yamaha revstar rse20 review and BOSS ME-80 multi effects

[guitargo25]

yamaha revstar rse20, the $500 one, mostly because I wanted fret dots and not lines too. 

Haven't played much guitar in years and not seriously for almost like 15, I switched more to synthesizers but always love guitar and shredding and strumming etc you just can't get with synths.

 

I had a cheap $120 squier Strat SSS single coil that I played to an amp. When I switched to PC music it was extremely loud, wasn't shielded and maybe had a ground issues with my rig because it was un-usably noisy especially in certain positions.  So I wanted a humbucker for the PC plus I like humbucker tone-genre music like blues etc and my fav guitarist uses humbucker mostly. 

 

I'm getting zero noise hum with it and my rig is just a cheap ~$70 Roland DUO Capture USB interface, and I'm run the guitar to a BOSS ME-80 first which I just picked up. 

 

ME-80 all I can say is some of the presets have you sounding like a rockstar right out of the box, I only used to have a 1992 Digitech RP1 which wasn't bad imho compared to the ME-80 (RP1 still had all the same common effects flangers, reverb, dist, etc as the new multi fx) and I had a BOSS GT-8 a few years back. IDK, it just seems some of the distortion presets esp I imagine used to take sound engineers a whole wall of individual compressors and limiters and individual effects and lots of years of passed-along tweaking techniques to get a signature sound and the ME-80 just kinda has that vibe to me for some sounds. The pedal should be metal not plastic but I keep it on a desk because I mostly got it because I hate menu-diving and it's got lots of knobs. IMHO a pedal like this with lots of knobs, it's good for performers who also don't want to menu dive but I think once it's on the floor you're way less likely to tweak knobs etc , instead switching between presets/custom patches. I think most people prefer a unit like this desk-height because they want the knob access, although it wasn't expensive I just think it'd make sense to make more units with tons of knobs and sliders and then small buttons for patches and if you want to use it with feet then it's got an accessory foot-pedal-only board which they probably do make something like this but IDK I just think BOSS would also since they're well-liked. Would save a bit on cost if don't need foot pedals and using these foot pedals with hands is a bit spread out and awkward way to press but overall very happy with this box although it doesn't seem to make any real abstract sorta synth sounds that I know of but I haven't really delved too deep into the sonic capabilities of it yet - been just playing having fun with it with the sorta new-again feel to playing guitar again. 

 

 

So the revstar, had about a month, probably 13 jam sessions some up to ~6 hours. Only reviewing it because it seems like a popular first-guitar, most colors backordered for month+ sam ash and guitar center/ Musician's friend. 

I really also wanted a 12" radius neck which this has because I never knew about this but when I tested les pauls etc in the store they felt so much more natural to scale and shred on and then I learned about 12" radius. 

I was used to the strat body and 9.5" radius. I would have bought the ~$450 Squier Classic Vibe '70s Telecaster dual humbucker if not for the 9.5" radius. 

But I'm finding the action seems a big high and I'm not sure if it'll buzz if I lower it, for now I'm ok with it but I think some cheaper les pauls had better action but I don't like the LP's non-fret dots nor the placement of the top tone switch WOULD get in the way how I strum the neck etc sometimes, so no LP for me. 

If I'm not mistaken, it felt 10X easier to palm mute the strings while playing a strat, IDK until I feel one again but it seems the revstar is really hard to palm mute. Yes the racing stripes on the blue one I got can cause confusion when looking at the strings although I think I play my best when not looking at either hand except maybe for some reason when playing the frets closer to the headstock, but this is something I noticed and was considering buying white pick guard material off ebay and attaching it under the strings so the strings over solid white would show them clearly. 

The tuning machines I think are the same even for the like $1100 model but they're non-locking and they do go out of tune and originally I never minded re-tuning was kinda something fun/testing to do but I find this doesn't stay in tune so great but I do bend notes a lot. If I upgrade I do want locking tuners I think but not floyd rose locking nut was too much a hassle to unbolt etc. 

 

The white on the pickguard and around the humbuckers is like yellow/brown actually and looks like it's been discolored from smoke or cooking etc, one reason I didn't want the white model although I like white but eventually eventually from sun etc a white guitar may look dirty, same with black, so I went with blue. 

 

TONE, Despite I read blues/jazz is commonly played on the neck pickup with tone rolled all the way down, it just sounds very canned to me and I do liek more twang than I had originally thought when deciding, I thought I wanted nothing like the bridge-only twang of a SSS but I like all tone ranges but it can sound quite canned but also what effect and eq is used will matter.

At first I didn't want the 'impurity' of a multi-purpose pickup, not that I know if this is even true but I figured for the same price point a humbucker that can't tap/split/filter for a more single coil tone which I thought I didn't want, that it'd be a better quality humbucker than one where they added this feature. But I pop the high pass filter and/or use the bridge pickup for higher treble more than I expected and it sounds single-coil-ish enough for me despite you can really hear a difference in youtube comparisons how much a real strat sounds different than a tap/split etc but imho overall tone is good for both ends of the spectrum. 

Body feels unnecessarily large, I know it might help with tone/sustain but personally I'd rather something smaller because sometimes when you play for hours to avoid fatigue or something, some of us put the guitar in sorta unconventional positions I mean like I even have this one where as a righty, I put the guitar on my right shoulder like a violin or something and wrap my right hand up around the the top to pick but the body seems too wide for that vs a strat. 

 

Mine came damaged with a hairline crack in the back of the neck and this is not wood where you can maybe see how bad it is, it's like a hard plastic material shell over wood and I don't know how bad it is, yes it glides good as other reviews say and maybe if playing with sweaty hands it'll glide better/worse than regular sealed wood.

I'm going to exchange it because of the crack, but since the color is out of stock, I'm not sure what to do because I don't want to be without a guitar now. I was going to buy the same color and switch it in the box but time is running out for return window.  I'm also considering returning it for something else if I can't get the action a tad better. Maybe even the 9.5" radius HH telecaster despite the 9.5" or maybe I'll cave for a les paul or something but I don't want to spend way too much time deciding again. It's a good guitar though most new/intermediates wanting HH will do good with this guitar.

 

 

[guitargo25]

Yes, that color too.  I returned it today though at Guitar Center. I was within 2 days of the 45 day return window, even though it was defective with a hairline crack on the back of the neck, it took about a week to receive but I got a few weeks to play it and even without the crack I don't think I want it, so I'm glad it had a defect which I'd exchange it for even if I wanted to keep it especially since it's got sort of a plastic shell around the back neck unlike wood where you can see how bad the crack might be, because it's not as if I'm ordering things that aren't on display just to test them and return as used if I don't like it. They offered %10 off to keep it with the crack but I got the refund instead.

Next, I tested what I was assuming and was right: for whatever reason maybe the tuno-o matic Revstar is difficult to mute strings (not fully muted, but like the intro of Could you be loved Bob marley) but a cheap strat and telecaster it was much easier, now I realize I should have tested other tuno o matics while in the store.

Also for different postures etc the strat and tele feel smaller and easier to work with. A larger Revstar body may sustain better but I doubt I'll notice. One thing though is the front strap connector on a tele is a bit closer to you than on a strat etc, so it might make the headstock feel farther away and I noticed this with the revstar despite I haven't played much in forever I feel that when I shred etc higher frets that the opposite end near the headstock feels farther away as if I need to change posture or something to play the whole neck smoothly - but even just a 1" looser strap makes a difference, sometimes I play better with the guitar up on my chest and other times down near my waste, also standing vs sitting, and definitely a headphones chord is a PITA to have hanging in the way behind the neck of the high frets but I've been enjoying my speakers a bit and will figure out a way to prop the headphone chord away without it making me feel confined - I bop my head a lot while playing and I don't want the chord to be taught or with flopping slack and make me feel confined/distracted. But overall I need more practice to get my chops back up, and I'm noticing how keyboards have a more effortless design to play across octaves or play things quickly (you have 10 fingers available for notes whereas with a guitar is basically 4 fingers) but anyway - - it's probably just placebo that the telle strap connector is a bit closer than a strat etc. 

It felt like the highest frets are easier to play on a strat or telle. 

Despite I thought I really wanted a 12" radius like the revstar, I might settle for a 9.5" and never really notice once I get better at playing again like where I was when my $125 squier strat basically played itself lol. My two choices now are down to:

$450 9.5" Squier Classic Vibe '70s Telecaster Deluxe Maple Fingerboard Electric Guitar Black 

$500 Guild Surfliner HH Solidbody Electric Guitar 10".

 

I don't like the top switch possibly in the way/distracting when strumming over the neck area of the squier, nor the straight-in 1/4" hookup on the surfline (I just built cables and don't have 90 degree ends) but whatever. 

 

I'm leaning towards the Surfliner, prefer its 10" and 23 frets and doesn't have the 3-way toggle possibly in the way of strumming the neck,  but hoping the tuno o matic bridge isn't the cause of why the revstar was a lot harder to mute than a squier strat. I made a thread asking just this.