00:00Hello, my name is Yvette Young.
00:02I am here today with guitar.com, and this is My Guitars and Me.
00:16So I have a peculiar journey with guitar.
00:21Music for me, it wasn't necessarily something I chose,
00:25but it's something that my parents definitely instilled in me.
00:28And I would say pushed on me when I was younger.
00:31I actually wanted to play basketball.
00:35I used to sneak out to go see bands and stuff.
00:38I was kind of brought up really strict,
00:40so I wasn't allowed to go to these sorts of things,
00:42but I'd sneak out anyway.
00:45My parents were awesome and got me an acoustic guitar,
00:49Martin OMC 1E Acoustic, I remember the exact brand.
00:54And I started just teaching myself just as an outlet.
00:58And I really do think if I didn't have guitar, I wouldn't be here today.
01:03I feel like a bit of an outsider when it comes to the whole guitar world,
01:17just because of the way I was brought up.
01:19You know, I come to the guitar world from someone who just pretty much exclusively
01:23was brought up on classical music.
01:25Even the way that I play guitar, I feel like I approach it from a piano player perspective.
01:32The tapping thing felt more home to me than using a pick.
01:37Nowadays, I do use a pick.
01:39I think also, theory-wise, it's not like I use theory on guitar.
01:45I play in a bunch of different tunings, and I exclusively use my ear to write and play things.
01:50So I think every way that I approach an instrument is untraditional.
02:04So my first guitar ever was actually this SX Tele clone that I traded my friend Ethan.
02:12And at the time, I didn't have money, and I had a drum machine.
02:15And he had this Tele, and he was like,
02:17I'll trade you your drum machine for this Tele.
02:20I started making all these videos on this Telecaster.
02:23One of my first videos, Nautilus, is just like me tapping and stuff.
02:26Like, that got me so much traction on Facebook.
02:31And I remember one day waking up to, like, so many messages of people who watched it.
02:35And I was like, whoa, that's crazy that this stuff can, like, blow up overnight.
02:40And Stenberg contacted me, and he was like,
02:45do you want to demo our seven-string guitars?
02:50And I said, yes.
02:52I had never played seven-string before.
02:54And he was like, cool, see you in a week.
02:56And I was just like, oh, crap.
02:58But, like, so I have a week to write something for seven-string.
03:02Headless fan fret seven-string, mind you.
03:05But I did it.
03:07I borrowed an Ibanez, I think it was, maybe the RG series?
03:12But it was a seven-string, anyways.
03:13An Ibanez RG.
03:14And I was like, I need to do something really flashy.
03:16So I, like, played this, like, crazy technical thing.
03:19And, yeah, I showed up a week later, and I did the demo on the headless seven-string.
03:26And I did the technical thing.
03:27But, unfortunately, I feel like because I did that, I maybe misrepresented myself.
03:34And it's not to say that I don't adore flashiness or technicality, and I don't value that.
03:39But I think I let that be the guiding thing in telling people who I was.
03:44And so, all of a sudden, I was, like, getting, like, you know, EMG pickups.
03:48And, like, I was put in, like, the progressive metal world.
03:51And I'm like, oh, my God, like, this isn't even, like, who I am.
03:54Like, I grew up listening to Midas the Bear in, like, post-rock, like, American football.
03:59This is so funny to me.
04:13I think I learned my lesson with that first endorsement because I'm like, wow, like, the first thing that you put out can really dictate what people think about you.
04:21And it can take a really long time to shed that misconception.
04:26So then along the line, Ibanez approached me.
04:30I remember Mike from Ibanez was like, hey, like, I got this guitar for you.
04:35And I think he was, like, wanting me to try out the Taoman.
04:37And I'm like, okay, like, it's not pointy, so it's not like a metal guitar.
04:40And so I'm down.
04:42So he sent it to me.
04:43And I was like, I'm also really attached to that SX Telly, the Bill Lawrence pickups that were in there.
04:49There were these nice hand-wound pickups, and they were just so special to me because they were so dynamic.
04:53I was like, can I be cheeky and ask for these pickups to be put in that Taoman?
05:00And that's how I'll play this Taoman.
05:03And he was like, yeah, of course.
05:05So, yeah, that one I played forever.
05:07I brought on a bunch of tours.
05:09I was like, I love this guitar.
05:11It actually feels like home.
05:12It's, like, everything I love about the SX Telly tonally.
05:16I love the off-site body, but the neck is, like, such an improvement because it is technical, I guess.
05:22It's very detailed.
05:23It is, like, a lot of flourishes and stuff.
05:25I do appreciate having the thin, flat neck profile versus, like, the kind of more baseball-ish, like, I actually do prefer, like, shredder necks.
05:34And then he offered me a signature after that, and I think I, like, maybe had, like, self-esteem issues back then or something.
05:52And I was like, I'm not, no, I don't feel like I deserve this.
05:55So I actually declined the first time.
05:57I was like, I don't have much music out.
05:59I haven't really done anything impressive.
06:01I don't want to just say yes to an opportunity because it's cool.
06:04Like, I feel like if I have something in this life, I have to earn it.
06:07So I worked on myself, and then he approached me again, and I said yes the second time.
06:12And that's, the YY10 was born.
06:24So we went through the YY10, which had the Strat-style pickups, and then I went through the Tele-style pickups,
06:29because I do love, like, my, the SX Telly, I was like, I want to pay tribute to that.
06:33And now, I don't know why I'm so late to the P90 game.
06:37I kind of am kicking myself because playing these are just so chunky.
06:41I feel like I've been into a lot of, like, heavier stuff lately, like, kind of leaning into the more grungy, sludgy stuff.
06:48A lot of fuzz, tones, a lot of overdrive and things like that, octave.
06:52And the way that these take those effects, just, like, I think, killer.
06:58But it still has the precision and the detail of, like, you know, like, how I feel about the Strat set that I have.
07:04Very dynamic.
07:05So these are Wilkinsons.
07:07I tried out so many different P90s from all these companies, and these Wilkinsons just knocked it out of the park.
07:15I did a blind test, too.
07:16Like, I didn't even, like, know what I was trying, so.
07:27I'm just over the moon to release this guitar because I think tonally it's really where I'm at right now.
07:33The pink sparkle is a tribute to my first guitar that I ever got sent by Ibanez, the pink sparkle.
07:40And then these don't have it, but they're going to have special art inlays that I drew.
07:45And it has, like, a special inlay thing that I designed as well.
07:49It's got the rosewood fretboard, which I think is really pretty with the pink.
07:53And I hope people like it.
07:56I use this for everything.
07:57I just played, like, a tour with it, and I think everyone was remarking how fuller it sounded.
08:03I just got to do some guitar for the Superman soundtrack.
08:06This was all over that.
08:08Yeah, I'm just, again, I'm kicking myself for not getting into P90s earlier.
08:11My relationship with Yamaha, honestly, to me, I'm, like, geeked out because I grew up playing
08:29Yamaha grand pianos and stuff, so I just never imagined I would also develop a relationship
08:35with Yamaha guitars.
08:37I started out playing A5R acoustics from them and then THR amps, which I use a lot.
08:44Honestly, the chorus sounds in that I love.
08:47I'm a big chorus fan.
08:49Yeah.
08:50So, when they came out with the trans-acoustic line, I was really excited.
08:56The first one, I think, had built-in effects, and already I was like, wow, this chorus already,
09:02I use so much in my electric stuff.
09:07But to have that on acoustic and with delay and reverb is just so inspiring.
09:13How could I ever return to just, like, not having effects?
09:17And then, now, this one has a built-in looper.
09:19This is the newest iteration that they released, and that's, like, a whole new dimension of just
09:25being able to stack and build on yourself and have an acoustic guitar by itself sound so full.
09:31A big theme of just my career has been saying yes to things I don't know how to do and figuring
09:46it out later.
09:47I like to continue that.
09:50Now that I'm older, I don't necessarily want to be on the road all the time anymore.
09:54And touring, although it is rewarding, isn't my, like, favorite part of being a musician.
10:03I really like being at home in my studio.
10:06I have a dog.
10:08And being able to just make things.
10:11I think maybe this year, the whole, my goal is to just make a lot of music and continue
10:18to grow and push myself and develop.
10:24My name's Yvette, and thank you so much for checking out my guitars with me today.
10:38I'm super looking forward to hopefully dropping my new signature Ibanez Taemin with P90s this
10:45year, so stay tuned for that.
10:47And if you like some of the more ambient sounds you hear in the background, be sure to check
10:51out the Walrus Chi Etherealizer pedal.
10:53That's a piece of gear that I got to develop.
10:57And we're really proud of what we were able to achieve.
10:59So hopefully you can check it out and it will inspire you.
Comments