I don't know which products you're thinking of but at least for bass guitars (which is my instrument) they've got stuff ranging from less than $200 up to just under $2000. My upper-mid tier bass cost just under $900, but sounds and feels better than Fender basses that would cost $1300 or more. Not to mention better designed. Compare that to other top tier production models from Fender, Gibson, Musicman, Rickenbacker etc... They're all between $2000 and $3000. Musicman might be the only one of those that can claim to be better built consistently.
SqueezeMeMacaroni
joined 1 year ago
Yamaha often gets overlooked for instruments, I think a lot of this is that we don't expect a company that makes jetskis and motorcycles to also know what they're doing with guitars, saxophones, and pianos, but they actually make good quality stuff.
It's more accurate to think of Yamaha as a conglomerate that owns several different companies. It's just that a lot of those smaller companies are also named Yamaha
Fun fact, the Yamaha logo is an image of three tuning forks, laid atop each other.
I'm a bass player so I'm only aware of their guitar models, haven't ever played them myself (and honestly I lack the experience with guitars to tell a good one from a so-so one). But their BB basses are great and have been for a long time. I bought one for less than $900 a couple years back and it sounds and plays great, and is just a really well designed instrument. They've implemented a lot of stuff that legacy companies like Fender or Gibson should, but won't (6 bolt necks with miter attachments at the end, angled slots for through body stringing, string trees that actually retain strings well for a good break angle above the nut, reversible bridge saddles)