Yamaha RevStar RS420 Review – A Budget Friendly Guitar

The Yamaha RevStar RS420 is an exotic looking guitar no doubt, as it has taken inspiration from the 60s and 70s Universal Japanese Motorcycle Cafe Racers. It looks very familiar, but it is very unique as I have not really seen anything like it. It’s also one of the best electric guitars under $500.

It is not just a pretty face as this guitar is capable of performing various tones and it uses built-in filters in its pickups to bring out single-coil sounds without any hum. If you are an old soul just like me you will fall in love with this modern classic, and it is worth mentioning it is priced right in the mid-range and it provides plenty of value.

Design-wise, the Yamaha RevStar RS420 is really beautiful and I feel like I can’t stress this enough, it has a cool shape that is a little wider up top, a true vintage design that doesn’t look dated at all. It comes in various colors that all look fantastic such as Factory Blue, Fire Red, Maya Gold and my personal favorite the Black Steel. In addition to its perfect looks, the Yamaha RevStar RS420 is very comfortable to carry around and play on stage, thanks to its belly cut with a hidden forearm profile that has plenty of depth for added comfort.

I think this is the only guitar that uses nato as a tonewood with a maple top, white the 24.75-inch scale length neck also features a nato build. The neck provides tons of accessiblity to rosewood fretboard with 22 frets. I noticed that it was one of the most playable guitars on the market and it has a very quality build, as it can be always expected from Yamaha.

In the hardware and electronics department, the Yamaha RevStar RS420 has tons of features that will keep you on your toes. It is packed with a distinctive pair of VH3 passive humbuckers that are equipped with Alnico V magnets for a solid and vintage output, which I am deeply in love with. The controls are pretty standard, a master tone, a master volume, and a three-way selector switch. On top of this, it had a dry switch as well, that is activated from the push or pull on the tone control, the versatility that this layout and controls offer is simply breath-taking for this price range.

I also found that once the Yamaha RevStar RS420 is in tune it will stay there, thanks to its excellent tune-o-matic bridge, with diecast tuners and D’Addario strings to top it off.

Playing this guitar is a joy because the sound is just right, it provided good sustain and distortion. I enjoyed jamming to my favorite White Stripes songs and I felt like I was in unison with Jack White. The Yamaha RevStar RS420 really plays like a dream and I don’t think that nobody will argue the contrary.