YAMAHA REVSTAR

83
JUNE 2022 GUITARIST
YAMAHA REVSTAR
will be the stainless-steel jumbo frets on our
Standard and Professional models, while
the radius of the rosewood fingerboard on
all models slightly changes from the 350mm
(13.75 inches) of the previous guitars to
305mm (12 inches). The upper two tiers
also have binding around the top edge of the
bodies, ’boards and headstocks, with small
bar fingerboard inlays; the Element models
are unbound with dot fingerboard inlays.
As with the previous models, all the
guitars use a tune-o-matic-style bridge,
which is paired on the dual-humbucking
‘20’ models with a stud tailpiece, or on the
dual-soapbar single-coil ‘02’ models with
a distinct custom tailpiece that featured on
the similar soapbar-equipped original 502T.
Previously, the parts were satin-finished,
but here (including that custom tailpiece)
they are bright, shiny nickel-plate. The
tuners seem identical across the levels,
a rather nice enclosed style with slightly
green-ish keystone buttons and a smooth
positive action.
The actual covered humbuckers are
quoted as VH3 neck and bridge on the
Element, and VH5 on the Standard and
Professional – both sets apparently with
Alnico V magnets. The VP5 neck and bridge
soapbar single coils feature only in the
two upper tiers. As before, the controls are
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1. Although our prototype’s
pickups were o -spec
on the Element model
RSE20, the correct VH3
humbuckers that the
production models will
feature are very similar
to the VH5 ’buckers
on the RSS20 – all are
made by G&B in Korea
to Yamaha’s design
2. The Element headstock
is unbound; on
the Standard and
Professional models
we get binding on the
headstock,  ngerboard
and top body edge.
However, like the other
guitars the Element’s
fascia doesn’t feature
a Yamaha logo. “From a
branding point of view,
via the tuning fork logo,
it says ‘Yamaha’ but in
a cooler way,” explained
Julian Ward on the
Revstar’s launch in 2015
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