1985 Yamaha SG200- i can has hambaker?

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Tue May 08, 2012 7:57 pm

so, after much pissing around (not that much, tbh), this thing arrived today:

(apologies for the cruddy phone pics, my camera finally shit the bed)

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first impressions: aesthetically i think it looks the biznizz, apart from the piss yellow pickup rings and switch tip, which will have to go, probably in favour of black ones. the paint is a kind of pearlescent white, not flat.

reckon it needs a decent setup and a set of non pussy strings, as it stays in tune for approximately 0.03 of a second. the fact that the nut is completely un-stuck is probably a major factor there, will have to glue it back in. had a quick blast through the JC120 (not my gigging amp at the moment, but the only thing i have in the house) with an empress fuzz and it sounded pretty beastin', exactly what i had in mind.

the only other thing i'm not too sure about is the nut end of the neck. looking at it side-on there seems to be an unusual amount of curvature. maybe it's supposed to be like that, i'm not sure.... perhaps fran can confirm/deny? kind of hard to see in the photograph - look at it sideways on.

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Post by **Doog** » Tue May 08, 2012 8:18 pm

With some new puprings that thing will rule even harder-nice one, saaaahn.

Fret the thick E at the first fret while simulatenously fretting the top fret (with your right hand, duh)- how big a gap is there between the 12th fretwire and the string?

Freddy V-C · Post by **Freddy V-C** » Tue May 08, 2012 8:20 pm

I love it! I even love the piss-yellow...

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Tue May 08, 2012 8:37 pm

Doog wrote:Fret the thick E at the first fret while simulatenously fretting the top fret (with your right hand, duh)- how big a gap is there between the 12th fretwire and the string?

not much. 1mm, maybe less.

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Tue May 08, 2012 8:41 pm

I may have mentioned before how much I love white SGs.

Now do what Doog says so we know it's not lived leaned on a radiator.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Tue May 08, 2012 8:41 pm

i fucking have!

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Tue May 08, 2012 8:55 pm

Does it play without buzzing up the neck? Fret each string at each fret.

No buzzes = no worries - you've just got some kerrazy low action.

If you get buzzes, the trussrod needs a tweak. But since you're putting manland strings on there, do that first. That might sort it out.

Be interested to hear Francis and Dooglas's take, though.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Tue May 08, 2012 8:59 pm

there's no fret buzz, i checked that earlier. think it just needs the action raised a bit, and i might tweak the truss-rod anyway, i suspect it's just a tad too concave for my taste.

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Tue May 08, 2012 9:01 pm

Manland strings will probably take care of that for you. I wouldn't mess with the trussrod til a few days after you've restrung it. Let it settle in a bit first.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Tue May 08, 2012 9:14 pm

just noticed the adjustment screws on the tuners were hella slack, making them all loose and floppy.

also, forgot to say, it only cost me Â£175. bargain.

lorez · Post by **lorez** » Tue May 08, 2012 9:35 pm

Nice looking guitar Stewart and a steal at that price. It sounds like a good set up and some tlc should dee it right as well

BearBoy · Post by **BearBoy** » Tue May 08, 2012 9:48 pm

I've got one of those, in a darkish stain though, not white. Was my first guitar. It's been in storage for the last five years or so - must dig it out at some point...

Hope you enjoy yours.

Ben79 · Post by **Ben79** » Tue May 08, 2012 10:15 pm

Is it a MIJ model? I thought about one of these for a while.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Tue May 08, 2012 10:33 pm

taiwan.

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Wed May 09, 2012 2:01 am

Love it! Pearly white nicely-horned SG shaped guitars are much too uncommon and sexy, the uncommon part possibly being why they're so sexy.

Like Freddy I'm fine with the pee-pee rings, will love to hear it once a proper setup is accomplished done.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Wed May 09, 2012 9:02 am

New strings and tightening the tuners made a big difference, as did glueing in the nut (durrr). Truss rod could probably do with a quarter turn I reckon, but will leave it for a couple of days. Sondz kool.

Post by **Mike** » Wed May 09, 2012 10:16 am

Cool Story Bro

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Wed May 09, 2012 12:59 pm

Looks great Stew! The rings always seem to go piss-yellow on these, in fact i'd like to see an old catalogue pic out of curiosity if they were this colour originally.
The truss looks like it may need tightening, let us know how that goes.
I love the pickups in these, they are really dynamic imo, from crystal clean to rawk. I put some in my old Flying V.

Worth mentioning it is an 80's Taiwan model but all the parts are MIJ.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Wed May 09, 2012 3:11 pm

it urinates over any equivalent epiphone i've ever played anyway. only annoying thing now is a funny buzzing coming from the bridge, like a loose part. AND THERE WAS ME THINKING IT WAS ONLY JAGUAR BRIDGES DID THAT!

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Wed May 09, 2012 3:39 pm

You can solve the rattle quite easily.

You see the wire that holds down the saddles? If you put a bend halfway between each screw it increases the tension - stopping the rattle.