Yamaha's signature Matteo Mancuso guitar is now available
Matteo Mancuso, born in 1996, was a prodigy on the guitar, playing with the greatest Sicilian musicians from an early age. Back in 2009, at the age of 12, he performed at the Castelbuono Jazz Festival in Sicily. Being a versed guitarist, from classical to electric guitars, he has developed a very personal and unique approach without picks that allows him to use a very original musical language. With over 1.5 million views, his YouTube channel is followed by a wide international audience, acclaimed and recognized by Dweezil Zappa, Stef Burns, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Vai, Al Di Meola and many more.
In 2017, he received a scholarship to Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music for his performance at Umbria Jazz. Currently he studies jazz guitar at the Palermo Conservatory.
He also performed at the 2019 NAMM Show in Los Angeles and collaborated with Yamaha Guitars and Line6. He participated in the Bangkok Guitar Festival popular in Thailand in February 2019 and the Hard Rock Pattaya Guitar Battle in May. He also joined the 2019 Russian NAMM Music Fair in September and held a series of guitar clinics in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Perm.
He formed a trio called "SNIPS" with Riccardo Oliva and Salvatore Lima. They have attended Musika-Expo in Rome, Umbria Jazz in 2018 and many other festivals in Italy. Many journalists have written about Matteo and his trio in national and international professional magazines such as Accordo.it, Vintage Guitar, Tokyo-based Fusion Guitar Magazine and Gitarre & Bass.
Yamaha has introduced the new Matteo Mancuso Signature Revstar RS20MM, a premium production electric guitar designed to recreate the aesthetic, tone and playing feel of Mancuso's custom Revstar.
Built around Yamaha Acoustic Design technology, the RS20MM pairs a chambered body for enhanced resonance and reduced weight with a carbon-reinforced neck for strength and stability. A push-pull Focus Switch and 5-way switching system provide a broad range of tones spanning jazz, fusion, rock and beyond, while a refined neck heel developed at Mancuso's request improves upper-fret access for fluid technical playing.
Finished in Vintage Sunburst with a flame-maple top, all-gold hardware, a custom logo inlay at the 12th fret and Mancuso's signature on the truss rod cover, the RS20MM reflects the visual style of the guitarist's custom instrument.
Equipped with the same DiMarzio PAF 36th Anniversary pickups featured in Mancuso's custom guitar, the instrument delivers remarkable clarity, sustain and dynamic response, allowing players to translate subtle playing nuances into musical expression.
Mancuso has played Revstar guitars since 2017 and became a Yamaha artist in 2019, making the RS20MM the culmination of a long-standing collaboration between the guitarist and Yamaha.
Developed through years of collaboration between Yamaha and one of today's most notable, modern guitarists, whose virtuosic technique and innovative fingerstyle approach have earned praise from artists including Al Di Meola, Steve Vai & Joe Bonamassa he RS20MM brings the performance characteristics, tonal philosophy and playability refinements of his primary instrument to players worldwide.
The RS20MM is only the second widely available artist-signature model in the Revstar lineup. “This signature model is an evolution of the custom Yamaha Revstar I’ve relied on for years, both onstage and in the studio,” said Matteo Mancuso. “From the very beginning, the goal was to create an instrument that delivers the versatility, dynamic response and articulation my playing demands. I’m thrilled that players can now experience the guitar that has been at the heart of my sound and make it part of their own musical journey.”
