Yamaha RGX820Z

Anyone know anything about the Yamaha RGX820Z? I found a couple of reviews on this guitar, and they seem to be pretty positive, some downright gushy. It has a solid Alder body flamed maple top, Sperzel locking tuners, and a Seymour Duncan 59 in the neck, and JB in the bridge, plus a Piezo bridge pickup. Seems like a pretty versatile instrument. The reason I'm asking is I got an e-mail from Musicians
Friend, and they must have an over stock or something. Most of the dealers I found are selling this guitar for 850.00 to 900.00

See Elderly instruments http://www.elderly.com/new_instruments/items/RGX820Z- RED.htm

Musicians Friend is selling them for 299.00. Man, the pickups alone are almost worth that much. What gives?

Here is one of the reviews.

Hey Dave, excellent review, and I agree with everything you wrote. I am not as bothered by the two piece neck, and probably wouldn't have noticed it. I bought a red model, and its absolutely gorgeous. I think
I would like the Amber also. If they had any left, I would have bought two of them. I also e-mailed a guy today who bought two and sold them both for 479.00. Not a bad profit, but they're still worth more than that. I'd say its a darn good 700.00 guitar, and at 299.00, it should be illegal to get it at this price The hardware alone is worth more.

I misunderstood the instruction manual. Thanks so much for the info. Now it works perfectly. Yamaha stated you could not use the piezo by itself. Sure sounds like you can to me (big knob all the way counter clock wise)

Hey Dave, I ordered one too, they sold out last night.
I agree, the quality that goes into these guitars is excellent, but the price if unreal.

Hey Dave, just curious, if the quality is there in this instrument (which it definitely seems to be), why would it matter so much whether it was made in Japan or Taiwan? I know there is a certain mystique attributed to instruments made in Japan, but the main reason people avoid Taiwanese and mostly Korean guitars is that the quality standards are not up to snuff compared to USA models. This certainly doesn't seem to be the case here. Yamaha seemed to use nothing but the finest components in this guitar, and the workman ship seems better than anything I've seen come out of Mexico, and as good or better than many USA made guitars.

Well, never mind. Musicians Friend already sold out. Wow.

Received my RGX820Z guitar today. I got the amber color and it is way pretty. The turners ARE locking sperzels and real duncan pickups. Hardware is heavy duty. Action and setup fine out of the box. Most could use one but I can't afford right now.

Now my mini review:
The seymour duncan pickups sound great. I play mostly a mid amount of distortion (blues) and they sound great this way AND have lots of definition, unlike cheap pickups.
The piezo (sp?) sounds decent enough (about like a fender nashville power tele). The blend knob to use both magnetic and piezo together makes it sound quite nice (and will be the way I use it to have an acoustic flavor). Also, the fretboard is VERY nice wood. I have various lower end yamaha pacificas and the fretboard with this guitar is no comparison. The wood is MUCH darker and smoother (almost like ebony, like my Ovation Legend).

BUT if I paid the regular $850.00 for this guitar I would return it for two reasons.
1) Not made in Japan (as I thought). Is made in Taiwan. Again not a problem AT ALL for the price I paid. The made in
Taiwan is marked on the Yamaha packing box AND the guitar itself.
2) The neck is two piece. The angled headstock is a separate piece (like Seagul acoustic guitars). This is a cost savings issue as far as I know and should not be on an $850.00 guitar, especially without case.
3) Minor problem..battery that came with it was dead

Overall evaluation is that this is the BEST guitar I have found for the money. I may never find one that plays/sounds this nice for this price ever (299.00 shipped). I have not had any really good sounding guitars for a while now (due to bad economy..etc).
Was even laid off when I bought this guitar (could not pass it up). Got a new half way decent job today at Comcast Cable (in cable modem tech support)...been a good day!

One more thing. Have already seen at least two people actioning these guitars on ebay to make a profit.
They are selling them as new which I'm sure they are (just bought from Musicians Friend for $299.00).
They are auctioning them as made in Japan (which they are NOT). I will be sending them email regarding this.
I THINK they are unaware they are made in Taiwan (I like to give the benefit of the doubt..and they have good feedback).
Overall the ONLY thing I don't like is the two piece neck (kinda cheesy).
This guitar is why I am selling my other yamaha guitars.
I'll keep my 112 as backup but this is my new main guitar
God bless you all!

The little knob is the volume control when you're in the active pickup. The larger knob below it is the blend knob. If I rotate the bottom know counter clockwise, I get no sound either, but thats because you are attenuating the volume. The front volume know is not functional in active mode, and the rear upper knob controls overall volume for the active and magnetic pickups. Sounds like its working exactly as its supposed to.

I ordered one last friday. Should be here thursday.
I can't wait. WAY NICE guitar...it seems. $299.00 seems to good to be true. I did'nt even have to pay shipping or tax. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

It really is a hoot. I have a Line 6 Flextone and a Deluxe Reverb that
I did the same thing with, its just awesome hearing both amps driven with a slightly different sound.

Hey David, you're welcome. I actually couldn't find any reference to the Piezo selection switch in the manual, at least not with regard to settings. I just kind of figured it out by playing around with it.
What page is it on?

It is not in the main (generic) manual. My guitar also came with a separate phamphlet for this particular guitar.
I covered the bridge, all the pickups/two jacks, battery and the locking tuners.

I've been playing around quite a bit with the guitar.
I adjusted the action a little bit lower (at first I went to low and bending was not very easy..and I do a lot of bending..even then NO buzz at all). Adjusting it is so easy with an allen wrench. I am now actually using a tremelo for the first time. Tuning is very stable with those locking tuners. Actually upon close inspection I found only one flaw. The scarf (sp?) neck joint connecting the headstock to the neck has a small gap(1/16th inch or so)
at the top of the join with wood filler..very neatly done though.
Very small defect for the price and if it was ever a problem would be a warranty issue anyway. Isn't the headstock really cool..very original with the two levels?. Honestly, just upgrading a guitar with those turners and duncan pickups would cost you $300 bucks to get someone to install it all. I am not concerned about the made in Taiwan anymore.
I mean Brian Moore is selling imported guitars with good parts for up to $1200 plus without case. Can't say I would ever be paying that much but this yamaha is as close to what I wanted at SO cheap. This is such a fun guitar and the piezo and duncan combination (plus the blend) has been fun. I have a crate 2 player amp that was originally designed for guitar teachers.
Has 2 inputs with completely separate controls and even built in effects. I connected the Yamaha with one input going with chorus on from the piezo output. I connected the passive Duncan output to the other input via a zoom amp modeler so I can play both at once. Pretty interesting because the yamaha has separate volume for duncan/piezo so you can accentuate one or the other...etc. I know I'm rambling. I'll be starting my new job for the cable company soon and won't have much time for the usenet stuff (AND FREE cable..
ALL CHANNELS and Cable modem..I can't wait). I'm getting tired of staying at home on unemployment compensation. Very greatful to find a decent job in this economy. God bless you all and have a great remainder of your weekend!

Yamaha makes one, although they are on back order from Musicians
Friend. It fits pretty closely in a standard Fender case, so any of the after market Strat/Tele cases should work.

I got one of these, too (in blue)...fantastic! Any recommendations for a hardshell case for this guitar? Thanks! Rick