I was expecting this to be a fantastic guitar because I already have the first generation 502T Revstar with the P90's, which is an awesome guitar.
And to be honest I prefer the 90's, but there are times when you need a humbucker equipped guitar (and also a Strat and a Tele) and I had sold my Les Paul. So when Yamaha decided to update the Revstar series I thought why not, and I really wanted one of these sunrise burst beauties.
And I was not disappointed with the looks of this guitar when it arrived. The guitar I received is a thing of beauty. The product pictures really don't do it justice. I would attach a photo off my guitar to this review if it were possible to show you what I mean. The colours of the burst are richer and deeper than they appear to be in the pictures. Having such a beautiful instrument makes you want to play it more, at least that's my experience.
I also like the updated electronics, the InBetween positions are really useful, and the pickups in this thing sound really good. I would say they are sort of medium output, and very expressive and well rounded. I thought I might swap them out for a pair of SeymoreDuncans but now that I've had the guitar for a week and I have played it for hours every day, I see no reason for that.
This guitar is a slightly bigger than the first generation of Revstars, but feels a bit lighter, this may be because it is chambered but it not a huge difference and is not particularly heavy, but it's no feather-wheight. The main thing is that it's perfectly balanced and comfortable standing or sitting, no neck dive. In these reviews people often say that a guitar is good considering the price, but I'm not going to say that here because this is a fantastic guitar, full stop.
pros:
Fit and finish: Flawless, and drop dead gorgeous paint sunrise burst.
Fretwork. Very good. No high frets or buzz or anything like that (even though it came set up with very low action). The guitar I received would probably rate 4 out of five on the “Know your Gear” nylon sock test.
Playability: out of the box this guitar played extremely well. The action was a bit too low for my liking, since I'm a bit heavy handed, but I haven't felt the need to raise it yet.
Electronics: Quality components. I really like these pickups and the five-way switch open the possibility of some very useful in between sounds. The booster function is also very cool. When you are about to solo, flip it on and it will kick the front end of your up a little bit harder and lift your tone a notch.
Design: This guitar is unique and different, and not the clone of some big brand design from the 50s or 60s.
Cons:
Tuners: this is maybe not that real con, I guess the tuners are fine for a guitar this price, but I would have preferred the locking tuners. In fact I don't understand why they don't ship them was locking tuners, it's just much more convenient for string changes and also helps with tuning stability. I also have to say that the tuners on my 502T feel a bit more premium somehow. This is the only thing I will be changing on this guitar, and it's a shame because I really like white machine heads on the original tuners.
Intonation: intonation on the D string and three high E was slightly off. It took me five minutes and one screwdriver and a tuner to fix that. Not really a problem for someone who knows how to do that and I guess that some setup work is to be expected when this is shipped overseas, or at least that has been my experience.
Based on this experience I can highly recommend this guitar, But if you don't have a P90 guitar and want to try something a bit different, get the P90 version of the Revstar.
[update]
I have now had this guitar for six months and changed out the tuners for locking tuners. IMO the tuners were not horrible but when you have a guitar that is this good this is an easy mod. It improved tuning stability.
I have not had any issues that were not to be expected. I have had to adjust the truss rod a couple of times as it has gotten used to its new climate, time will tell if the carbon reinforcements in the neck make any difference (I am sceptical to be honest) but other than that, nothing.
