Yamaha. Ha ha ha!

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 5:19 pm

Sad to be thinning out the herd (more on that later), but with the blessing of the wifey, I'm getting the one humbucker'd guitar I've always dreamed of having: A Yamaha SG1000.

Since rejoining Lee Seung Hwan's band for a summer tour and being put on rhythm guitar(in addition to the other mess of folk instruments), I've definitely needed something with more output and tonal girth, though the Emily the Strange SG has been doing decently with P90s through an AC15. Still, the call for humbuckers has recently become no small matter during rehearsals for most of the heavier songs, and now's the time. I thought about picking up a through-neck SG2000, though I heard from a few that the set neck mahogany versions like on the SG800/SG1000 would be a better choice for teh phat toanz. The coil splits on Yamaha's standard hums are another thing I'm looking forward to having available for live shows.

So anyway, I got in touch with an older collector guy down south in Daejeon who has an early 2009 model that's been in its case since he got it from the original buyer, and at $1200 it's the best deal I could find (VAT included they sold for about $2200 new here), short of getting a nicely bashed-up vintage model. I think I'd do alright with a 10lb oldie, but the predictably gaudy cherry sunburst models around here has turned my head to the future, though I saw a 2-tone burst SG2000 that looked awesome. Cindi and I are are going to head to his place next week, and he was nice enough to hold it for us in the meantime.

Here are the pics we got from him.

Funny thing, Moollon's Mr. Park tried so hard to steer me away from a Yamaha, being such a huge fan of vintage Gibson gear. He was so adamant that I search out a late '90s Gibson SG(there are a few Gibson RI production years he's particularly fine with), and that he'd wind a special pair of classic PAFs that would get me from naught to AC/DC in no time...Which is probably closer to where I need to be than I'm guessing. But then again, I really do want the Yamaha.

More to come. Lots more...Do an demo, etc.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 6:59 pm

Oooh, that's very nice. I love those things. They seem really sensible somehow. It's a guitar that you can't question someone for buying.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 7:02 pm

Visually they're not my thing but they are quality guitars...I've played a few and the people I know who own them only speak good words about them.

Congrats!

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 7:44 pm

Love those in black: always been more interested in the 2000s because of the through-neck, but that is lovely.

arcadedave · Post by **arcadedave** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 8:41 pm

I'd have one over a Les Paul any day of the week; in black more so. Good work.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 9:23 pm

I love these so much. I came very close to buying one when I got my first serious guitar, although I don't regret buying a JJ I do still kind of wish I'd got one of these.

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Sun May 01, 2011 12:57 am

Aye, black or 2-tone were the choices among the RI models I found that were priced alright, and black won out.

Funny thing, the parts I play on a few songs each night were originally played by none other than Phil X, who tracked them via a venerable Tonemaster in Los Angeles early last year, after former guest drummer Kenny Aronoff gave Seung Hwan a nice recommendation for Phil's rock skills. I'm pretty sure it was well before he received those lovely SG1820s from Yamaha after the Musikmesse debut.

Here's one of the tunes, I'm going to guess Phil was layering a Gibbo:

[youtube][/youtube]

dub · Post by **dub** » Sun May 01, 2011 4:48 am

(ultra)Twins!

Mine's a beat up 1980 SG2000. It's before they added coil taps, but has the brass block under the bridge.

Do the SG1000's have a mahogany neck? I can see how the maple neckthrough of the 2000 might seem brighter on paper, but often neckthroughs sound dark because of the smoothed out attack of the notes. One local guy I talked to who had both seemed to think his 2000 was darker than his 1000. Either way, it'll have some fat tone. Congrats!