Yamano Gibsons are they worth it?

markj

At the moment looking for a Les Paul Standard and found this one on Reverb.
I think it's overpriced or for a Yamano version is it worth it?
I believe the Yamano versions had nicer wood.
Gibson Les Paul Standard 2002 Yamano Export Figured Heritage Cherry AAA Flametop Non Chambered w/ OHSC | Reverb UK

hollywoodrox

That’s very pretty , I’d be tempted , it’s worth it if you like it 

Nerine

Looks decent to me. Price - as above. If you like it and it feels like value, then to hell with it. 

mburekenge

That looks delicious 

WezV

Yamano doesn't guarantee that it will be nicer spec or wood, but sometimes it is because that is what the dealer ordered.  Maybe they wanted the ones with nicer tops here.  Sometimes it's just the same standard models.

They are made the same as any other Gibson besides that.   However if you put all gibsons on a quality scale of 1-10.  Yamano would receive very few of the 1-4's we occasionally see over here, and they are more likely to have the 9-10 examples you really have to search for in the UK.   

That still leaves plenty of crossover though, so no guarantee of a Yamano being better than a UK sold Gibson of the same age.

guitars4you

Bit distorted to say not chambered as I’d still expect it to be weight relieved as per most production LPs from the 90s onward - I’m not 100% sure but would not expect Yamano to be excluded from that

Yes there is some difference between weight relief and fully chambered but somehow I feel that in a back handed way the dealer info might be trying to imply it is solid by saying it is not chambered , or at least leading you that way - Maybe just the way I’m reading it so update me

chrisj1602

It’s very nice but more than I’d pay for a Standard personally. That’s Gas Station Guitars pricing for you…You could get a used R8 for a few hundred more.

stickyfiddle

I don’t believe Yamanos are specifically better than others. I’m sure they might  have “hand selected” some tops or whatever but it’s not like Gibson were specifically going out to make their guitars better than those going to other dealers 

I had a Yamano LP Custom and it was excellent but not any better than any other decent CS Gisbon. 

It could be that - back in the day - the Japanese distributors and shops would put more effort into setting up the guitars they received than your average mid-90s dealer in the west. But I have little to back that up 

guitars4you

I think the 2002-2006 era LPs are amongst the best production LP Standard models that you can find- Certainly without getting into Custom Shop models - First time they started to look like a Standard with spec and features that we’d associate with a LP

stickyfiddle

guitars4you said:

I think the 2002-2006 era LPs are amongst the best production LP Standard models that you can find- Certainly without getting into Custom Shop models - First time they started to look like a Standard with spec and features that we’d associate with a LP

This in spades. 

I actually wonder if part of the pivot to the 2008 Standard with all sorts of modern (unnecessary) bells & whistles was because the previous 2002 version of was so good it took potential sales away from the CS 

fosk

I knew it'd be from Gas Station before even clicking the link.

They are overpriced in general in that shop.

markj

chrisj1602 said:

It’s very nice but more than I’d pay for a Standard personally. That’s Gas Station Guitars pricing for you…You could get a used R8 for a few hundred more.

That’s what I was thinking.

Dave8

fosk said:

I knew it'd be from Gas Station before even clicking the link.

They are overpriced in general in that shop.

I agree. But.. this is very nice 

BobHillman

What annoys me is that they want 43 quid for postage, when I live less than 20 miles from them, but there appears to no option for collection.

Philly_Q

BobHillman said:

What annoys me is that they want 43 quid for postage, when I live less than 20 miles from them, but there appears to no option for collection.

Have you tried contacting them?

hollywoodrox

chrisj1602 said:

It’s very nice but more than I’d pay for a Standard personally. That’s Gas Station Guitars pricing for you…You could get a used R8 for a few hundred more.

Ahh I wondered if it would be them  I looked at gas station guitars when I was after an LP 
im pleased I’ve still got my Slash one 

Pete.R

WezV said:

Yamano doesn't guarantee that it will be nicer spec or wood, but sometimes it is because that is what the dealer ordered.  Maybe they wanted the ones with nicer tops here.  Sometimes it's just the same standard models.

They are made the same as any other Gibson besides that.   However if you put all gibsons on a quality scale of 1-10.  Yamano would receive very few of the 1-4's we occasionally see over here, and they are more likely to have the 9-10 examples you really have to search for in the UK.   

That still leaves plenty of crossover though, so no guarantee of a Yamano being better than a UK sold Gibson of the same age.

If you know who does the QC for Gibsons for the Japanese Market,

and you know they do it very meticulous.....

then the probability is high to have 'better' guitars on the market

timmypix

Gas Station's high pricing taken as given, I find the "non-chambered" thing in the title a bit... facetious? 

Standards were literally only chambered for what, 2006-7? Then they had the modern weight relief for most of the 2010s.

Even the 2002-2006 models that are highly praised are still the traditional 9-hole weight relief, whereas the ad is worded in such a way as to imply it's not weight-relieved at all because it's not chambered.

Maybe I'm just tired and grumpy, but it's an odd spec to single out when it was only briefly featured on Les Pauls. Might as well say "non-wide board/robo-tuners" because it's not a 2015 model.

And the three best regular Les Pauls I've played are all chambered, now I think of it.

BobHillman

Philly_Q said:

BobHillman said:

What annoys me is that they want 43 quid for postage, when I live less than 20 miles from them, but there appears to no option for collection.

Have you tried contacting them?

Actually, I forgot to mention that there is no way I could afford to buy the guitar, anyway.

Philly_Q

BobHillman said:

Philly_Q said:

BobHillman said:

What annoys me is that they want 43 quid for postage, when I live less than 20 miles from them, but there appears to no option for collection.

Have you tried contacting them?

Actually, I forgot to mention that there is no way I could afford to buy the guitar, anyway.

Problem solved before it arose, then? 

Dominic

^ I was going to ask a similar question ....."Riva Superyachts ......are they really worth it ? "