Yamaha RGX820Z Guitar Review

Deep down, even the most tasteful, subtle classical and jazz aficionados have the primal urge to
crank the volume, offend the neighbours, and rock. Yamaha's (snappily named) RGX820Z is built 
to appeal to the maniac in all of us. The styling isn't so overtly aggressive as the pointy-
headstocked shredders of yore, but it comes equipped with more than adequate hardware for you 
to melt faces, ignite elbows, liquefy earlobes, or whatever meaningless act of destruction takes 
your fancy. 

It's a rock guitar, then?
While the RGX is quite at home shortening your life expectancy, when you're finished, it will 
happily turn around and deliver a bit of acoustic strumming, and whatever you want in between. 
It's the Bueno of guitars, then - it'll be anything you want it to be. 
The RGX achieves this through some serious hardware: Seymour Duncan JB and '59 sit alongside 
Sperzel locking machineheads and a piezo transducer. The JB, more than any other pickup in the 
world, is capable of both clean and filthy tones; warm, big, and bluesy sounds are catered for 
thanks to the '59's fat, PAF-like tone. The bridge is floating, allowing serious divebombing 
along with some upward motion for the EVH in all of us. 
The bridge is a creative rethink by Yamaha's designers. Rather than opt for a popular unit like 
a Wilkinson, they've come up with their own design which keeps the upper surface of the trem 
completely flat and smooth -- making palm muting a more sensual experience than ever before! The 
set-up was spot on from the moment the guitar arrived, but let down by a poorly cut nut which 
caused endless tuning problems. A quick re-cut and we were back in action with tuning stability 
to match any other non-locking system. 
Strummed acoustically, this guitar has one of the woodiest, warmest sounds of any solid body on 
the market. This translates to a convincing acoustic sound from the piezo unit, while the 
electric sound is a sparkling balance of brightness and warmth. Twin outputs even allow you 
to split to the two sounds for all kinds of layering possibilities if you've got the 
imagination... and two amps.

Plug in, rock out
The gorgeously smooth neck is grabbable in the extreme; its oiled finish and chunky dimensions 
allow speed and comfort for every lick in the book while avoiding the scrawny feel of many speed
 necks. Now let's get to the real stuff… rawk! With the gain cranked, the '59 sounds big and 
smooth, while the JB bristles with harmonics and singing tone. It's easy to get carried away 
and find yourself raking into the kind of vibrato that really should be left to the 
professionals. All in the best possible taste though, naturally.
	The RGX820Z has the heart of rock but all the refinements of home. It's subtle styling 
and sonic versatility mean that you could use it for a function gig and no one would ever know 
you were toting an axe of doom in sheep's clothing. The level of spec puts the guitar in 
competition with the MusicMan Axis Sport and the Parker Nitefly, so the real clincher is the 
fact that all this comes for £750.

For: Versatility, features, value for money.
Against: No coil tap means that not quite all tonal bases are covered.

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