Yamaha AEX-502

Comestically pleasing, gold plated hardware looks nice ! Sold on the vintage feel and appearance. P90 pickups are cool, but noisey.

Love the sound. Again the P90s are a bit noisy depending on your amp, electrical scenerio, etc. Nice bite with a bit of gain and compression, clean tones have some character too.

Would certainly benefit from a setup and maybe fret dressing, but not bad for off the store rack... T.O.M. bridge makes some subtle improvements immediately possible.

Seems solid, I'm mainly using it at home/studio

Can't beat it for the price. Guitar Center was blowing 'em out in July, got a super deal on this one. I see most have paid double for the same guitar, which would make one wonder if these are "B" stock, but based on close inspection by fellow players and a friend in the guitar biz... definetly not a "second". I love it !

A semi hollow electric with a beautiful orange stain(like a Gretsch. Has 2 P90 pickups - maple top(veneer) alder back and sides. T-O-M bridge - maple neck with rosewood board.

Wow-the sound from this is super! I run thru a Peavey Delta Blues amp with a 15" spkr along with a 15" ext spkr. This guitar sounds great clean or with a bit of overdrive for bluesy music.I also have an EPI Sheraton 2-the Yamaha is tons better.

No concerns here-action is a little high but not bad.Looks great!

Excellent-but always gig with a backup.

Been playing for 20 years - own or have owned strats(american) les pauls, ibanez',epiphones, wolfgang, etc. This is not a metal/heavy distortion hungry guitar. Perfect blues tool-great value for the $$. Glad I made the purchase.

See the previous reviews for the various features. Mine is a beautiful orange with white binding. The wood is figured but not overly so - I'm not particularly fond of highly figured woods for guitars - they seem a bit garish and coffee table-like.

I'm disinclined to say that I have just one "style" or even think in those terms. The stock pickups (P-90s) are louder than the other guitars that I own (2 Danos, a Fender Mustang, a Subway Guitars Jizzcaster and a Heritage solidbody double cutaway) and have a pronounced and satisfying mid-range that is easily overdriven (but not harshly). I find the neck pickup to be very satisfying for a bluesy or jazzy feel - it's mellow without being muddy, and retains a bit of bite. I keep both pickups on for louder, more aggro stuff - this guitar can put out some very rude tones. Whatever the position of the toggle, this guitar is very responsive to picking dynamics. People aren't kidding when they say that P-90s are a kind of cross between the more standard single coils and humbuckers. The tone is fat without being flabby. I'm not sure if the semi-hollow body really affects the tone much - the guitar isn't especially resonant when not plugged in.
That said, I love the sound of this guitar!

I've already commented on the beauty of this guitar. The maple neck has a very user-friendly satiny finish (not heavy, sticky lacquer) and a rosewood fretboard which seemed a little dry and may need a little oil. The frets are fairly high are taller than what I am used to. I have learned to enjoy this aspect as well as the 11 gauge strings that seem appropriate for this guitar. The action was fairly low w/ some buzz on the top string which I took care of by raising the action on that side. No big deal. I think it's the responsibility of the retailer to set up the guitar, not the manufacturer. Keep in mind that purchased this from Guitar Center.

I believe that this guitar would withstand live playing. It's a very sturdy instrument, probably, only somewhat less so than a solid body. The hardware will last, although the gold finish on them is already tarnishing after 3 months of steady use (a pity). The wood finish seems very durable and should remain attractive for a long time to come.

I have never dealt with them.

I've been playing off and on for 15+ years. I like interesting, cheap and medium-priced guitars, although I've played my share of pricey instruments as well. Beyond a certain dollar amount, it seems like you begin to pay for a name and some abalone inlays. This guitar is not just a great value, it's a great guitar period. If it were lost or stolen I would buy another.

As has been detailed in other reviews, this is a single cutaway semi-hollowbody with f-holes, and two P-90s. It has an alder body with a maple veneer, a maple bolt-on neck with rosewood fingerboard, and a tune-o-matic bridge with gold colored hardware all around. It really looks a lot like a cross between a Les Paul and Brian Setzer's signature Gretsch. Mine is the "orange stain" finish, which looks truly incredible. The orange finish is transparent, showing a flame maple type of finish. Nothing came with it, because I bought it at Guitar Center -- which means no case unless you want to throw in the extra cash. I hate reviews that give every category a "10," but in all seriousness this guitar is one of the most beautiful I've ever laid eyes on. It is very deserving of a 10 in this case.

This guitar sounds great. I have incredibly schizo musical tastes, ranging from metal to blues to fingerstyle to Irish folk. And while I wouldn't recommend this for folk players, it can do pretty much anything else. I play through a Line 6 Flextone, which adds to its flexibility. In the neck position its extremely warm and fat sounding. In the bridge position it gets a bit of twang, all slappy and cutting. I've recorded with this guitar, playing classic rock to hardcore metal, and it's really done the job well. The only reason I won't give this a "10" is because it wasn't set up well and buzzes a bit. But there's more on that in the next section.

It wasn't set up all that well. I get fret buzz on the G and B strings, and the G string doesn't stay in tune well. The guitar chord input comes loose pretty easily, so I'm constantly tightening it up. Basically, I've got to get it set up. The pickups sounded fine though. The finish looks fine all around, and I couldn't really find any flaws. The action, other than the fret buzz, is great. I like it fairly low, and this fit my tastes well. The bottom line is that anything that is wrong, can be fixed.

I'm basically a basement rock star. I used to gig out a lot, but that was a number of years ago. It seems like a fairly rugged guitar, but it is a semi-hollowbody, so I'd watch the f-holes and treat it fairly gently. I'd gig with it, but I'd be careful. It seems pretty dependable, but I've only had it for about 9 or 10 months now. The gold hardware hasn't begun to wear off yet, though gold colored hardware being what it is, I expect it to eventually. It's been fine.

Haven't had any reason to contact Yamaha.

I've been playing on and off for 17 years (don't let that fool you, I should be much better than I am) and I love this guitar more than any other I've owned. If it were stolen or lost, I'd go get another right away. In fact, I'm thinking about picking up the nylon string acoustic of this model. It's an incredibly beautiful looking guitar, and it's sound is very flexible. I actually walked into Guitar Center looking for something else when I saw this guitar hanging on the wall. I immediately fell in love with it, played it, bought it and brought it home. That's it. It happened in minutes. The only thing I wish was that I had bought a case with it. I also find it funny that I see very few of these out there, and there's very little information about them on the Net. I can't understand why people aren't buying these up by the dozens and obsessing about them. This quality guitar for that price? Can't beat it.

This is just an update of my previous posting. Also, I gave the wrong email address.
When I said the body style is like an ES135 or 335, it is actually smaller in width (more like an oversized Les Paul. Body thickness is equivalent. Maple neck is three piece. I've read this gives more stabilty than a single piece neck.

I'm still impressed with the sound. Have come to the limits of my small solid state Fender amp. Bottom end gets too hot for the amp to handle which results in unwanted distortion on the clean channel. This is not a "good" distortion, sounds more like the speaker is straining against it's frame (it's only 8"). I will probably opt for a Blues Junior, although I'll try out the Crate and Roland SS amps to see what my non-tube options are. I've also found that the circuit your amp is plugged into greatly affect pickup noise. My basement is outfitted with flourescent lights which are picked up by the guitar and transmitted as noise to the amp, or maybe the amp picks it up itself. No such problems upstairs. I see now that Yamaha now makes the 502 with mini humbuckers which is the model 520. I'm not dissatisfied with the P-90's but would be interested in listening to the humbuckers.

Everything has remained very solid on the guitar. No wear on the gold finish. I'm diligent in wiping down the guitar after every use. Have noticed ocasional string pinching at the nut on the G and B strings. It's very minor and infrequent, but I may have the nut looked at. I now store the guitar in a hard dreadnaught sized case between uses and the small variances in tuning I mentioned earlier have disappeared. No gripes on the finish or electronics. Solid.

No live playing as of yet. No appreciable wear on the guitar either.

No reason to contact Yamaha. Will probably take into the retailer to make sure everything is settling in properly.

I still think this guitar is a best buy for the money. I'm not able to get a super thin, brittle Strat bridge pickup sound or a super thick barking "woody" ES175 neck sound, but everything in between. The thick sound may come with a proper tube amp with reverb. Very soon!

I meant to give a review of the Yamaha AEX502 some time ago as I've had it for a few months now. The guitar itself kinda looks like a baby Gretch. It is a semi-hollow body with a laminated top, two f-holes, no pickguard, two single coil P-90 type pickups. The guitar was probably made in 1998 from the wonderful country of Taiwan.
This guitar lists for six or seven hundred dollars, however a local dealer had no problem matching a mail order price of $450. No case though. By semi-hollow this means that the guitar is built like a jazz hollowbody albeit thinner and with a solid block of wood in the middle where the pickups are mounted. I guess this helps sustain, reduces feedback, and makes the guitar behave more like a solid body. The downside is it makes the guitar fairly heavy and reduces the natural acoustic output.
Let's see. 22 frets fairly large and smooth. Rosewood fretboard that is slightly convex. An absolutely wonderful neck. It is maple with a satin finish that feels smooth as a baby's butt. It's fairly chunky, but you get used to it, and it gives you alot of leverage for bends and barre chords. The body shape is similar to an ES335 but with only one rounded cutaway. Upper fret access is good. The body is made of alder with a mildly figured flame maple venner on the top. Tune-o-matic type bridge to a stop tailpiece. Unmarked tuners that look like Grovers and are very positive and smooth. The guitar is orange with gold hardware. Three-way selector and one volume and tone control for both pickups.
I'm taking a point off because there isn't a volume/tone control for each pickup, although to be honest I don't like messing with a bunch of knobs anyway.

This guitar has an amazing sound. I'm using a solid state Fender Bronco amp and it still sounds good. The P-90 pickups are great. I'm surprised more people don't use them. I think they're comming back. Have you noticed that alot of really expensive high-end guitars are comming out with these style pickups? I tried out the guitar in the music store plugged into a Fender Blues Deville 4X10. I had never played a guitar with P-90's before and I was expecting a thin or brassy tone. Wrong!! Was I surprised. Very smooth and full sounding with clear, bell-like articulation of each string. Like a humbucker with character and no muddiness. Pretty quite too. There is some 60 cycle hum that comes across with high gain although it's not nearly as bad as a standard Fender-type single coil.
Musical styles? Well, this is not just a one trick pony. Depending on your playing style, pickup position, and tone control position you can go just about anywhere. Warm clean jazz, blues, funk, country, and even hard rock and metal. The pickups sound great through heavy distortion since there is alot of definition. I don't rely too much on effects although I have used a Boss Super Overdrive and a Danelectro Chorus.
If I had one gripe it would be that I'd like more sustain. Open strings have good sustain, but it seems to diminish farther up the fretboard. This may be inherit with the semi-hollow design. Also, don't expect to use this as a thin body acoustic. There is enough sound there to hear what you're doing, but I've got a solid body Epiphone that's almost as loud unplugged. I'm using 11-48 gauge stainless roundwound strings that work well with the guitar although I'm thinking of trying flatwounds and thicker strings. I'm learning blues, but I also like jazzy stuff and straight ahead R&B/R&R.
Detract one point for sustain, however I doubt you will find a better sounding guitar for even twice the price.

I don't know how much Guitar World in Kansas City messed with the guitar, but I haven't done anything except adjust the intonation on one string. Everything seems to be A-OK. No loose joints, or rough frets. Notes play true all the way up the fretboard. The guitar had a little string buzz when new but this has played out. The switch from stock 10 gauge strings to 11's also helped. Action is about as low as I would like for my particular playing style. All controls have a smooth, positive feel.
The finish is absolutely beautiful! I don't care for heavily flamed tops, and there is just enough there to give the guitar a wonderful glow under incandescent light. The orange stain is flawless. I can't imagine anyone getting a black or dark sunburst finish if they saw how pretty the orange was. Wonderful grain on the back and sides. White binding on the front outside edge of the body. No binding on the neck or F-holes. The gold hardware looks very nice with the orange body. The whole guitar looks very classy without being gaudy.
I can't say enough about how good this guitar looks. Everyone who has seen it or played it remarks on how great it is. It easily looks like a $1500 guitar. I think this is an excellent value for the money. Nitpicking I've only found a minor boo-boo. One of the pickups has a small piece of plastic protuding from the side where it wasn't properly filed off. It's barely noticable and easily fixed. I haven't fixed it yet because I just don't notice it anymore.
Giving a nine here because it's not perfect, but it really is a 10 for the money.

I'm pretty gentle with the guitar because it's so beautiful that I don't want to jack it up. I think in reality it would be very reliable. I pound and bend the strings really hard and have yet to break one. The guitar normally stays in tune, but I have noticed that large temperature changes causes the tuning to go slightly flat or sharp. Not by alot, mind you, maybe 1/8th of a step or less. The guitar has a fairly heavy coat of clear finish. This deadens the resonance somewhat but makes for a tough cookie. All in all a very sturdy and dependable guitar. I still think I would have a second guitar gig-wise, if anything I like to play with alternate tunings. I'll update if I finally start gigging.

Can't give an opinion because nothing has ever gone wrong with the guitar. The fellows at Guitar World seem nice enough. They seem helpful if not extemely knowlegeable. They were willing to deal on the price without being jerks. Yamaha has a pretty big website.

I think this guitar might be a best kept secret when you factor in price, looks, sound, and playability. This is my second guitar as I haven't been playing long. I can't see ever selling it. There is nothing about it that I dislike. I am thinking about getting an acoustic guitar for times when I don't want to plug in and yet still want volume. If it was lost or stolen I would not hesitate to get another, and I guess that's a strong testimonial. If you're looking for a beautiful looking, versatile sounding, semi-hollow body and don't have $1000 to $2000 to spend. Look no further. This is your baby. P.S. I've seen pictures of this guitar in the Musician's Friend catalog. They do not do the guitar justice. You have to see it to appreciate how nice it looks, especially in the Gretch orange. Trust me.

I beleive the AEX series is a new product from Yamaha. My guitar is probably built early 99, Taiwan-made. It`s got 22 frets and is a single cutaway semi-hollow body with f-holes. Mine is black with gold hardware, stop tailpiece, 1 vol, 1 tone, comes with 2 P-90 style pick-up. Body is made of Alder and the fingerboard is rosewood. I bought it new. The only accesory it came in with is a cord and an Allen hex driver.

I love to play jazz and the neck pick-up sounds great to me. I plug it to a Fender twin reverb, normally, direct. It has a bassy feel compared with my other guitars which I think is partly due to the body acoustics. Pick-ups are a little noisy though but I have my noise gate to arrest this. I originally planned to replace the pick-ups with a Duncan but the guy at Guitar Center advised me to try out the original pick-ups a little longer and see if I really wanted to replace them. Took his advise and guess what, now I feel the pick-ups arent that bad at all. I've used it with a zoom 505 and found this guitar could rock as well.

The guitar was perfectly set-up right out of the box. I own several guitars and I normally do my own adjustments. This is my first time to buy a guitar without having to adjust anything at all. The externals of the guitar are very good. But when i peeped through the f holes, could see some white powdery material in the wood, probably was part of the glue they used. Overall, though, workmanship is very good. Just need to be careful with the finish. It looks to me the paint is a little thin.

This is my third Yahaha guitar. One of them is a thin body mini acoustic and it withstood live playing. I'm sure this one will. The gold hardware finish is I think what will wear first but this is more of aesthetics than reliability. If I'd use a back-up, it's because I could sometimes break strings. Keep in mind that this is a semi-hollow body so it requires special handling care.

Never dealt with Yamaha before, but the guy from the music store was very accomodating.

I've been playing for more than 20 years. I own a '83 Ibanez AM-10 Semi-hollow body electric, a couple of Yamaha guitars, and a Wasburn strat copy. Before I bought the AEX502, my other choices were Epiphone 335 models (Dot, Sheraton, Casino). I read the reviews on them so I had an idea on what they could give. However, I cant find a review on the AEX502, though I knew Yamaha`s craftmanship quality. I gambled on the Yamaha and I found myself very happy with this guitar. I was willing to replace the pick-ups then if I wasnt satisfied with the sound, but as it turned out, I didnt have to. In my other Yamaha`s, I found myself replacing the single coil pick-ups. Perhaps I was just lucky with this one.