Something old, something new, something red to play the blues

[Mikeymac]

I posted about this in the Electric Larrivee Forum but it's not an electric Larrivee (we're all just waiting and talking over there about Jean and Matthew designing and producing a Larrivee semi-hollow or hollow-body electric...).

Anyway, I found a rare, left-handed 1979 Yamaha SA 1000, their semi-hollow 335-style of those days... yes, it's red, and according to the seller (Ishibashi Music in Japan) all original and in very good condition.

It should arrive by the end of next week - which feels like forever, even at my "advanced" age (maybe more so because of my age...  )

I feel so fortunate to have found something like this (thanks to another lefty on another forum), and to have got it for a great price (under $1K shipped to the USA).

I'll post more when it arrives, for how, here's one pic from Ishibashi's site...

[L07 Shooting Star]

I remember reading about these guitars and how good they are, many years ago.  I wonder or do you know who made the pickups on these?  Yamaha?  I've always been impressed with Yamaha's electronic designs and products in general.

Another question.  Do these have a "neck through body" construction like some of their solid bodies of that era (eg. SG 2000)?

Congratulations.

[Mikeymac]

Don't know the answer about the pickups - maybe I'll be able to tell when it arrives. They said the pickups had July '79 dates on them - but that's all.

Based on this (first) photo below, I would say it's traditional set-neck construction. Yamaha, Ibanez, etc. were being pretty specific about copying the USA models - although I'm thankful this thing doesn't have the full-size "Mickey Mouse" ears like the Gibson 335 - that's the only part of the original design I don't care for.

They said the case (below) is also the original Yamaha case!

I would love to know the 35 year history of this guitar! Did one person own it this whole time? Several people? Based on the condition it seems to be in, it was either very well cared for, or it's one that stayed in the closet or under the bed for a lot of years...

[ducktrapper]

Very nice! I love Yamahas. I wonder what a set of Matthews pups would sound like in it.

   

[Mikeymac]

Very nice! I love Yamahas. I wonder what a set of Matthews pups would sound like in it.

   

If the stock pickups sound good I won't change 'em ... would love to keep it stock if possible.

[Mr_LV19E]

Beautiful guitar, looks like new, nice find.  Whoever originally bought it probably got it home and realized it was built upside down so they just stuck it in the closet. Sorry, just a little left field humor.

   

[Mikeymac]

Beautiful guitar, looks like new, nice find.  Whoever originally bought it probably got it home and realized it was built upside down so they just stuck it in the closet. Sorry, just a little left field humor.

LOL! Good one.

I got some more info from them when it shipped, part of which corrected the build date:

About your guitar: Your Guitar is playing really well and it sounds great. I
am able to play left handed Guitars upside down to some degree. As you know
you build up a slight ability out of necessity over the years. Especially so
for me as I sell a lot of lefties. It has a few dings on it as you already
knew, but it's condition overall is fantastic as I already told you for a 32
year old Guitar.

One nice little addition, inside of the case there is still the original
warranty card. Japanese dates read as Year, Month, then Date. The year in
there is 57. The meaning is the years in Japanese style are preceded by a
time period name which corresponds with the reigning Japanese Emperor. In
this case it is Showa 57 which in Western terms corresponds to the year
1982.

Also you asked so I'll tell you. The Guitar came from another store within
the Tokyo prefecture which little further away. I guess you would think of
it as a Suburban store unlike Shibuya which is a Downtown area. That store
has twice weekly stock pickups if I'm not mistaken, hence the slight delay
in shipping today.

Well, she's on her way to you and hopefully you'll receive your Guitar
within 5 days or so from now. Thankfully the Japanese ship 7 days a week.

Just makes my gas worse... last tracking report had it at "TOKYO INT," which I'm assuming is the Narita ("Tokyo International") airport.

[Mikeymac]

Guitar is in Chicago in Customs ... wonder how long that takes? 

(gas, gas, gas...  )

[Mikeymac]

Guitar is in Chicago in Customs ... wonder how long that takes? 

UPDATE:

Unfortunately, my guitar has been sitting in Chicago in customs for almost a week (since last Sunday)! Today it finally moved out of customs.

I called Chicago Port Authority yesterday, got transferred to the USPS, and finally got some help from a real person (Larry), who called me back and told me he had located my guitar (in their system) and that if I didn't see it by Tuesday to call him back. Now that it has moved out of the Customs office, hopefully it's on its way.

He said Chicago's mail and shipping is totally backed up because of the snow/storms...not just people that aren't able to get to where they're going, I guess.

[Stringdancer]

That's a beauty....I've owned several Yamaha acoustics,but never an electric.Post a sound clip when you can!

[Mikeymac]

The guitar arrived today - and it was worth the wait!

It's in amazing shape for a 32 year old instrument. Neck is straight with good action, frets are in good shape (may have had a level along the way - not sure). Guitar itself just has a couple very small dings on it - almost nothing on the top - and there is just a little hazing in the finish in a few places on the sides and back.

Pickups sound pretty good - nothing to complain about yet. V/T controls work well and no scratchy pots - same with the 3-way switch - haven't heard any noise. It feels on the heavy side - I haven't weighed it yet - but Ishibashi says 4.3kg - that's just under 9.5 lbs. Tuners work well - bridge - everything feels solid. Original case is in amazing shape for it's age as well. Makes me wonder if this thing spend a few years under someone's futon!

So far I'm a happy camper.

Don't know if I'll be able to do sound clips - but I'll try to take a few pics soon and post those.

[carruth]

Congratulations. Enjoy the recent addition to your family.

[Mikeymac]

Congratulations. Enjoy the recent addition to your family.

Thank you, and I am!

I got to play it some more last night - what is it about a 30 year old guitar - even a budget one? It still has some serious mojo, and this thing doesn't feel budget in any way.

Some of you will recall I tried out one of the new D-Angelico semi-hollows a few months ago. Beautiful instrument, but ... it just didn't have ... "IT." I think it was mostly the pickups, and I wasn't interested in spending another $350 to swap out all the electronics on a $1,300 Korean guitar. The pickups just sounded harsh on the high end, and it couldn't be dialed out.

The stock pickups in this Yamaha sound great - and I played it side by side for the evening with my RS-4 and my Epiphone Elitist Les Paul (which I've kept stock for 10 years because it sounds so good). Each guitar has it's own personality, for obvious reasons (body style, scale length, woods, etc.), but they all sound rich, for lack of a better word.

Thanks for bearing with my obsessing over this in transit - but it's definitely one of the better decisions I've made ... like when I ordered that first Larrivee in July 1992... 

[Mikeymac]

Some pics I took this afternoon ... before I had to go out and start up the snowblower (first time this winter for us)! 

[Mikeymac]

Oops ... meant to add a few more ...