Yamaha make great guitars. They also make great basses and keyboards too, and many of the world’s best musicians record hit songs and tour the world using Yamaha gear. Most guitar companies can’t say this, of course, so it puts Yamaha in a pretty unique position.
For these types of blogs, I’d normally stick to ‘Best Guitarists’ or whatever, but I feel that such a wide-reaching company deserves a similar widening of scope from this artist rundown. I want to have bassists and synth players next to guitar heroes, because I think it’ll be a more fun and interesting read.
Are you with me? I can guarantee you some great music on the way!
The Artists at a Glance
Peter Hook
He’s a national icon and a treasure. Joy Division and New Order’s bassist has a distinctive sound that’s as recognisable as it is unique. His high register, melodic bass lines have appeared on some of the best tunes ever, and he’s still touring and going strong at 68 years old.
As well as being an influential ‘lead bassist’, he has also produced the Stone Roses and written three marvellously frank and hilarious volumes of autobiography. The term ‘living legend’ has never been quite so apt.
Brian Eno
Brian Eno is famous for a number of reasons, and only some of those are musical. As a producer, artist, writer, thinker and public speaker, he’s a highly prized individual, but let’s not forget that he’s been involved in some excellent music, too!
A lot of Eno’s most distinctive work revolves around the deft use of the Yamaha DX-7. This game changing digital synth from the 80s utilised FM (frequency modulation) synthesis to produce sounds and textures that were entirely new for the time. A track like An Ending (Ascent) shows off his subtle masterwork.
Carlos Santana
A PRS user he may be these days, but Carlos was actually instrumental (sorry) in the design stages of what became the Yamaha SG. By the mid 70s, his tone quest had taken him from SGs to Les Pauls before being given Yamaha’s SG175 in 1975.
Initially, Santana was a little cool on the subject. His feedback included the guitar being too light, the frets too slim and a real lack of sustain. He suggested putting a bar of brass onto the body, which Yamaha actually did. The result was the classic Yamaha SG2000 model, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Vangelis
No list about Yamaha musicians would ever be complete without Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, better known by his mononym, Vangelis. From Greek prog rockers Aphrodite’s Child, to Oscar-winning movie soundtrack composer, Vangelis’ cultural influence is pretty massive.
The composer, who died in 2022, provided scores for Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner, Alexander, 1492 and many more. He also collaborated with Yes vocalist Jon Anderson on a trilogy of hit albums. Throughout all of this, he used a ton of synthesizer equipment to create work that was largely spontaneous and semi-improvised. Of all of his synths, there was none he loved more than the Yamaha CS80, a near-mythical analogue polysynth from the late 70s famed not only for its sound but for its innovative ribbon controller.
Stuart Adamson
Whether you are more of a Skids fan or a Big Country person, there was no mistaking the sound of Stuart Adamson’s guitar! Twinned with co-guitarist Bruce Watson and using MXR M129 Pitch-Transposer pedals, the two Big Country players created a sound that aped their native bagpipes, but in a context that was unashamedly large-sounding rock music. Adamson was another player who loved the Yamaha SG, in both his punkier early days and more anthemic latter years.
It’s probably fair to say that he was an underrated musician, but those who know, know, and will never forget his important contributions.
Billy Corgan
Smashing Pumpkins head honcho Billy Corgan has used a huge variety of guitars throughout the band’s career, from reissue Fender Strats during the early years to a range of signature model Reverend guitars currently.
Despite being an acknowledged wizard on the electric guitar, Billy actually writes almost exclusively on acoustic guitar, and for years, his main squeeze has been a Yamaha (there was a limited edition signature model, which is not unlike the current Yamaha LJ16). Given how into guitar gear he is, it says a lot that Corgan can play anything he wants, and chooses these Yamaha guitars.
John McGeoch
Siouxsie and the Banshees have had a number of notable players in their ranks over the years - Jon Klein and a certain Robert Smith spring to mind - but perhaps the most associated player was the great John McGeoch.
McGeoch, who hailed from Greenock, Scotland, was actually a member of punk band Magazine prior to joining the Banshees. He was actually in the band for only two years, but the albums he was a part of - Kaleidoscope, Juju and A Kiss in the Dreamhouse - are regarded as some of the best Banshees albums of all. A wildly inventive player, what he did with his trusty Yamaha SG has proven to be an influence of other artists such as Johnny Marr, John Frusciante and The Edge.
Keith Emerson
Keys maestro Keith Emerson hailed in an age of titans. Prog rock ruled the early 70s, and bands like Yes, King Crimson and ELP (Emerson, Lake & Palmer) pushed the boundaries of what rock music was capable of.
Making a name for himself as a classically-influenced keyboard whiz in The Nice, Emerson later teamed up with King Crimson’s Greg Lake and Atomic Rooster’s Carl Palmer to create the prog monsters ELP. Central to Emerson’s sound was the Yamaha GX-1 I mentioned earlier, that most expensive and heavy of instruments with its own built in stand and seat. He actually bought his from Les Zeppelin bassist/keys player John Paul Jones, fact fans!
Like most 70s prog keyboard players, Emerson utilised whole armadas of keyboards, but his use of the GX-1 is pretty definitive for the model. A very talented and much-missed man.
Diverse and Inspiring
‘Diverse and inspiring’ is how I’d sum up this group of musicians. They are from all over the world and play hugely different styles on different instruments, but all deserve their space on this list thanks to the art they’ve given us.
