Break-away from solid body tones!
Written: Apr 27 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very good quality and workmanship at its price level.
Cons: Not many choices available for pickups upgrade.
The Bottom Line: Good quality, good price and tones you can create as your very own combine to make the AEX520 an excellent choice. How can you go wrong for US$296?
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| jetrevilla's Full Review: Yamaha Aex520 Semi-Hollow |
I bought my Yamaha AEX 520 a week ago I have not put it down since taking it out of its box. Since that time, I have already used the guitar in a couple of band rehearsals and in several private/ personal sessions. In all times, I came out very happy with it in both tone and playability!
Initially, the guitar's action was a bit high for my taste and closer inspection showed that the neck was setup with a slight bow. Having owned so mnay guitars in the past, I know that shipping can usually shift a guitar's neck and all it requires is a minor setting up. Since I'm quite experienced with setting up guitars on my own, the action was immediately corrected with just a quick tightening turn of the truss rod. Although the action was already to my liking and comfort, further fine tuning of the action can still be had by adjusting the thumb wheels under the tune-o-matic style bridge that can raise or lower it.
This is definitely a PLUS POINT for the AEX520 as setting it up for a player's personal taste and comfort is a breeze.
The body styling was spawned by Yamaha's AEX and AES series of expensive arch types but the AEX 520 is constructed as a semi hollow flat top with a solid piece of wood running down the middle to hold down the pick ups, bridge and stop tail piece. Classic "F" holes adorn the top and although it has no pick guard and sports only only dot fretboard markers, the guitar still comes out as having clean lines. The gold tuners are equipped with tension adjusted springs and have so far held the strings in tune with no problem. All hardware are finihsed in gold, by the way.
Soundwise, the 520 is powered by a couple of mini-humbuckers that solidly provide excellent tones that can be varied with a few tweaks of the single tone knob and single volume knob. Using a Fender Deluxe 112 amplifier and no effects at all, I was able to get tones ranging from woody jazz inflections to some biting blues inspired howls! The fixed bridge also helps the guitar produce some good levels of inspiring sustain.
In my opinion, while the AEX520 produced tones that weren't quite Gibson territory, it sure comes pretty close. And at the US$296 that I paid for it brand new (it was on Sale), this was hard to beat!
As I play in a band that play Blues and Rock n Roll covers, the guitar suits me just fine and handles RnB too quite well. Despite this, I believe the guitar won't do as well covering metal or any of the other harder types of rock. You need another guitar for that!
The mini humbuckers are a bit of a problem if you're the type who opts to change or upgrade pickups as there are not many available choices in the market. As for me, I'm satisfied with the pick ups as they combine really well with the fixed bridge and the alder/maple combination. All that and a semi hollow body can provide you with some interesting and unique tones.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jetrevilla
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Reviews written: 1
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