YAMAHA Guitar and Bass BUYER'S GUIDE 2026

If there’s one brand you can rely on across the board, it’s Yamaha. Their guitars and basses have long since established themselves as top class choices for players who prize performance and reliability, not to mention an original visual aesthetic that doesn’t feel cribbed from other brands.

Yamaha have been building instruments longer than most companies, and their status as one of the main players in world instrument building centres on their equipment continually satisfying musicians from all disciplines and backgrounds.

Today, you and I are going to go Yamaha shopping. You need a new electric guitar, acoustic guitar and bass, and since I’m far too polite to ask how much you want to spend on each, I’m going to divide my suggestions into GOOD, BETTER & BEST. Not the most subjective approach, but it’ll help us keep like with like and have clear categories. 

Onwards!

An original design, inspired by retro dirtbikes, and packed with quality, this entry level Revstar RSE20 is a guitar I’d happily take onstage. The neck has good heft, the fit and finish is one a grade higher than the price, and the tones are lively. The Revstar design has been around for a decade now, and it looks set to be something of a minor modern classic.

I like the Revstar because it plays by its own rules: it’s stylish enough for the retro punks and has enough of a performance spec to satisfy technical players. This model is relatively inexpensive in the grand scheme of things, but you still get Alnico V pickups (brighter tone) and a push/pull ‘Dry switch’ (its a high pass filter for more single coil-style tones) and a chambered mahogany body for back relief during long gigs and sessions.

You’ll likely be familiar with the Pacifica moniker, but have you seen many like this? It’s unusual (though not unheard of) to see the name applied to a single cutaway guitar, but this new take on it - available in several models - comes to the party pretty well dressed and bearing gifts for all.

The PACP11SA is from a very recent rethinking of the more pro-level Pacificas. Keen to steer the public image of the range away from the ‘best beginner guitar’ crown the range has (rightly) worn for 30 years, this new breed of Pacifica is divided into ‘Standard Plus’ and ‘Professional’ subcategories. You get the usual Superstrat-styled double cut, but I’m more drawn to this somewhat futuristic T-style, personally.

There are some interesting talking points with this new range, not least the pickup collaboration with Rupert ‘legendary mixing desks’ Neve, which don’t so much change the rulebook but open up the sound to include more dynamic frequencies. I’ve found that they don’t sound different per se, but they do sound really good!

This is a performance-spec instrument, and I think a lot of alternative rockers and players of more contemporary genres will take to this. I don’t see it as being a shredder’s guitar at all, and it’s obviously not one for the retro fans, but for those who actually want to step forward into something both familiar and new, this pro-grade Pacifica is a savvy choice.

At the top of the Yamaha electric guitar tree we have the legendary SG. These are made in Yamaha’s Tokyo Custom Shop in very lean numbers (they are more-or-less hand-built to order), and they are basically awesome.

You want more details? Of course! The body is chunky with a lovely thick carved maple top; the neck is definitely on the chunky side but tapered well so that early frets feel slender to play. The hardware is all top-tier too: Tonepros bridge, locking Grovers, Seymour Duncan 59 pickups, TUSQ nut…it’s champagne stuff, as you’d expect at this price! The real joy with this guitar is the feel: it’s a familiar instrument if you know your vintage Les Pauls (more so than vintage Yamaha SG’s, I’d maybe say), and offers a premium playing experience that puts a lot of other expensive guitars to shame. 

I think the Yamaha SG1820 is quite clearly aimed at LP players, both of the classic rock and the hard rock variety. Post punk fans will adore it thanks to connotations with seminal bands of that era, but the Yamaha SG remains pleasingly free from music cultural preconceptions, and offers a quality of experience that is somewhere rare.

Acoustic guitars were where Yamaha first made their name as musical instrument builders. Their ability to pack in the quality at a low price meant they were a difficult force to beat even back in the 1960s. That reputation has remained, thanks to a brace of innovative ideas, consistently high quality control and realistic pricing.

If Yamaha guitars don’t have the romantic ‘Wild West’ histories of Martin and Gibson, they have something arguably more potent in their corner: word of mouth. Musicians talk, and they are happy to chat about what they like and don’t like (believe me, I know), so when you find that almost nobody has a bad word to say about Yamaha acoustics, you can take that as truth, not marketing.

Here are three that I believe you’ll enjoy…

I’ve always liked Yamaha’s folk ‘FS’ design. It has a more shapely body with a drawn-in ‘waist’ that looks great and alters the sound in a pleasing way. Basically, you get a little less midrange with this style than with a comparable dreadnought, which translates into a slightly more jangly tone. 

The FS820 is still great to strum on, so the ‘folk’ delineation doesn't mean this guitar only excels at fingerstyle performance. At this price point, you get a solid spruce top and a good build - including lovely multi-ply binding on the top -  which I think is more than acceptable. It’s a subtle beauty, but a beauty nonetheless. The FS is one of Yamaha’s most enduringly popular styles, and this FS820 offers a comfortable and rewarding playing experience.

I expect you’ve heard of Yamaha’s innovative Transacoustic tech by now? You haven’t? Okay, well it’s a range of acoustic guitars with built in effects that emanate from within the body, just like the guitar’s natural sound. Well, from a device within the guitar, of course! It’s one of those things you have to experience for yourself, but it can add a beautiful extra dimension to your solo acoustic moments. Inspiring for writing, for for a quick strum, and of course, it’s a lovely solid-topped Yamaha acoustic before and after any of the extras! 

I’d like to accentuate how un-gimmicky the Transacoustic is: it’s a very musical - and surprisingly subtle - way to add more to what you are already able to do as a player. Do make sure you give these a proper shot, and think of how handy it is to have them all built into the guitar: no more pedals, cables and power supplies just to add some reverb, delay or chorus!

If there’s one thing that almost all acoustic guitarists can agree on, it’s that dreadnoughts made from solid spruce and rosewood are a wonderfully classic thing. That combination of woods and that body style just plain works, and Yamaha know this! The Yamaha FG9 is one of their most classic top-end instruments.

Familiar since the late 60s, this recognisable take on the dreadnought is hand made in Japan with only the finest timbers: Adirondack spruce for the top, Indian rosewood for the body, with a mahogany neck and an ebony fingerboard. Finish it off with Gotoh tuners and you have a clean, simple and exceedingly rich sounding guitar that will beat - and beat - almost anything else out there.

Peter Hook plays them, so what else do you need to know? 

Much like their electric and acoustic guitars, Yamaha basses have been a solid and reputable mainstay amongst pro musicians for over 50 years. With a range of styles that covers iconic indie rock to technical session work and blazing metal, Yamaha basses offer up the goods without messing about. 

I’ve picked three that I think will appeal to you today…

The Yamaha TRBX models are, as I see them anyway, akin to being the bass versions of the Pacifica models. By that, I mean that they come in at all price points from beginner to pro, but the low-cost ones are so well put together, they kind of define the model to many players.

This means that something like this TRBX174 comes highly recommended from myself, for reasons of personal use and endless sales of this model in my previous life as a salesman.

It’s just a great bass that offers up what you need - a good neck, PJ pickups and a decent set of controls - but bypasses stuff that will increase the cost. So, no active EQ here, and no locking tuners, but those are all upgradeable anyway: what’s here is perfect for so many situations, that I feel like you can use one of these for a long time before feeling the need to upgrade.

I opted for the ‘EW’ model today purely because the Exotic Wood veneer looks nice. That’s it. If you don’t want that, simply pick your favourite colour of TRB174 and you’ll have exactly the same bass.

Yamaha BB basses are all about solid, powerful rocking, as far as I’m concerned. They feel tough, they sound huge and they look just right in the middle of a rocking band. If that’s your vibe, then get a load of the Yamaha BB735, a 5-string version that brings attitude and ability to every show.

Everything about this design tells me that it’s made for a life of gigging: the 6 bolt neck joint for one thing (that neck is not budging, no matter how the bass gets thrown around!), and the fact that it has a switch to make the electronics go from active to passive, so that if your battery dies mid-song, you don’t lose your entire signal like a rookie.

The ‘PJ’ pickup configuration is what bassists need today, and these ones are lovely alnico units, so there’s tone to spare. All in, this is a cool, tough, road-ready piece of gear that plays well and takes everything you can throw at it.

Wow, talk about a beautiful bass that covers all corners? This incredible offering from Yamaha’s Japanese custom shop is a 6-string bass for the amazing jazz composer and bassist John Patitucci. Needless to say, this is beyond pro-level in terms of quality and performance, and actually features a slightly extended range of 35” in order to cover all of the extra frequencies brought by those 6 strings!

The body is made of multiple timbers (maple, ash and alder), the upper fret access is generous to say the least, and there are 26 frets! On top of that, a set of custom alnico pickups and an active EQ allow a wide selection of tones, and the whole instrument still feels very playable and accessible. No easy task, given what’s included on here!

Let’s be real for a second: when are you ever going to need more from a bass? No matter how avant-garde or experimental you may be as a musician, this exceptional TRB-JPII has you covered, and then some!

Sometimes you need to look at these things all together for it to sink in. This one company brings us the SG, the Revstar, the Pacifica, the TRB, the FG AND the Transacoustic? If that’s not impressively diverse, then I do not know what is.

Each instrument I’ve chosen today is pretty much ‘best in its class’, and is either a proven success or is too new (or niche, with the JPII bass!) to know yet. What is clear, though, is that Yamaha have never let their quality drop, nor their thirst for innovation. Check out those two angled neck screws in the BB bass: who else even does that?

If you’ve always liked Yamaha but had reservations because they also make motorbikes, then I get it, I do. But it’s time to change that, because you’ll be the one missing out on some of the best instruments getting made today. Why not check out some of the guitars and basses on this list next time you visit us? I guarantee you’ll be glad you did.