If you’re way into motorcycle culture, leather-jacketed rebels and guitars, Yamaha's Revstar debut in 2015 was jam-packed with vibe, a hint of danger, innovation and history. Inspired by London’s café racers of the 1960s, the high-octane look of the Revstar series was informed by Yamaha’s 1955 YA-1 “Red Dragonfly” race-champion motorcycle and the company’s iconic SG1000 double-cutaway guitars of the ’70s.

But a Revstar guitar is far from simply a nostalgia machine.

The line is also prized for its innovative electronics, gig-hardened construction and “more for your money” core value. Here, Yamaha Guitar Group Marketing Manager Brandon Soriano takes you on a motorcyclist’s “grip it and rip it” journey through the history, design concepts and technology of the revved-up Revstar line.

Pictured: Yamaha Revstar Headstocks

When Revstar debuted in 2015, a lot of the storytelling was about bridging aesthetic touches conceived during Yamaha’s motorcycle and guitar development. What drove that concept?

Soriano: The aesthetic of an instrument matters a lot. You could have a guitar with the greatest features in the world, as well as amazing playability. But at the end of the day, a guitar is just as much of a fashion statement for some people as it is a tool for sonic expression. So, we thought about what a Yamaha guitar might look like? What is the vibe and style of Yamaha? It made a lot of sense to take guidance from Yamaha Motors, and especially the café racer aesthetic.

You know, a motorcycle is a pretty modern technology in the grand scheme of things, but people still view café racers as being classics. I think that was really the motivation for it. It makes a lot of sense for the story of Yamaha—and for the customer—to have something that looks different yet familiar and that makes a stylistic statement.

To me, Revstar is the perfect balance of something that is familiar, but innovative. The guitar does not have a body style that existed in the past, nor does it offer a traditional pickup switching system. But it still has this classic feel to it—kind of like you're playing an old friend. And yet, there’s innovation that's brand new.

Regarding new technology, can you explain how you approached the 5-way pickup selector on selected models?

The electronics are my favorite part of the Revstar line. On the Professional and Standard, you get a two-pickup guitar, but with a 5-way selector switch. What's happening is that positions one and five are what you expect—the bridge pickup alone or the neck pickup by itself. Position three is both pickups combined—again, as expected—but positions two and four are really unique. You get an out-of-phase sound, but not with a traditional phase flip. Instead, it’s a slight delay. In position four, the neck and bridge pickups are active, but the output of the bridge pickup is slightly delayed. In position two, the bridge pickup is leading with the neck pickup slightly delayed. The delays are a very, very small amount of time, but just enough to misalign the signals on purpose to get that bright, out-of-phase quack that a lot of players love.

Pictured: Yamaha Revstar Element RSE20 in Neon Yellow

Why go through all of the design stages required to create a “different” out-of-phase tone?

Yamaha is never standing still. There's always the thought of, “How can we do something innovative, different and unique? How can we push boundaries?” Our out-of-phase tones do not sound exactly like a conventional phase flip, and because of that, the Revstar is unique and gives guitarists a new option to play with.

What are some of the differences between the Revstar Element and the more upscale Revstar Standard?

The Revstar Element is a fantastic guitar for someone who is not looking to spend too much money. It's really well built, but there are some differences between it and the Standard and Professional models. For example, the Element series has a traditional 3-position switch and a push-pull pot on the tone knob—which we call the dry switch. It’s more or less a high-pass filter that effectivity gets you the sound of a coil split without any hum being introduced. However, on Standard and Professional series guitars, the tone pot push-pull is what we call a focus switch—a completely passive midrange boost that's really useful for solo tones. A lot of jazz players keep the focus switch on all the time. They choose the neck pickup and activate the focus switch to get an upfront, warm and rounded tone.

Pictured: Yamaha Revstar Standard RSS20 in Vintage White Tone Control

The Revstar line also makes use of chambering inside the guitar bodies. What are the main benefits of that feature?  

The best electric guitars I've ever played resonate in your body almost like an acoustic guitar. You can feel them up against your sternum or up against your belly, and it makes a difference while you're playing. You feel more connected to the instrument. But to go deeper into the chambering, let’s start at the top. The Revstar Pro gets chambering for both resonance and weight relief. Some of the chambering patterns are to reduce stiffness, and some are to increase stiffness. The ultimate goal is that the body is uniformly resonant with no dead spots.

Revstar Standard and Professional models have carbon-reinforced necks and bodies. Can you elaborate on why carbon reinforcement is advantageous to players?

Having a consistent and durable guitar is really important. If you're touring, or if you're in a very climate-intense area, you don't want your neck getting thrown out of whack all the time. Carbon fiber runs down the entirety of the neck on either side of the truss rod for neck stiffness. There’s an adjustable truss rod, of course, but you will not have to use it nearly as often as you would on some other guitars, because it's a carbon-reinforced neck. The Pro also has two strips of carbon behind the bridge—or rather behind the tailpiece on the body—to increase stiffness in that portion of the body. There’s a sonic benefit to carbon reinforcement, as well. Stiffening the body and neck helps to tighten the low-end by removing unnecessary “woof,” resulting in a more balanced and pleasing tone.

Pictured: Yamaha Revstar Professional RSP02T Bridge in Sunset Burst

Any issues with neck diving?

No. They're really well balanced. That's another thing with Yamaha—the user experience is king. We know that having a guitar that’s balanced is really important.

I don't want to pigeonhole the Revstar line, but given its motorcycle vibe, did Yamaha have an idealized player in mind during the development process? Is Revstar positioned more for, say, leather jacket-wearing rockers? 

A standard for any Yamaha guitar is that it has to be versatile. That being said, different instruments can lean toward different styles of music a little more heavily. Revstar has been very popular with jazz, rock and blues players. Generally, the type of player who wants a mahogany body with a maple cap and a high-output pickup loves Revstar.