Yamaha: RGX A2 (Part 3)

The RGX A2 sports a curved body top for maximum playing comfort. How important is this to the average player? I deem it rather crucial for any player to be at ease & in total control of his/her playing. A comfortable picking hand means the player has more playing focus & less lethargy setting in to affect play. This, of course, induces mistakes. These days, the curved top design isn't exclusive to upper tier models, those in the economy bracket are also manifesting this look.

Yamaha RGX A2 (Part 2)

The RGX A2 features are eccentric to say the least. The tuners you see here are definitely unconventional but they fit into the theme of 'departure'; almost every appointment in this guitar is a move-away from the traditional. These barrel-type tuners are not exclusive to this instrument, when Jackson had the Roswell Rhoads guitar in manufacture years ago, these were the standard fittings but they were exclusively manufactured by Sperzel. The A2's tuners are definitely not a named brand, at best, they might be a Sperzel OEM unit.

In use, the tuners are surprisingly responsive, well, they have to be, otherwise they would be a futile inclusion. The pinching needs a little getting used to because it doesn't feel as conventional as the standard tuners but these are definitely functional.

Yamaha: RGX A2

My new guitar is Yamaha's RGX A2- one slick player, this one. It's a very light weight instrument as it features the manufacturer's patented AIR technology; Alternative Internal Resonance (more on this soon). I would say it's virtually a hollow body majority featuring no F-holes.

Over at he flip-side, the cavities are kept minimal. It features a battery compartment for the switching system & the electronics are 100% passive. It's not quite apparent here but the RGX A2's rear surface is a very subtle curved top hence eliminating the need for a rib-cage bevel.

To be continued...

Separated at birth (yet again)

This is the wonderful but discontinued Ibanez SZ model, wish it was back...

Conceptually, Schecter's C1 model & the Ibanez SZ are only slightly differentiated.

We can say so for Yamaha's (discontinued) RGX model here as well.

Not forgetting Cort's Katana offering- they are all fundamentally similar with slight differentiation to respect the design/ copyright threshold.

When a particular guitar design establishes a forte in terms of appeal, it will be imitated. Many of us will not hesitate to embrace the design fundamentals in other manifestations because having an experience with one, we know what to expect from the other. Ibanez's SZ & Yamaha's RGX are sadly extinct; they were both very good guitars for the money but the manufacturers have their reasons to do away with them.