Yamaha Revstar - anyone tried em?? Anyone using or gigging em???

riffpowers

I've had some very useful comments on my previous thread on retiring my les paul custom from gigging and buying something else.

One of my friends who has done the same suggested buying a telecaster thinline or a revstar

I don't think a telecaster wold cut it for me, but I did wonder about the revstar. I wondered if Yamaha's reputation for quality would mean that the revstar's gibsonesque scale length and spec would give a familiar sound and feel to my 1990 les paul custom.

Anyone out there using one??!!

AlexC

I'm a big fan of Yamahas. I have two and gig and record with them constantly. Don't own a Revstar, but have spent several hours with one for rehearsals. Lovely machine. And yes - a definite LP feel to it. 

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Had a noodle on one in a shop a few weeks ago, unplugged only though. Felt really well made and comfortable to play, and I really liked the stripped back, bare bones feel. Definite vibe of a Les Paul Junior or Special.

EricTheWeary

Ooh , thingy on here does - the guy who worked for Yamaha ( oddly enough). Thinks... @rossyamaha  - I'm not sure he pops up much now but he was doing decent sized gigs with a strat and a Revstar IIRC.

When I saw Imelda May this year one of her guitarists was alternating a Revstar and a strat. No idea which model though.  

rossyamaha

@EricTheWeary thats me. Still hanging around bothering people. 

@riffpowers yeah I've been using one for a while. I used to work for Yamaha so there was an amount of brand pride involved but to be honest, I still play them now. My real Les Paul was simply a backup for the Revstar. 

The tour I was playing on I was using an RS820 and an RS502T. Every model has a very different sound and somewhat different feel but those 2 were what were needed for what we were doing. 

For proper Les Paul tones, the 2 favourites are the 620 and 820. 620 has that more "vibey" open vintage sound and the 820 has a much more thick and ballsy modern sound. With the dry switch on, it goes into a nice P90 kinda sound so you can get a Junior thing happening as well. 

As has been said before, really well made and punch well above their weight for the price point. 

riffpowers

Thanks for the input guys!!

So if i'm looking for something with the aggressive punch of an lp custom, which ones should I try??

guitars4you

I recently had a used version yet despite all the big stories of potentially taking over the guitar world and this is the be all and end all it took me ages to sell it - Guitar was fine - nothing special or better than a PRS SE and could certainly could compete against them,  so no faults as such but nothing that we've not seen before with another badge - Don't want this to sound like I don't like Yamaha as that is not the case, but the hype was bigger than reality - they can do a good honest days work, but so can other makes/models - Good value for money but that is about it

ICBM

I have to say the only one I've worked on - which admittedly was one of the lower-end models, the 320 - wasn't good. It had an s-bend in the neck that was serious enough to need a fairly heavy fret dress to get it properly playable, and even when done was a rather heavy and totally dull and characterless guitar. Disappointing.

guitars4you

ICBM said:

I have to say the only one I've worked on - which admittedly was one of the lower-end models, the 320 - wasn't good. It had an s-bend in the neck that was serious enough to need a fairly heavy fret dress to get it properly playable, and even when done was a rather heavy and totally dull and characterless guitar. Disappointing.

I was probably similar to you - loved, owned, sold, played early SG and SF models so expecting something based on that but the marketing team have done a better job than the luthiers - They are not 'crap' but neither are they the be all and end all - Took my used one to about 3/4 major shows and had a job to sell it and create any interest in it

John_P

I quite like the look of them.    Feels like they could take on most gigs.    I find the range of pricing between the top and bottom of the range a bit hard to follow given its mainly wood a pickup changes.

Rigsby

I've got a Revstar 820. The quality, fit and finish on it are extremely high. It weighs just under 8lbs. The body contours along with the lighter weight make it very comfortable to play. I also have one of the SG1820 reissues against which I can compare it. The neck on the Revstar is slightly bigger / fuller than the neck on the SG, which I personally prefer. Pick ups and hardware on the Revstar are excellent too. I gig the guitar regularly and it holds its own. For roughly a 3rd of the price of the SG, the Revstar is IMO definitely worth a look.

TheMarlin

I played the green one with cream P90’s in Anderson’s.

Its been playing on my mind ever since.  If it had a Bigsby instead of a hardtail, I would have bought it. 

Marlin

equalsql

TheMarlin said:

I played the green one with cream P90’s in Anderson’s.

Its been playing on my mind ever since.  If it had a Bigsby instead of a hardtail, I would have bought it. 

Marlin

Ditto, I tried the same one in PMT Birmingham a few weeks ago and was quite smitten. 

Dominic

I have played the top end one and liked it a lot......very well made ,nice feel but very normal in the sound dept

djspecialist

For anyone North of the border, this just popped up on my Facebook feed:
https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/news/140138
Featuring @rossyamaha of this parish unless I'm much mistaken.

mr_air

I have played two Revstars which as far as i remember were from the middle and top of the line. Both guitars played and sounded well (humbuckers in both) but the neckshape felt a little unfamiliar to me. I don't know what the spec of the neck is for the Revstars but on both I played the necks felt flatter than what I'm used to. More like a D shape than a C. It would take some transition time for me to really bond with the Revstar neckshape.

jeztone2

For the money I'd grey import a used SG1000. I'm not really convinced by them. But then I think that's a better proposition than buying any new set neck guitar around £750.00