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Yamaha Revstar Standard RSS20 Electric Guitar - Swift Blue

Solidbody Electric Guitar with Mahogany Body, Carbon-reinforced Mahogany Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, and 2 Humbucking Pickups - Swift Blue
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Yamaha Revstar Standard RSS20 Electric Guitar - Swift Blue
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Raising the Revstar Standard

Yamaha’s Revstar Standard RSS20 is an update of the original Revstar series of guitars, refined to offer improved comfort and even more striking visuals! This maple-topped double-cut’s lightweight chambered mahogany body is loaded with two Yamaha VH5 pickups that deliver bright and punchy tones that excel in almost any sonic application. The neck is comprised of carbon-reinforced mahogany so that it will stay straight and true in even the most challenging of environments. What’s more, Yamaha has equipped this Revstar with their proprietary “focus” switch that shifts your tone’s resonant frequency and supercharges your pickup’s power. If you’re looking for a high-performance, no-nonsense axe with explosive tones, rock-solid playability, and sleek modern aesthetics, the RSS20 sets the standard.

Comfortably curved Revstar body

The Revstar’s curvy lines and classic aesthetics are said to be inspired by the utilitarian British Café racer motorbikes found in 1960s-era London, adding a tough no-frills attitude to these sleek guitars. The unique double-cut chambered body was developed using Yamaha’s Acoustic Design process to optimize the Revstar’s balance, deliver a resonant tone, and reduce weight. One strum of the RSS20 is all it takes to see how Yamaha’s research paid off: the Revstar’s body is a supremely comfortable design that showcases Yamaha’s steadfast dedication to musical innovation!

Yamaha VH5 humbucking pickups for an articulate, powerful, and well-balanced tone

Yamaha spent a lot of time fine-tuning the pickups in the Revstar series — they tested over 50 prototypes before settling on the perfect combination of wire, windings, magnets, and baseplates for each guitar model in the series. The VH5 humbuckers in the RSS20 Revstar employ Alnico V magnets, a silver baseplate, and heavy formvar wire. This gives the RSS20 a bright and powerful sound that blends the richness and character of vintage electronics with the intensity and clarity of modern electronics.

Bring your sound into focus

Yamaha’s Revstar line already introduced their clarity-boosting “Dry” switch, and the RSS20 offers another distinct tonal feature to stand out from the crowd: the “Focus” switch. This dual-purpose push-pull switch adjusts the resonant frequency of your guitar’s tone and kicks up the power. When testing it out at Sweetwater, we found that it’s an incredibly versatile feature that’s just as good at achieving “rolled off” jazz tones as it is for boosting your amp into overdrive territory.

Yamaha Revstar Standard RSS20 Electric Guitar Features:

  • Ultra-comfortable and lightweight chambered mahogany body with a maple top
  • 3-piece carbon-reinforced mahogany set neck with double-cutaway offers incredible upper fret access
  • Yamaha VH5 humbucking pickups produce a rich and bright tone that excels in almost any sonic application
  • “Focus” switch shifts your tone’s resonant frequency and amps up your power
  • Jumbo stainless steel frets are highly resistant to wear
  • Highly playable 12-inch fingerboard radius
  • Rock-solid Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece

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Tech Specs

  • General
  • Number of Strings 6
  • Left-/Right-handed Right-handed
  • Body
  • Body Type Solidbody, chambered
  • Body Shape Revstar Standard
  • Body Material Mahogany
  • Top Material Maple
  • Body Finish Gloss Polyurethane
  • Color Swift Blue
  • Neck
  • Neck Material 3-piece Mahogany
  • Neck Shape Revstar
  • Neck Joint Set Neck
  • Radius 12"
  • Fingerboard Material Rosewood
  • Fingerboard Inlay Pearloid Lines
  • Number of Frets 22, Jumbo Stainless Steel
  • Scale Length 24.75"
  • Nut Width 1.649"
  • Nut Material PPS
  • Hardware
  • Bridge/Tailpiece Tune-O-Matic Bridge with Stopbar Tailpiece
  • Tuners Die-cast
  • Electronics
  • Neck Pickup Yamaha VH5n Humbucker
  • Bridge Pickup Yamaha VH5b Humbucker
  • Controls 1 x master volume, 1 x master tone (push/pull focus switch)
  • Switching 5-way blade pickup switch
  • Miscellaneous
  • Strings Elixir, .010-.046
  • Case/Gig Bag Gig Bag
  • Manufacturer Part Number: RSS20 SWB

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Customer Reviews

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Rated 3.5/5

Great Build - But Needed Improvement on Nut

My customer bought two RevStar guitars from Sweetwater and brought both to my shop for setups. The P-90n RevStar was more or less perfect, but the humbucker version had an issue with the nut.

He did an exchange and the replacement guitar had the same exact issue.

I did a YouTube review video (see link) that shows exactly what the problem was. It is a manufacturing issue that the company needs to improve.

I am told that Sweetwater already contacted Yamaha and that this is being addresses through the proper channels. So this is potentially good news.

I would really be curious to see if the issue will be fixed in the next batch of guitars.
Music background: Guitar Repair Tech & Luthier
Rated 5/5

I waited 10 months - it was worth it.

Due to supply chain reasons, it took 10 excruciatingly long months from the time I hit "buy" until the time it arrived at my door. I love it, particularly the 2 and 4 position settings. These are not coil splits/taps, but they put the p-ups just out of phase. Not completely, but just enough to add some texture. I find that I'm in one of those two positions most of the time.

It also looks awesome and is it's own design. Not an LP, tele or strat copy, but you can see that from the pic. What I don't think comes through well in the picture is that the racing stripe is more cream than white to better match the other hardware.

The one thing I would maybe take a portion of a star off is due to the tuners. I like the look and the feel, but they did slip a little bit out of the box. Tightening up the screws helped a little, but that might be the one thing I replace on this guitar.

Oh, and I have the best rep at Sweetwater. His name is Skyler and he kept on eye out on this the entire time. Five stars for him as well.
Rated 5/5

Best guitar ever?

I'm sure by now everyone has seen all the YouTube reviews heaping praise on this guitar. And I can now definitely say it's all true. You might prefer the classic look of a '59 Les Paul in dark cherry burst over this guitar's clean modern vibe - but this guitar plays AND sounds better. The cut away gives you access to the upper frets the way an SG does. The shape of the neck and width of the fretboard makes this the easiest playing guitar I've ever tried. In a side-by-side comparison with a Les Paul - these pickups sound fuller with more dynamic range. And the passive boost that draws its power from amp just flat-out works great - even with a wireless system!
Rated 5/5

Amazing Guitar!

I didn't buy this guitar at SW, a couple arrived at my local Yamaha store, and I had to grab one. I tried both the P90 and HB versions, the P90 pickups are excellent, they don't have any humming sound whatsoever and are very responsive and present sounding, unfortunately, they only had them in hot merlot, and I had to have the swift blue one. The humbucker version is amazing as well and more suited to my style, I play mainly Jazz. The guitar's construction is great, very comfortable shape and balance, they feel very solid, the neck is slightly thicker than a Fender C shape but very comfortable. The thing that amazed me the most was the clarity in the pickups, I have many Fender and Gibson guitars, and I always end up upgrading to Lollar pickups, in this case, I will not touch them, the clarity and sonic range are fantastic, you can go from a very quaky sound, filled with higher frequency harmonics, to a darker jazzy sound when you roll off the tone control.

For the price, these are terrific guitars, this same quality and features on any other brand would be three or four times the price. You get excellent-sounding pickups, stainless steel frets, nice tuners, and very flexible switching options.
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