. On single coil guitars I normally don't like the bridge position, but here it's very useable. The neck pickup's sound can almost be spread on toast, and with both pickups on there are these high frequency harmonics that add a lot of body to the sound. Clean sounds are beautiful, and overdriven tone is great too, but the best sounds, in my opinion, are obtained with very moderate overdrive... just to give it a little "oomph"... good sustain too.

This is a very nicely built guitar for the price. The pickup switch feels a bit loose, but works well. These pickups are wax-potted, and some of the wax was still visible spilling through the six polepieces, although it's easy to remove.
This guitar was fitted with what looks like a 10-46 string set and medium to low action, which feels a bit tighter than my usual 9-42 floyd-rose stratocaster, but not too much, and it only takes a little time to get used to it. I wouldn't fit lighter strings; I thinks the sound is better like this.
The neck is nicely shaped with big frets. The fret ends should have been made a bit smoother, 'though.
Although the guitar doesn't feel too light for a semi-solid, it's slightly neck-heavy due to the reduced body mass. This may bother some people, but I don't find it any worse than a SG, for instance.
The finish in general is very good, from the neck joint to the F holes. This is a Taiwanese Yamaha that has nothing to envy her Japanese siblings.

I have a number of guitars, from humbuckered beasts (Gordon Smith) to stratocasters. This is different to all of them, thanks to these P90 pickups which are just so creamy. The worst part of the guitar, maybe the balance (neck heavy) although it's not problematic. The best... the sound, feel...
It's still early days, but I think this is one of the guitars I'll keep permanently.

Standard features on a guitar of this price, but separate volume and tone controls for each pickup would have been a plus. Then again, I did not pay for separate controls, so I am not complaining.

For rhythm, which is why I bought this guitar, it totally blows away my Fender Strat Plus. The P-90 type pickups are superb. I refer to this guitar as "a poor mans Gretsch". It also sounds great for jazz, light rock, country, folk, and even classical music.

I play with a Fender Concert amp on the clean channel, and this guitar is surprisingly quiet, a lot quieter than my tele.

At first, I gave it a 7, but after playing this guitar, it plays more like an 8. Simple soft leads are great on this guitar. For rock leads, I have a high output humbucker guitar that I use. I have been playing on and off for 30 years (mostly on, a few years off).

This guitar is solid for a semi-hollow body. Yes, I would play it live, and look forward to using it live. No, it isn't a solid body, so you have to treat it with a little tenderness. After all, she is beautiful and has a sweet voice.

Don't know, I have not contacted them.

This guitar is a real value, equivalent to guitars priced in the $500 to $1000 in my opinion, here's why. The body is alder, which I consider the premier of woods for a guitar, along with maple and ash. The top is maple (i.e. can you say Rickenbacker). The neck is maple (i.e. Fender).

I think the workmanship is superb. I know that this is not a handmade guitar, it was cut out on a CNC mill in Japan. But today, you can make more accurate parts with computer controlled mills than by hand. Even custom shop guitars today have the parts made on CNC machines, but add the custom assembly which does add a lot to a guitar.

The binding on my guitar is perfect, better than a friend of mines 60's vintage Gibson 335. My guitar is orange stain finish, and it says "Gretsch" all over it. As you can tell, I bought the guitar for the looks, and because I collect guitars, and this one was different. To my surprise, I play it, because I like it. My only regret was not buying two of them, one to play, one to collect.

I would not sell this guitar for under $1000, that's what it's worth to me, and if I did, how could I replace it? I dont' believe they are made any longer (as of April 2001 when I posted this review).

Made in Japan, 1999, semi-hollow, dog-eared topmounted pickups, maple neck. Gotoh tuners, 1 Vol, 1Tone, T-O-M bridge, no pickguard, gold hardware, 22 frets, bolt on standard neck.

I bought 2 of 'em. The variety of sound from this pickup/body design combo is amazing. It can sound like evrything fron a Les Paul (actually better) to a full-body Gibson Jazz model. Very jazz-ish soft wood tone. Very surprising sound. No noise, good pickup range. I play jazz/rock and this guitar is perfect for a wide range of things.

Good quality bridgework, action, neck adjustment, etc. All I did was plug and play. Finish on both (ebony and orange stain) are immaculate.The action was a little high but good for me out of the box. I've adjusted nothing on either.

Haven't played out with them yet. From the quality I see, I don't doubt their durability ALTHOUGH a pickguard would be a nice finish protector.

No experience yet with Yamaha.

Playing 20+ years, taught music, play mostly jazz rock. This model sounds very Gibson semi-hollow, without the price. The neck is narrow and light, the body sound is inexplicable. Anyone who plays jazz or prefera a hollow/semi-hollow needs to look at one of these.

Cases for this model are a price-gouge, if it doesn't come with one. Get an acoustic case and pad/fit it yourself. You will save $$$$. This is one of my preferred guitars, especially for a big body sound with a smaller body. This ain't no shredder - but if you like Fender and Gibson jazz models, don't miss this one - especially for the price. If I need to sell a guitar, I won't part with either of these.

P.S. Hey Yamaha - put a pickguard on this thing. And send me a couple for mine.

Pretty much what the rest of the people say below. Two pickups, blah, blah. I'm kind of bummed that it didn't have two volume controls, but, hey, I knew that before I bought it, didn't I?

Sounds pretty darn good. Sounds excellent for the price. I've got a bunch of more expensive guitars, and this one fills a niche pretty well. When I bought it (mail order) I thought I might change out the pickups, but I may not. The stock ones sound pretty good. Some people below say it's noisy, but it's not any more than any single coil.

Setup was nada. Again, mail order, so action, intonation, etc. was not done. No problem for me, but if you've never done intonation, I'd go to your local shop to purchase. Finish was fine. On the downside, the nut for the pickup selector switch didn't match the switch was a different size, and fell off right after I got it. Bummer. See below.

Volume and tone pots were the really small imports. They felt OK, but I wanted to get some full size ones in there, so I replaced them. I have gigged with this guitar, and certainly would again.

I called Yamaha customer support, and they sent me out a replacement selector switch, no problem. OK, I did it myself. IF I had purchsed it at the local store, I would have made them do it, but that's one of the things with mail order. No problem, again, for me.

An excellent guitar for this price point. Is it as nice as a custom shop? No. Is it a giggable guitar? Yes. Does it sound, feel and play well? Yes. Before I purchased this one, I played one when I was on vacation, and was quite impressed for $400. At $229, it's a steal.

This is a thinline semi-hollow electric w/2 P-90 style pickups, a 3-way switch, master volume and master tone knobs . Mine is a gorgeous antique burst w/a slight flaming on the top and gold hardware -- VERY handsome. The neck is a bolt on w/very good access to upper frets and a nice chunky feel.

I play primarily blues and the beefy sounding P-90's sound great through my Peavey Delta Blues tube amp. They are bright and articulate when played clean and when I kick in the overdrive they give me the smoothe overdriven sound I need. Each of the 3 pickup settings yield satisfying tones -- especially the "clucky" middle position.

I got the guitar through mail order and, as I said above, the finish is absolutely beautiful. The rosewood fretboard was a bit dry when I got it new but a little boiled linseed oil took care of that. The guitar came with average action. When I tried to lower the strings I got pretty severe buzzing -- even when I adjusted the truss rod with some relief. I think this is partially due to the large/jumbo frets. I had to set the intonation myself but that wasn't a big deal. My main gripe with the guitar (and the reason for my low rating in this category) is the lack of finish on the fret ends. They are sharp enough where I have to bring it in to get the edges filed down.

The components and construction of the AEX-502 seem quite sturdy. The switches, knobs and tuners are all pretty high quality. It should hold up just fine.

All in all (I am extremely happy with this guitar. I also own an '82 G&L S500 (strat-style), a reissue Epiphone Riviera modded w/Duncan '59 Pickups and Gibson hardware, and a Danelectro DC59. I use this one more than all the rest. Also, this model sells for $449 or so in Guitar Center -- Brook Mays Music had it for $229 (w/free shipping at the time!) The price I paid made the purchase a no-brainer and an amazing value.

New in 2000, this flat-top-meets-archtop baby has gorgeous figured maple veneer over agathis (I thought that was a mineral, not a wood:). Mine is brown-burst with gold hardware, fixed adjustable bridge, black P-90 dogear pups, locking Gotoh-like tuners, 22 frets, bolt-on neck, single volume and single tone controls, 2 f-holes, hollow thinline body, cream body binding, and dot inlays. No case, but did come with a cheap-o cable and an owner's manual.

My style is primarily jazz, but I bought this guitar for rock and blues. It sounded GREAT with my Fender HRD cranked overdrive! Better than a humbucker-equipped guitar that I have.

For jazz on the neck pup, I thought the tone was more acoustic like than electric and was a very nice change of pace.

For rock and blues, I used the bridge pup which is definitely rougher around the edges than the neck pup - and that's good!

It can be bright, but roll down the tone control and you get a rounder, darker tone.

I really like the tone.

Perfect finish and construction. I could not find one thing out of place on this thing!

I did have to set the intonation, but did not mess with string height as it was perfect for bending strings.

The electronics don't snap or pop when switching; very quiet! The pups being single coils are a little noisy with a tube amp up clsoe, but I expected that and the noise is not all that bad; better than I expected.

The brown burst finish is cool looking, but the black pups become almost invisible from a distance. The orange stain model shows off the pups more.

The guitar seems solid enough to me. I don't gig, so I can't really comment on that aspect.

Haven't needed it yet.

These things list for $700 and sell routinely for $489 at Musician's Friend. If it came with a case, it would be on heckuva deal! As it is, it's a decent deal, though. Guitar Player reviewed this guitar back in 1998 when it debuted and it received high marks up against guitars costing 5-6 times as much! They said something about the AEX502 being the guitar Gibson should have built.

Semi hollow body plywood f-hole made in Taiwan. '99 or 2000. Bolt-on maple neck with rosewood board and jumbo frets. Tun-o-matic copy bridge w/ stop tailpiece. Two soap bar single coil pickups on a three way selector w/ one volume and one tone. The pickups are incredibly noisy but have an interesting sound. Electronics are cheap and you can hear it. E.g., selector switch pops, volume and tone pots might as well be on/off switches. A separate volume and tone pot for each pickup would be nice. Cosmetically, it?s a cute guitar. Flamed maple top looks great. The lacquer/urethane finish is impeccable and the tuning machines are surprisingly good. Came with a cheap 10 foot patch cable - no wrench.

Very unique sound. Kind of a cross between a Gibson 135 and a solid body Teisco Del Ray. As others have noted, the pickups are noisy and the electronics cheesy, but it all comes together and works well. I?ve been using mine for bottleneck through a Marshall Valvestate, and it has a nice edge to it. Not a real refined tone, but it does have good color ala Thorogood or early Johnny Winter.

Considering that the parts are almost as cheap as they come, I think the builders in Taiwan should be credited for their attention to detail. Even if management was more concerned with the bottom line than making a decent instrument, obviously someone at the factory gave a sh*t. The action could be a tad better, but for the money, this is a very well-made guitar. Good job guys. Feels very Gibson-esque.

This sucker is built like a tank. Again, the builders deserve credit for creating a very well-made guitar from cheapo parts. With better pots and three-way, this puppy will be around for decades.

Gee, I didn't even check to see if it came with a warranty. I guess I need to follow up on that...

A lot of guitar for a little money. Despite any short comings, the guitar?s strengths more than compensate, and it has an undeniable ?cool factor? that will earn it loyalty for years to come. If you have a chance to try one, do so. This guitar is a lot of fun.