Yamaha RGX 420 Guitar Review

Lately I have been messin around with my Yamaha RGX420S and there is some pretty awesome features to this axe ( says the owner of www.gear-vault.com ). The direct out switch that sends signal to the bridge into the amp is by far one of the best. This feature allows the RGX420S to have great tone and crisp sound through your amplifier. Playing with the volume and tone gives fantastic control of the level of amp distortion stated on the musicians web forum, www.gear-monkey.com. Another great feature found in the RGX420S is the five way toggle switch, you have so many options with the RGX. Without the coil splitting or direct- out features, the guitar would not sound the way it does, giving that crunchy rhythm tone and attacking leads.

There are of course some things I don’t care for in the RGX420S. I have previously owned a Yamaha RGX121 which rocked. So I thought buying a RG420S guitar would be similar, expecting to upgrade to the Floyd Rose Tremolo. Well that was not the case. Both RGX420S and the RGX121 have the same neck radius and rosewood fret board. However, the RGX420 has a wider neck and bigger frets. These options make me feel like I am playing my Ibanez RG2570, RG2550, or RG most other Prestige guitars, which is not what I expected. The tone in the pickups I did not much care for, they are hot with no guts. I could not find a clean sound in this guitar due to the pickups being so hot.

The tremelo does require some tweaking and make sure you tighten the arm well. You can adjust swinging movement with the nut which you can reach from the back of the body. But all'n all the Tremolo does a pretty good job.

Construction is fine. No complaint there. Quality of body and neck is good Alder wood and nice resonance maple neck. Hardware is nice for the price range of the guitar. These guitars are not a Prestige, though it might play like one.

It could take a good few hours of setup work to get the guitar from being average to great. The neck reacted well to truss rod adjustments, I adjusted the pick-up height and pole screws, and did some work on the vibrato arm. This guitar should have been a Yamaha (and it sounds like one which is not bad) but it feels like an Ibanez with this neck. If that's what you are looking for (but maybe you can't afford an $1000 Ibanez) this is a cheaper alternative. After some setup work it plays well and it sounds really heavy! I wouldn't buy it a second time, I like guitars with a bit more personality and character.

Designed for extended rock performance, the twin-humbuckered RGX420S - also available as a features a double-locking tremolo and a direct output switch for maximum soloing power.
The RGX series has been designed to meet the demands of today’s modern and heavy rock electric guitar player.

Narley rock lines with appealing metallic and matt style finishes make these guitars stand out from their appearance. Each guitar have a hot selected pick up, so tone options are really not a problem. The 400 series features a dependable fully locking tremolo system and a "here comes my solo" direct cut switch! Which is a must have.

With its double-locking vibrato and slick two-octave fingerboard, the RGX420S comes ready for full-range action and some severe dive-bombing. Brilliant, overdrive-friendly sounds are provided by two powerful hot ceramic humbuckers, also offering combined tones via the five-way pickup selector. Added muscle comes from a direct output switch for the bridge humbucker, which bypasses the internal circuitry, running a full-on, unadulterated tone straight to your amp.

Pyrotechnic soloists will love it; so will low-end riffers,
Direct Output Switch This switch is utilized on the RGX420S to bypass the master volume, master tone and pickup selector switch. When activated it sends the rear humbucker`s signal directly to the amp. (isn’t that what we want in a guitar?)