A Café Racer-Inspired Guitar That Actually Delivers
There's something genuinely exciting about a guitar that looks this distinctive without asking you to compromise on anything. The Yamaha Revstar Standard RSS02T takes its styling cues from 1960s British café racer motorcycles — sleek double-cutaway body, purposeful lines, that warm Sunset Burst finish fading from gold to deep amber — and backs it up with a spec sheet that punches well above its price point.
At its heart, this is a chambered mahogany body with a maple top, a carbon-reinforced three-piece mahogany neck, and a pair of Yamaha's custom VP5 P90-style single-coil pickups. It's a combination that gives you warm, punchy midrange character with a bit more clarity and bite than a standard humbucker setup — and a lot more grit than traditional single-coils. Whether you play clean jazz, blues, indie rock, or classic hard rock, the RSS02T has enough tonal range to stay interesting across all of it.
If you've been curious about P90-equipped guitars but wanted something with modern build quality and a fresh aesthetic, this Revstar is worth a serious look.
This item is a B-Stock guitar sourced directly from the manufacturer. It is new and has never been previously owned. The photos shown are of the exact instrument you will receive. Before shipment, our licensed technician will inspect and professionally set up the guitar to ensure it is playing its best. During our inspection, we noticed Messy router cutout for bridge and neck pickup. (see pictures) Please note, these may not be the only cosmetic imperfections. As a B-Stock instrument, there may be additional minor blemishes that are small in nature and do not affect playability or performance.
Body: Chambered Mahogany with a Maple Cap
Yamaha built the RSS02T's body using a chambered mahogany core topped with a maple cap — a combination developed through their Acoustic Design process to shape tone, reduce overall weight, and optimize resonance. The chambering keeps things light and lively without sacrificing sustain, while the maple top adds brightness and definition on top of mahogany's naturally warm character.
The result is a body that's comfortable to play for extended sessions and produces a tonality that sits nicely between a fully solid electric and a semi-hollow. The gloss polyurethane finish on the Sunset Burst color option shows off the warm gradient — yellow-gold at the center, deepening to amber and brown at the edges — in a way that photographs beautifully and looks even better in person.
Neck: Carbon-Reinforced Mahogany, Built to Stay Put
The three-piece mahogany neck is reinforced with carbon fiber — Yamaha's approach to ensuring the neck stays straight and stable regardless of humidity shifts or temperature changes. It's a practical engineering choice that matters more over the long haul of owning a guitar. The set-in neck joint (glued, not bolted) helps with upper-fret sustain and gives the guitar a more resonant feel overall.
The rosewood fingerboard sits at a 12-inch radius — flatter than vintage-style guitars, which means chords lay flat and comfortable while single-note leads feel fast and natural. Twenty-two jumbo stainless steel frets are resistant to wear and have a smooth, fast feel under the fingers. The nut is PPS plastic at 1.649 inches (41.9mm) wide, and the scale length is 24-3/4 inches — a familiar Gibson-scale feel if that's your reference point. The neck gets a satin polyurethane finish, so it moves quickly without the sticky feeling some gloss necks can develop over time.
Electronics: P90 Tone, Five-Way Switching, and a Focus Switch Trick
The RSS02T is equipped with two Yamaha VP5 P90-style single-coil pickups — one at the neck, one at the bridge — both using Alnico V magnets. P90s occupy a particular tonal sweet spot: they have more midrange punch and output than traditional single-coils, without the compressed quality of a humbucker. Think thick, clear, and direct, with a slight edge that responds well to how hard you play.
The 5-way blade switch gives you two primary positions plus three blend options — positions 2 and 4 introduce a subtle phase shift that produces that classic "in-between" quack and chime. But the most interesting feature here is the Focus Switch: a push/pull on the tone knob that activates a passive boost circuit, thickening the mids and lows while rolling off some of the high-end brightness. It gives you a noticeably fuller, more aggressive sound — without any battery or active circuitry. The bridge is a Tune-o-Matic style with Yamaha's custom racing tailpiece, keeping everything rock solid in tune and giving the guitar a clean, purposeful look.
Product Features:
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Body: Chambered mahogany with maple top, gloss polyurethane finish in Sunset Burst
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Neck: 3-piece mahogany with carbon reinforcement, set-in joint, satin finish
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Fingerboard: Rosewood, 12" radius, 22 jumbo stainless steel frets, pearloid line inlays
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Scale Length: 24-3/4" (628.6mm)
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Nut: PPS, 1.649" (41.9mm) width
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Pickups: 2x Yamaha VP5 P90-style single-coil, Alnico V magnets (neck and bridge)
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Switching: 5-position blade selector with phase shift on positions 2 and 4; push/pull passive Focus Switch on tone knob
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Bridge: Tune-o-Matic with custom Café Racer-style racing tailpiece
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Tuners: Die-cast enclosed
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Handedness: Right-handed
Brand: Yamaha
Model: Revstar Standard RSS02T
SKU: RSS02T SSB-2ND
Condition: B-Stock
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