this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2023
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Me: I need a flute for my orchestra performance
Yamaha: No problem, here's our 800W Series.
Me: You wouldn't happen to know where I can
get a heavy 600 cc sport bike with the stop speed of 260km would you?
Yamaha: You're not gonna believe this
Yamaha often gets overlooked for instruments, I think a lot of this is that we don't expect a company that makes jetskis and motorcycles to also know what they're doing with guitars, saxophones, and pianos, but they actually make good quality stuff.
It's more accurate to think of Yamaha as a conglomerate that owns several different companies. It's just that a lot of those smaller companies are also named Yamaha
Fun fact, the Yamaha logo is an image of three tuning forks, laid atop each other.
I’ve got a set of Yamaha HS7 studio monitors sitting in front of me right now. Their music equipment is great.
I have a yamaha saxophone, it is one of their intermediate ranges (I forgot which one since I am living overseas). Sound quality is excellent. I play classical saxophone, and it produces this great warm tone (I have no idea how to describe it) that is excellent for this purpose. I am not sure about jazz though.
My brother in law is a jazz sax player (tenor) and plays a Yamaha. I don't know the model but he says it's great and punches well above it's weight class considering what it cost him.
They get overlooked because they're fuckin expensive
I don't think I've heard anyone say that before. Almost everything they make is industry standard setting when it comes to price. It's either so cheap you can't believe it, or it's priced right where it should be.
Yamaha Pacificas are a great first guitar in terms of value for money.
In terms of pianos and keyboards, maybe, but those also aren't overlooked, they're broadly considered among the best you can get. They own Bosendorfer now too, btw. Drums are just fuckin expensive in general, and most drummers I think you'll talk to are generally aware of them along with the likes of Pearl and DW.
You might be talking about guitars and basses, which would be fair, most people don't associate Yamaha with guitars and basses. The thing is, the most expensive non-signature Pacifica currently in production is like $750 and comes with Duncan pickups and a Wilkinson trem. And even the Revstars, which are out of my price range, come in quite a ways under comparable Gibsons.
Yamaha owns a lot of smaller companies. Line 6 has been one of their subsidiaries for a while and they recently acquired Ampeg as well, so you can buy a full rig with a bass, effects pedals, amp head and speaker cabs all from Yamaha.
Thanks for your comment, I specifically meant drums and should've clarified. Yamaha sets were always up there in cost compared to all low/mid range sets growing up through the 2000s, though I haven't compared prices in over 5 years. As far as guitars go, I'm currently learning and started with a Yamaha FG800 I picked up used for $175, though even full price wasn't bad.
I am a guitar player first and foremost, but their drums always sounded damn good, and their hardware was always super solid. Not my area of expertise, but Yamaha seemed to never made a cheap kit because their base model kit had such good hardware and quality it was punching up to way more expensive Pearl and Ludwig kits.
The only problems I've seen is that they don't have good resale value because they are China made, and most musicians don't want to be that guy playing anything made in China.
Also good choice on the FG. I've played a lot of acoustics and honestly yamaha acoustics are astounding. If I were to pick my top 5 acoustic brands, Yamaha would be solidly at #2. My next acoustic is going to be a Yamaha trans-acoustic. It's either that for $800, or buy my dream acoustic which costs $5000.
I don't know which products you're thinking of but at least for bass guitars (which is my instrument) they've got stuff ranging from less than $200 up to just under $2000. My upper-mid tier bass cost just under $900, but sounds and feels better than Fender basses that would cost $1300 or more. Not to mention better designed. Compare that to other top tier production models from Fender, Gibson, Musicman, Rickenbacker etc... They're all between $2000 and $3000. Musicman might be the only one of those that can claim to be better built consistently.
They often get overlooked because, in my experience (guitars and violins) they tend to sound like hot garbage. Good for entry level but not much else.
Can't speak for Guitars and Violins, but their drum hardware is top notch amazing stuff
Huh! TIL.
I'm a bass player so I'm only aware of their guitar models, haven't ever played them myself (and honestly I lack the experience with guitars to tell a good one from a so-so one). But their BB basses are great and have been for a long time. I bought one for less than $900 a couple years back and it sounds and plays great, and is just a really well designed instrument. They've implemented a lot of stuff that legacy companies like Fender or Gibson should, but won't (6 bolt necks with miter attachments at the end, angled slots for through body stringing, string trees that actually retain strings well for a good break angle above the nut, reversible bridge saddles)
Don't forget your electric guituar amplyfier on the way out
ME: The concert's on a boat by the way, and we need power really soon. Do you happen to have outboard boat motors?
YAMAHA: Have I got something for you right here.
Gear it right (or wrong I guess) and that 600cc WILL hit 300km/h. They put out the same power the original hyperbikes did.