Yamaha AEX1500 Archtop Electric Sunburst, 1995 – No Longer Available

Built in Japan from 1994 to 1999, the Yamaha AEX1500 is a single-cutaway archtop electric guitar originally designed by Yamaha and British jazz guitarist Martin Taylor. Taylor used these guitars as his touring instruments. While these models were sold in North America as the AEX1500, in Europe and the UK they were called the “Martin Taylor” model.

The Yamaha AEX1500 is built, like many other professional grade archtop electrics, with Laminated Maple for the top, back and sides. The use of laminates improves both physical stability and feedback rejection at stage volumes. The neck is Maple, with Ebony for the fingerboard and bridge and Indian Rosewood for the head plate. For hardware, the AEX1500 sports a Yamaha ‘Johnny Smith’ style humbucker plus a Yamaha piezo pickup set in the Ebony bridge. A preamp is mounted on the upper bass side with the 9v battery box near the strap pin, and the top carries a 3-way toggle switch and master Volume and Tone controls. The Yamaha tuners and trapeze tailpiece are gold-finished.

This example is in overall good condition with a few small dings and dents in the finish.   Fretwear is light to moderate, and the guitar plays well and cleanly as presently set up.

The original hard shell case is included.

Martin Taylor can be seen playing ‘Stella by Starlight’ on his blonde  Yamaha AX1500 in the video linked here.

Here’s Martin Taylor on why he tours with the Yamaha AEX1500

Via Vintage Guitar magazine:

“The guitar I used was the prototype of a guitar I designed, along with Martyn Booth, for Yamaha. It’s called the AEX1500; in the U.K. it’s known as the Yamaha Martin Taylor. It’s now available in the States and I am very proud of it; it came out well.
I’ve been a Yamaha endorsee for six or seven years. I have two AEX1500 production models; one blond, one sunburst. I also have two prototypes, the blond one you saw on TV and a black model. I have another Yamaha archtop guitar called an AES1200, an APX10 steel-string flat-top, a nylon string APX10, and an APX8C, which I use with my band, Spirit of Django. Yamaha has been very good to me!
I only travel with my Yamahas. If something happened to my Barker I wouldn’t be able to replace it. The Yamahas are practical; they’re easy to play and they sound consistently good no matter where I’m playing. I know that sounds like an ad, but it’s true; that’s why I play them.”