yamaha AES 800 or mid range epi??

T

the dairy giant

New member
Hi...

Buying my son (I will get usage rights!!) a guitar for his 15th birthday. He would quite like an epi Les Paul (well of course he would like the real thing...). they seem to be available at about 3 price points, (in New Zealand) Around $400, Around $800, around $1200.

I was thinking that perhaps the $800-ish models may be worth buying.

BUT...

There is a 2nd hand Yamaha AES 800 for $800, that particular model is discontinued, but I think new it would have been at least $1200 here, it has diMarzio Q100 pups, and has a quite cool retro look he actually likes (mild shock at that), exactly like this...

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/document?cpd=0OEY&doc_id=99371&g=guitar&base_pid=500073&index=0

IF anyone has any relevant experience that could sway me, I would be glad to hear it, thanks...

Simon Gregory, Guitar financer. :)
 
epiphone

i would go for the epiphone ....... but thats just me ...... i have never had any problems w/ my epiphone les paul ..... i love the way it plays... it sounds great... it is one of the few guitars i will never mod. :D
 
Hmmm interesting. I wonder if you guys have top of the line Epis though?, they are out of the picture for me, so It would be a mid range model

the cheap ones here have a thinner body, bolt on neck, the mid raange ones have the thick Les Paul-type body, set neck and better pickups, tuners etc i think
 
epiphone

my epiphone is the deluxe model ... red sparkle finish ... mini humbuckers ... set neck .... great action ... the tone is sweet ... those mini's have a lot of mid's they cut through like a switch blade on the bridge pickup ..... the neck pickup is fat, warm, mellow, ..... i bought it used for $220 i think ?? truley one of the best deals i ever hoped for ......... :D :D :D
 
just to update, if I went for the Epi, it would be a 'Studio' model. have just been told by themusic shop guy that the differences between that and the next up the range, the standard, are prety much just cosmetic.
 
the dairy giant said:
just to update, if I went for the Epi, it would be a 'Studio' model. have just been told by themusic shop guy that the differences between that and the next up the range, the standard, are prety much just cosmetic.
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All the music shop guy will have are the Chinese Epis.

For the same money you can buy a Japanese made one that will be far superior.

Trust me. Look at eBay.
 
yes.. you are probably right... I have looked at our local version of ebay, lotsa guitars but nothing doing in the higher range Epis (don't really fancy buying off US ebay and shipping a guitar halfway around the globe). So I did what I should have done and tried them out side by side... I'm sorry, but the Yamaha was better than the (one!) Epi in the price range I was looking for. Just one of those things where you play one, sounds fine, you play the other and it seems to come alive. A lot of tone variation with 2 spilt DiMarzio humbuckers and a 5 position switch. Not sure what all the variations are exactly, but lotsa possibilities, pretty hot sounding compared to the Epis pups.... So i just bought it!! Mys on will be happy, but its too much to spend on a birthday present, so some sort of shared custody is called for I think!

Thanks for the help, perhaps the particluar Epi I tried was not a shining example.
 
the dairy giant said:
yes.. you are probably right... I have looked at our local version of ebay, lotsa guitars but nothing doing in the higher range Epis (don't really fancy buying off US ebay and shipping a guitar halfway around the globe). So I did what I should have done and tried them out side by side... I'm sorry, but the Yamaha was better than the (one!) Epi in the price range I was looking for. Just one of those things where you play one, sounds fine, you play the other and it seems to come alive. A lot of tone variation with 2 spilt DiMarzio humbuckers and a 5 position switch. Not sure what all the variations are exactly, but lotsa possibilities, pretty hot sounding compared to the Epis pups.... So i just bought it!! Mys on will be happy, but its too much to spend on a birthday present, so some sort of shared custody is called for I think!

Thanks for the help, perhaps the particluar Epi I tried was not a shining example.
Click to expand...

i'm pretty certain you just bought an awesome instrument.
 
erwin boutay said:
I have six Yamaha's and they're all great. I also have an Epiphone. I think you made a wise choice!
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Yeah, I never could figure out why George Harrison didn't ditch his Epiphone for a Yamaha. :D
 
yeh, i think i did too, thanks for your input. Wow Erwin, what did you do to get all those red marks by your name??

Now I just have to keep the thing in hiding till my son's birthday in a week!!
 
Yamaha make some really nice stuff. I am sure the guitar will be loved.

I wish my dad had bought me a guitar as good as the one you bought for your son.
 
I've recently been in love with yamaha ecoustics, I dunno what it is they have a really distinct feel to them or something. Kinda of an electric guitar feel cept on an acoustic but with all the tonal elements of an ecoustic, catch my drift?
 
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