Yamaha RGX520DZ - Has anyone tried/owned it?

[KeeperOS]

Today I entered a small shop that had a few lower end and a couple of mid-end guitars, tried a couple that left me with a sub-average feeling and then I tried a silver Yamaha RGX520DZ.

God, it was in the worst condition I had ever seen for a new instrument!
The Floyd Rose was balanced above the body, the 3-way switch had a problem with the connection (the sound would constantly come and go), the high e string would constantly fall off the fretboard (and would stay there as it would be caught in the gap between the fretboard and frets!!!)...
Anyway, you get the idea!

However bad the experience was I still got the feeling that if in optimal condition and with a better setup it would have a lot to offer.

It had Gotoh tuners, a great locking nut (the Yamaha "Finger Clamp" Nut) and THE most amazing pus I had ever encountered!
I mean, they responded with amazing clarity and just the right amount of growl without being over-aggressive, their palm mutes sounding like recordings done on serious instruments with serious amps and effect pedals to back them up and these were simply on a sub-average Line 6 Spider III 15 that I very hastily set up myself!!!
I now seriously regret not testing them further or trying out their cleans at all...
However Yamaha doesn't have it on ANY English speaking web page, the only ones I could find it at were the German, Austrian and Swiss pages...

So, if ANYONE has any experience with the instrument or can provide further information on its' specifications (woods, construction etc) I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Yamaha RGX520DZ - Has anyone tried/owned it?

Bump, come on guys, how can it be that no one has ever at least encountered this guitar. All I'm asking's for some impressions.
I found more info on the thing at the Australian web page, it even turned out that this was the only guitar that had ceramic pus instead of AlNiCo that the other in the line have...

So... Anyone?

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: Yamaha RGX520DZ - Has anyone tried/owned it?

Looks cool. I haven't seen a Yammie with those specs before.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Yamaha RGX520DZ - Has anyone tried/owned it?

Yeah, it does look good, and the pus sounded amazing!
However, the condition of the guitar was that bad that I couldn't tell if and how good or crappy an instrument it was!

I am this close to trying to somehow get the pus and put them to another, better trusted instrument (that I've yet to buy )

However if this turned out to be the real thing then I'd be more than this close to buying the whole deal!

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: Yamaha RGX520DZ - Has anyone tried/owned it?

In my experience, yammie pickups are usually very well matched with the instrument they've been put in.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Yamaha RGX520DZ - Has anyone tried/owned it?

In that case why did Yamaha apparently discontinued it at the US and half the European countries (with mine not being one of them), instead opting to only keep the FZ series (hardtail bridge)...

That's the question that has been troubling me all this time...

Guess I'll somehow have to find another one to test on...

 

[jmcorey]

Re: Yamaha RGX520DZ - Has anyone tried/owned it?

I once had an RGX 211. I really regret having sold it. It had a floyd and NEVER went out of tune. The pups were too bright in it. With a set of good pups, it would have really shined.

 

[bloodswords]

Re: Yamaha RGX520DZ - Has anyone tried/owned it?

i had better results with the tune-o-matic version

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Yamaha RGX520DZ - Has anyone tried/owned it?

Better results in what sense?
I mean I know that floating bridges in general and Floyd Rose typed ones in particular put off a lot of people, I also know that hardtails seem to have better sustain (not to mention infinitely easier and more stable tunning) but that's a more general issue of Floyd Rose VS Hardtail. Other than that did you see any differences in quality/playability/sound?

 

[jmcorey]

Re: Yamaha RGX520DZ - Has anyone tried/owned it?

I've tried the new RGX's, including the very cool A2. They don't have that cool Yamaha neck feel to me.... I don't really like them. They feel like second hand guitars.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Yamaha RGX520DZ - Has anyone tried/owned it?

Hmm, yeah, that's the feeling that guitar left me with, but then again, it was more than the neck's feel that made me think that... I wonder if they just get worn out really easily...

 

[I_M_Ken]

Re: Yamaha RGX520DZ - Has anyone tried/owned it?

i got a yamaha rgx621 couple months back. neck feels good to me. i dont think it would be the same as the new rgx's though. but overall i can say that its an awesome guitar to play with. yamaha's are underrated IMO

 

[bloodswords]

Re: Yamaha RGX520DZ - Has anyone tried/owned it?

Better results in what sense?

i'm referring to tone- the non-vibrato version has a warmer overall voicing + more bass.

when the Pacificas were the Yamaha to check out, i was into the non-Floyd type models as well. to me, they sounded less synthetic. enjoyed the 812 tremendously.

+1 for the A2, very light yet a singing midrange in there.

 

[Stratovarious]

Re: Yamaha RGX520DZ - Has anyone tried/owned it?

I dunno bout the RG series, but my mate has a AES 420, and that sounds pretty darn sweet, plays awesome too, but the 24.75 scale was alien to me :\ so that was the only downfall of it I think, and it had VERY VERY VERY slightly scratchy tone pots but thats a problem on all if not most cheap guitars

theres an rg like this at a local pawn shop, it has 1 humbucker, and a floyd, I wouldnt mind buying it for a fixerupperer but i know nothing about it

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Yamaha RGX520DZ - Has anyone tried/owned it?

i'm referring to tone- the non-vibrato version has a warmer overall voicing + more bass...

Hmm, yes, well that's to be expected, not only the bridge helps in that direction but the FZ series is Set Neck (set neck is harder if not impossible to manufacture for a Floyd Rose guitar) whereas the DZ is bolt on and the 520FZ has the AlNiCo pus instead of the ceramic ones the 520DZ has (the 620DZ also has the AlNiCo pus just like the 520FZ)...

I wonder if I'd get better results with the 620DZ... (620DZ = 520FZ + a Floyd Rose, well, more or less)