YAMAHA REVSTAR

85
JUNE 2022 GUITARIST
YAMAHA REVSTAR
5. The RSS20 is loaded
with VH5 covered
humbuckers that use
Alnico V magnets and
have a measured DCR of
8.57kohms (bridge) and
8.31k (neck)
6. The Standard and
Professional models
use a  ve-way lever
switch that o ers the
usual bridge, both and
neck selections, plus
slightly out-of-phase
sounding combinations
in positions 2 and 4
is the width at the 22nd fret. In depth,
we have on average 20.75mm at the 1st
fret and 23.95mm by the 12th, so in lower
positions that’s similar to the previous
model (although that had a slightly wider
nut width), while the depth and feel is less
big as you move up the neck. Those original
Revstar necks, from the 500-level upwards,
really had a lot of girth by the 12th fret.
And yet the shape here, with its quite full
shoulders and a flatter back, feels a little
bigger than it actually measures.
Still, as we’ve seen before, these
models are very hard to tell apart in feel,
particularly those made in Yamaha’s
Chinese acoustic factory compared with
the higher level Japanese guitars. Swapping
from the Element to Standard, let alone
the Professional, you really don’t get any
impression of basic, better, best.
With such consistency across the style
you might expect the same in terms of
sounds. Starting with the humbucking
Standard, we’re met with a pretty, well,
standard, Gibson-esque not-too-hot
humbucking voice. It’s a considered voice
that’s very mainstream, in that the bridge
humbucker balances girth and power, with
a typically slightly rounded high-end, less
sharp than the Burstbucker 2 on our Gibson
sealed semi-solid designs you can tap the
body with your fingernails and easily hear
the hollow areas, you really hear very little
hollowness here. They feel like mainstream
solidbodies – and good ones at that. We
can’t help thinking that the ‘semi’ side of
this design is used to impart some depth and
resonance, akin to good lightweight woods
that much higher level guitars might use.
These really don’t feel like inert lumps, and
even the RSE20 feels nice and alive, and is
comfortable played seated or strapped on.
More obviously, the neck shape has gone
through some changes, too. First, the neck
back is now a slinky satin. The nut drops in
width and, as ever, there’s slight variance
here. Yamaha specs 41.9mm, which is pretty
much bang on the average measurement
for our quartet. Yamaha mistakenly
specs the 12th-fret width at 56.8mm (our
average measurement is 53mm), which
These guitars are not
trying to be ‘better’
versions of a classic
design. They are very
much their own thing
3. The Standard and
Professional models use
stainless-steel jumbo-
sized frets, and all the
new Revstars share the
same neck dimensions
and a 305mm (12-inch)
 ngerboard radius. Both
upper levels use small
bar-like ’board inlays, too
4. These G&B-made
soapbar single coils add
a very characterful voice
but also have plenty of
power. They measure
7.93kohms (bridge)
and 8.08k (neck), and
we’re told the same
units feature on the
Professional model
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GIT485.rev_yamaha.indd 85GIT485.rev_yamaha.indd 85 12/04/2022 15:4412/04/2022 15:44