Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: AndyR on August 04, 2016, 09:35:32 PM
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Holy flip!
I just realised, this is the first non-Fender/Gibson I've acquired in a long time. And it is utterly FAB.
I've been wanting to check one out for AGES, but I just haven't been able to find one to try - even Yamaha London haven't had one for weeks/months ("It's proving a bit popular that one"). In the end I had to order it online when I found one in stock in Brighton. I had fingers crossed, but everything I'd heard was very encouraging.
So here we are: Yamaha Revstar RS502 in Billet Green.
Love Love LOVE it :)
If the rest of the Revstar series are this good - wowsers!
This youtube doodle was recorded with the Yamaha THR10C stuffed in front of the laptop. No pedals or anything, just the guitar controls. My LP and SG react like this on the volumes and tones too, but the P90s in this guitar add a whole new vibe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGvkcdsU0WY
I've since lowered the pickups further - sounds even better. All it needs now is my 11s on it.
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It sounds and looks fantastic.
I may look for one used later this year..........
Are you gonna put BKP?
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Are you gonna put BKP?
I don't think so. I kinda bought this one as the "total package". Most of the time I'm buying guitars to house a particular BKP, this time it was "I want this for what it is, as it is".
Who knows, though? hehe
One problem would be the covers - they have a brushed aluminium vibe on plastic to them, to match the hardware (obviously we'll have to see how durable that is!). I have to admit, I was checking the BKP shop for options on P90s - they do a chromed plastic soapbar cover, which would be close, but not quite right.
First things first is 11s and raise the action, probably tonight, and then rock it over the weekend :cool:
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Cool, congrats!
Though I would like another Telecaster (I have two but neither are the classic Tele configuration), I think my electric guitar buying days are over for a long time; I have one of everything and am happy (LP, Strat, Tele, SG, bass).
What I AM looking for next are some acoustic instruments, a mandolin and dobro and perhaps a mandocello...
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Congrats! I like the Revstar-look. It's difficult to judge how good it is. It sounds a bit raspy and thin in the vid, not typically P90. Might be the THR though.
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Thats gorgeous, love it!
It looks quite Gretsch-like. I would go for TV Jones in that! :afro:
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Congrats! I like the Revstar-look. It's difficult to judge how good it is. It sounds a bit raspy and thin in the vid, not typically P90. Might be the THR though.
I think it's a mixture of the THR10 model being set for my Les Paul Traditional, but more likely the laptop's in-built mic (there's a fair bit of distortion on the top-end of the recording that wasn't happening in the room).
I've done a lot of fiddling over the weekend. The 11s are on, the pickups have been raised, lowered, raised, pole-pieces fiddled with, etc, etc. I did all this with the THR100HD running at a decent volume, kicking out a JMP Marshall sort of sound, and comparing it to my Stormied SG and Apache'd Strat. On the same amp setting, it's capable of kicking out a fair bit more top-end rasp than both of those! :grin: it's really responsive to the tone control, though.
After all the adjustments, the neck is now the creamy thing I was hoping for, the bridge is thicker than it was on that vid, but still has the rasp I was after if the volume and tone are fully open (most of the time I have the tone backed off a bit, I do this on most guitars anyway). With the pickups adjusted like this, the middle position is slightly hollower, and brighter than either - that kinda surprised me.
It is conceivable that I ought to be fiddling with the amp too - but I haven't bothered so far. I have amp settings I use for humbuckers, strats and teles - with only the slightest tweak between them. Certainly the THR10C model I played on that vid was designed for my Les Paul Traditional, I didn't do anything to it.
Oh, the "Dry Switch" on these Revstars (all the models in the range have this, it knocks some bottom-end off when you pull the tone control) is a cute idea, and makes a very usable sound. Maybe if I was playing live I'd use it, but I've got strats and teles that seem to do what it's aiming at better. Live, though, I could see it being very useful. I actually found myself wondering whether it might be more useful to someone who uses guitar volume and tone controls less than I do?
Anyhow, there's a phenomenal number of sounds you can get out of the guitar before you even touch amp knobs and pedal stuff. There is on any guitar, but they almost seem a bit more obvious here, there are more extremes available (and they're all usable). I don't know whether that's this guitar, or P90s...
It looks quite Gretsch-like. I would go for TV Jones in that! :afro:
You can cut that sort of talk out right now!!! :grin: (You do realise you had me checking them out for 20 minutes?!). No, the whole reason for this guitar was to foster some P90 love. It's kind of working, it's starting to make me play stuff without me trying to make it sound like a humbucker or a fender single coil.
Finally - the matt finish on the front (and the finish on the hardware), this finish is on several of the Revstar models. I love this finish and how it reacts, but others might need to be aware - it's an absolute finger-print magnet... It's going to look "worn-in" very quickly. It's crossed my mind that this could be a contributing reason as to why it's hard to find one to try in the shops? (Because they're wary about having them out on the wall for all and sundry to fiddle with?) Added to that, I never worry about resale myself, but I could see some folks turning their noses up on a second hand instrument? ("Oh crumbs, hasn't he ever cleaned this??!")
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It looks quite Gretsch-like. I would go for TV Jones in that! :afro:
You can cut that sort of talk out right now!!! :grin: (You do realise you had me checking them out for 20 minutes?!).
:grin: I, on the other hand, have been dreaming of a solid body Gretsch for quite some time :tongue: a Corvette, Bo Diddly rectangle, Malcolm Young sig or a Billy Bo. So the idea is very much in my head.
I'll have to wait though since I recently got a new Fender (post soon).
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I had the Yamaha Troy van Leeuwen with three P90's. They sounded thick like syrup. Stunning guitar, but couldn't get on with the Bigsby/bridge-setup. Maybe the Revstar P90's have a different wound.
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Yeah, when I was buying the THR100HD, I tried it with one of the Pacificas that had a P90 neck - that was creamy. It was, I believe, a Seymour Duncan of some description.
But, apparently, they designed the pickups specifically for the Revstar:
"Pickups
Designed from the ground up, Revstar features specially wound YGD pickups that are perfectly matched to each guitar. More than 50 prototype pickups were tested featuring different combinations of wire, windings, magnets and base plates. Eventually, a spec was settled on for each guitar model and the Revstar pickup series was born.
VP5 : RS502 / 502T
Alnico V magnet, German silver baseplate and plain enamel wire for clear, vintage tone with bite [8.3k DCR]"
This is the sound clip/vid that pretty much sold me - I watched a load of others, but this was the one, early on. Even when I'd decided NOT to buy one, I kept coming back and watching this short clip for a couple of months (mebbe once a week :grin: :grin: :grin:)(even made the Mrs watch it a couple of times!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvEdGxBOaSg
He's using a slightly warmer amp sound than I do, and it sounds like it could be DI'd (wouldn't surprise me if it's a THR100), but I was pretty happy that I got what was promised when I first plugged mine in.
Mine sounded more like this with the stock (10s) on it - it's a little bit weightier sounding now with 11s. But I'm about to make a coffee and do some further experimenting :cool:
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Nice, I love the Revstar shape! What are they like compared to a LP for weight and general ergonomics?
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Yeah, Andy, amp and settings lead to various results with the same guitar. I listened several video's of this model this night and they definitely are on the brigther side, more single coilish, less full than most P90's. I would say more like a fat tele. Or maybe those video's are not quite representative. Could be the case.
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Yeah, Andy, amp and settings lead to various results with the same guitar. I listened several video's of this model this night and they definitely are on the brigther side, more single coilish, less full than most P90's. I would say more like a fat tele. Or maybe those video's are not quite representative. Could be the case.
That's interesting - "fat tele" is a way of describing this guitar. Quite a lot fatter/hotter than all my teles, but leaning that way rather than anywhere else.
I quite like it but, of course, you've now got me wondering about a more "representative" P90 sound :grin:. I'm not that familiar with them, could you point me at some vids that you think are more representative?
I'm wondering, it could be the guitar itself - acoustically it is very "tele like", bright and spanking. It is its own beast, but it sounds more fendery acoustically than gibsony... Which leads us nicely to...
Nice, I love the Revstar shape! What are they like compared to a LP for weight and general ergonomics?
That's interesting, VERY interesting - I'd forgotten all about my original expectations and my slight surprise when it first arrived.
I was expecting something like an LP when I was GAS-ing for it. It's mahogany back and neck, rosewood board, and (apparently, can't tell) a maple cap. I've played Yamaha SGs in the past - so I was kinda expecting a heavier beast.
However, when I got it out of the packaging, there was an initial "oh?!" followed quickly by "Oh my word... it's even better than I expected" - so I dropped the LP expectation really quickly, and haven't thought about it since.
Bodywise, it's thinner than a Les Paul. With the flat top it feels more "rigid" than a Les Paul, more of a "plank". It has contours but not nearly so pronounced as a strat. So, indeed, bodywise it does feel quite tele-like.
Neck feels more Gibson-like than Fender. It is very comfortable - very flat fingerboard and gorgeous fretwork/binding. But it's noticably narrower than a Gibson. It's works OK for me, as long as I mentally register "you're on a narrower string spacing here, watch what you're doing" - if I just randomly pick it up after noodling on the SG, I find myself wondering what's happened to my fingering abilities! :grin:
Weight - again, it's more like a tele. Lifting it off the stand, it's somewhere between LP and SG, much nearer the SG. Wearing it, it's LOADS lighter than my LP but, in comparison, the SG is "light as a feather". Oh, there is one thing, comparing it to an SG - it has a slight neck-dive. I'm using a cheapo Ernie-Ball webbing strap on it, I quite like them until I have a neck heavy guitar. A slightly more grippy strap would cure it easily - it's just my grippier strap is married to my 61 SG at the moment! :grin:
This has all got me wondering now what the other Revstars are like - I'd assumed they were all the same basic body, maybe not? I'd been assuming LP-like, but it turns out the 502 isn't. So if you're hoping for "Les Paul" but not an actual Les Paul - especially if you're interested in the humbucker ones - you maybe ought to try one first if you can.
I'm very pleased how it's turned out - I'm a confirmed Fender and Gibson sort of guitarist, and I feel no guilt or shame! But this one sits in the middle of them pulling its own weight, doing its own thing (um, for less than half the price of any of its neighbours!).
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Finally...
Something REALLY interesting happened to me last night, while checking out the weights and ergonomic comparisons just before I went to bed, ready to reply this morning.
I played the Revstar first, because I'd been tweaking the pickups again. I put it down and picked up the SG. There was this flood of "oh my goodness, it's not as good as this, is it?".
Then I picked up the LP. After the initial "sh1t this is so heavy" lifting it off the stand, it was utter bliss to wear and to play. It was almost "who needs ANY OTHER GUITAR if you've got something like this to play?" (I've been avoiding playing it for a while since getting the SG ... so that I actually got into the SG).
I was actually thinking "why did I buy the Revstar??! What was I imagining?!"... I was ready to go to bed with a "better not tell the missus about this"(!)
I wiped the strings on the SG and the LP and then picked up the Revstar to do the same. Instead, I ruefully plugged it back in, just for a quick check... It felt and sounded amazing, even better. So I went round them again. Each time, the guitar I picked up felt better than the one I'd just put down!!!
No alcohol or drugs were involved (I was bit tired, though).
Anyway, this "guitar nirvana" will probably NEVER happen to me again, or not for a long time, so I thought I'd record it here for posterity :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin:
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Nice thing indeed, congrats! Classy look, P90s, great sound...what is not to love?
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I should have said: a rather fat tele. I don't mean the Revstar sounds bad, just (in most of the vids I watched) quite snappy and with more bite than I expect from a regular P90.
Here is an example of snappiness:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPeiC7AOsp4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPeiC7AOsp4)
Another example, with quite some F-style pop on the lower strings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqK8xa0X8b0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqK8xa0X8b0)
A tad fatter, but still the same spectrum:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nIalPCtgQ0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nIalPCtgQ0)
Sample of the Yamaha SA503 TVL I had. Sounds more like the typical P90-sound to me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC91xx4ZVPI
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Cool! Thanks for that - I'll watch them when I get home this evening.
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That's interesting about the weight etc Andy. I've been kinda thinking about jacking in my trusty old pearl lp as whilst it sounds great it weighs a bloody tonne and after playing an SG it just feels horrid (I must be getting old!). Was looking at either a tele or PRS to replace it with but a Revstar could be an option if I can find somewhere to try one out!