No but i have an Epi, I am still amazed at the price to quality. Its a LP 02 Fine plant Korea. Not sure what they are churning out now, but read anything from Samek or Fine, nearly put Gibson out of business.
yeah, I still miss my Epi Les Paul. One of life’s major screw ups was selling that.
I’ve come across a couple of the Yamaha Revstars which look pretty sweet and from what I’ve seen they make really decent guitars but aren’t traditionally a renowned brand.
I’ve also spotted a couple of really nice Epiphones out there as well. A Blueshawk Deluxe and a Riviera custom P93 (bit big though)
Yamaha make very well respected gear, especially keyboards and acoustics, but I had not heard of the Revstar, but just too a look, and its looks a very nice thing. Could be an option for you. The Riviera looks well nice too, but getting into that larger body. Thought you’d shown better than the Blueshawk, indeed Revstar looks a better option.
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yeah just been reading up on the Blueshawk. Despite the one I found looking like a really nice guitar it’s not what I’m after really. I want to be aiming higher I think.
The top end Revstars do look the part I agree. Slowly starting to whittle down to solid options
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Yes, almost bought a used one for myself about a year ago, was really tempted…
I think they’re brilliant, but then I’m partial to Yamahas. Epiphones as well though…Choices, choices 
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@Noo_Noo Just make sure you play any guitar before you buy it. That’s the best advice I can give you.
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yeah dead right but that’s sadly really unlikely to happen. It grates with me a bit but I doubt I have much choice. I’d love to spend a day (or more) just wandering round shops trying anything / everything that took my fancy.
The nearest shop is 30 miles from me and it’s only a small one. I might get there one day to have look. Anything larger is Chester (maybe), Liverpool or Manchester and that’s not happening any time soon sadly. If I go second hand there is a least a chance but perhaps a little more awkward to back out unless it’s poorly described and beaten up.
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Revstars are great guitars all along their model levels, and at the higher end are exceptional instruments. As is the case the Yamaha’s Pacificas. As is the case, IMO on any Yamaha guitar I’ve ever tried.
I’m a big Yamaha backer. My basic rule of thumb based on experience with Yamaha is that you’re getting 2x to 3x the value and quality that you would from most other brands at the same price point.
Yamaha sells, for the most part entry level acoustics for their guitar share, and that’s what most people associate them with. But even their entry level guitars are tremendous value. However, Yamaha also has high end guitars that are a different story altogether.
Someone mentioned my Taylor and my Martin dreadnought junior being out of their price range. Well, the dreadnought junior is not what you would normally associate with typical Martin pricing at all. It’s comparatively very affordable, and having all solid wood construction, a great value. The Taylor, I was lucky to find at a great price. These guitars are generally also out of my price range.
I’m mentioning this because, although I have over the years found a similar deal or two and have played some pretty good acoustics, the best I’ve owned is a Yamaha LL16. This is a guitar I’d easily put up against Taylor’s, Martins or Gibsons double and triple it’s price range. It would definitely not be out of place.
In fact, someone mentioned here about wanting a good, all solid wood acoustic to add to the collection, my suggestion is always going to be the Yamaha L series because you’ll be getting the all solid wood construction at a fraction of the price you’d pay for a Taylor or Martin at the start of their all solid wood constructions.
Well, as mentioned, the best bet is to play the revstar before purchase if possible, because this is all subjective and even the best brands have a dud now and then, but I’m very comfortable endorsing Yamaha in general.
Do you know the specific model of revstar?
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It was me @Brian - but this the best entry level guitar bar none.
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Thanks and that pretty much sums up my limited experience of Yamaha’s. A mate has an acoustic and it’s a cracking guitar. The Pacificas equally so for their price point.
Not sure whixh one to honest. I’m a bit torn on pickup choice more than anything else. Bigsby would be nice but i’d rather have the right pickups over the Bigsby if it came to that.
There is a second hand 720b that i may pass with work in the near future. It has the filtertron style pickups on it.
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Dunno everyone else experience with tremolo (an odd name because its really vibrato!) but Ive heard Bigsby is the least best of the main systems. Thats because the travel on it is huge, whereas say a Strat trem, moves quite a lot from limited action. So it takes some wagging to get a half step shift. Im also told they fall out of tune very easily. Never verified these things but its put me off; might be a load of codswallop.
Heard the same to be honest and I also used to think that they were big and clunky looking things but these days I seem to have softened to that older / vintage type look. As with most trems though, the nut, tuners and in the cas of a Bigsby the bridge are the main causes of tuning issues. From what I’ve seen the higher end Yamaha’s use pretty decent hardware so I would hope that it’s not a massive issue. But I’d still bet if you hammered it it would go out of tune quicker than my singing.
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@Noo_Noo just saying, the Revstar is the nicest thing you’ve put up; there is a lovely P90 one in green for £559, love green guitars!!!
Stop it now… 
I know. problem is all the pickups sound really good on them. Then there’s also subtle tone differences that come from the different bridge types.
I have to resist, right before Christmas would probably have me sleeping in the garage. I haven’t wired that in yet so I couldn’t plug in…
I have an admission to make.
During my Revstar research it was inevitable that I was going to stumble across Chris Buck. How the hell has he remained hidden from me all these years?
Gary Moore was the first guitar player to hit me between the eyes and inspired me want to play guitar. That same feeling came from Dave Gilmour. Then to a slightly lesser extent Michael Shenker and Richie Sambora. I’ve just been nailed between the eyes again… AND HE’S WELSH!!!
I am ashamed.
A little update from me: I went for Blackstar HT-5R in the end (that’s the older, discontinued version). My first real guitar amp, got it pretty cheaply, the previous owner was kind enough to swap out the tubes with new ones. It’s probably still too loud for an apartment, especially the overdrive channel, but I don’t mind it if the neighbours don’t! I genuinely feel like a kid in a toy store when I’m trying to find the tone that suits me, I can only imagine what the folks who can really play feel like when they try to dial in their tone on professional equipment. I’m this close to making myself believe that my Schecter (Solo-II Platinum) sounds like Judas Priest and Metallica, while my Washburn sounds like Alice In Chains and Saint Vitus! 
No processor or pedals this time actually, just the guitar directly plugged into the amp. I’ll repeat endlessly that I’m still a beginner, so I was actually amazed to find out just how many different “classic” metal tones I could get just by using the overdrive channel, playing with gain, volume and EQ and fiddling with tone and volume pots on guitars.
I’m still not sure what I can do with the clean channel, I assume that it should work well with some pedals. I’m a big fan of all sorts of fuzz and classic pedals like Tube Screamers, RAT and Big Muff Pi - if I find a use for them, I’ll go for them one day. In the meantime, “tune low, play slow”. 
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You have chosen wisely young Jedi.
Im surprised at your insight so soon to experiment with gain volume and eq, that relationship is at the core of sounding good. If you move your amp to another room, you’ll at least have to adjust the EQ to get the same tone, assuming the new room is another size!
Whats the hiss like on the o/d channel?
I would get a distortion pedal for the clean channel, a Tubescreamer is just another o/d, but a Muff is distortion. The TC Dark matter is good and very competitively priced.
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Not much hiss, to be honest, but it’s definitely because I’m practicing at low volumes (there was understandably some the louder I set it but I was afraid to move the volume past 12 o’clock, haha). I’ve actually found my favourite heavy metal tone by setting a low volume on OD channel, moving the gain to 11 o’clock, bass to 1 o’clock, mids to 11 o’clock, treble to 12 o’clock - and using a Schecter with EMG 57/66 combo, both slightly rolled off from the max volume (please correct me if I’m using the wrong terms here) and with tone pot moved towards the lower end. It sounds full, powerful, rough, much closer to Black Sabbath than to Metallica.
I’ll definitely check the Dark Matter, I see it’s available and pretty close to me, but I’m warning you, that RAT is gonna find its way to me even if I have to settle for a clone! People here don’t use them for some reason, you can’t even find a beat up, second hand one. My musician friend told me he and his buddies use the OD pedals (different variants of TS808, I think, I honestly can’t tell the difference to TS9 or any other OD pedal for that matter) to fire up the OD channel on their Marshalls and Mesas instead, make them dirtier that way.
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Is it true what they say about the best way to know if a stage is level??
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Yes you get more hiss the more volume or gain. You have the EQ set well, bass is muddy in confined places. I play post-punk and sometimes cut it out completely. The informal rule on amps is if you move one dial, you have to at least move another!! Sounds like you have the right nous for it. I would, if you get chance, take the amp out of your home and try it in more spacious environments. The first thing to move is usually the bass upwards to carry the tone farther.
Well if you have your heart set on a Rat what can I say. The difference between o/d’s and distortion is the latter is clipped, to allow less through. The sound is more modified in a distorted core tone but the outer edges are clipped. If you buy an o/d, and Im sure you will, it may have different in built eq and might be more responsive or less, than your amp, but it will be the same thing as your dirty channel. Its an overload of the circuit, no holds barred. Whereas distortion is limited and the signal exits the pedal in a reduction. There is also hard and soft clipping…this shit goes on and on! Put it like this, the Dark Matter will be a less costly experiment, but the Rat has more renown. But both are distortion. I am weary of tubescreamers, and yep you’re right the 808 is the one to have, but they are everywhere.