NVGD: 1967 Yamaha SG 5a Flying Samurai

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Axolotl
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NVGD: 1967 Yamaha SG 5a Flying Samurai

Post by Axolotl » Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:17 pm

This thing followed me home today.

It's a Yamaha Flying Samurai from the 60s (still gotta try to date it more accurately) that popped up locally at a very decent price. I went to check it out and decided to take with me my G&L legacy which I acquired recently and I like but don't love. I tried the Yamaha and oh boy, next thing I know I happily traded it on the spot. All the excitement of an NGD, none of the money guilt 8)

Lovely guitar. The neck feels great, with vintage style frets that are low but in great condition. no buzzes or dead spots. The pickups sound amazing, especially the humbucker, it screams. The circuit probably needs a good cleanup. The tremolo is no Fender, but I'm sure a bit of an adjustment (and curing the floppy arm syndrome) will improve it a lot. This thing is all original, and nicely broken in. It definitely has a great vibe and is way more interesting than the 2007 G&L I traded it for. It feels a bit like quite a score.

As far as I know this guitar came to Buenos Aires all the way from Bolivia (there used to be a surf/rock scene in Bolivia and Peru in the 60/70s and a bunch of good instruments made it there)

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Nudger
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Re: NVGD: 1967 Yamaha SG 5a Flying Samurai

Post by Nudger » Tue Apr 12, 2022 1:15 am

Coooool!! :w00t:
Iv been admiring these online, Youtube mainly.. or years but have never come across one in person..

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Re: NVGD: 1967 Yamaha SG 5a Flying Samurai

Post by CorporateDisguise » Tue Apr 12, 2022 3:08 am

Great score! These early Yamahas are fantastic instruments.

I’ve always been interested in these models with the two pickups so close together in the bridge. Like this one, or the SG3. Not much info out there about them. Would you mind telling me how they operate? Are they like a humbucker when used together, or more quacky like a strat?

Curing the floppy arm in these is tough going. Alot of the old Japanese use imperial Japanese measurements, which are different than current metric system, so it’s hard to get parts to work in them. If you do figure something out, I’d love to know, as I have a SA50 that has the same issue. Other than that, I think i prefer this trem to a JM. Same basic mechanism, but a looser feel. I wish I had taken photos when I mine apart to tighten everything up.

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Re: NVGD: 1967 Yamaha SG 5a Flying Samurai

Post by FritzCat » Tue Apr 12, 2022 8:07 pm

I don't know if it's the same, but on my SG-3 the looseness of the arm can be adjusted at the collar, there are two flats where you can use a small adjustable wrench to tighten/loosen.

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Re: NVGD: 1967 Yamaha SG 5a Flying Samurai

Post by ludobag1 » Wed Apr 13, 2022 7:36 am

:w00t: Nice
How is thé nut with ?
For the arm is fully adjustable to floating to blocked with the nut at thé base of thé arm ( cool design no need to desassembly) the high of arm is like a jazzmaster trem ,yours seems a little low normally the nut for arm in on the upperside of thé trem plate
Dépend of thé state but a bit of cleaning is normally necessary cause is catching dust inside

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Re: NVGD: 1967 Yamaha SG 5a Flying Samurai

Post by Axolotl » Fri Apr 15, 2022 5:36 pm

ludobag1 wrote:
Wed Apr 13, 2022 7:36 am
How is thé nut with ?
For the arm is fully adjustable to floating to blocked with the nut at thé base of thé arm ( cool design no need to desassembly) the high of arm is like a jazzmaster trem ,yours seems a little low normally the nut for arm in on the upperside of thé trem plate
Dépend of thé state but a bit of cleaning is normally necessary cause is catching dust inside
Nut width feels very similar to my 59 Jazzmaster, I'd say is a standard vintage B width or very close, not too narrow as some of these Yamahas had.

I disassembled the trem to clean it and figure out a way to make the trem arm fix. I rotated the nut at the base to no avail, I'm wondering if either I missed something or if some part is truly worn out. I'll give it another try tomorrow. I'm seriously thinking of replacing the trem spring for one with less tension, as it feels a bit stiff. I thought there'd be a screw for adjusting the tension in the central hole of the trem plate but there is nothing there. Maybe it just got lost? Can someone can confirm is a screw should be there to adjust the spring?

As for the circuit goes, I learned that the bridge pickup is actually two single coil pickups, and the balancer knob blends them. One of the pickups isn't working right, so I can't fully use this feature. Hopefully a visit to the tech will remedy this.

Dug under the pickguard, it all looks stock and unmolested. The neck has a lower second heel heel that goes deep into the body and the neck pickup is attached to the neck itself. This and the trem struck me as a much more cumbersome design than Fenders of the era.

In any case, sound is pretty fantastic and neck feels great; a bit "grabby" due to the low frets but it feels really good. Profile is very comfortable and it's got just the right amount of taper going up.

Also, this guitar is extremely light, it weights pretty much the same as my duo sonic.

Can't wait to have the wiring fixed and hopefully the trem arm figured out. It's a very sweet guitar.

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Re: NVGD: 1967 Yamaha SG 5a Flying Samurai

Post by ludobag1 » Sat Apr 16, 2022 1:19 am

For the arm ,maybe you have to mâke the collet a little highter (50)(the part threaded who have a nut at underside(51) of thé plate where the spring is under)this way the nut for arm(45) will push more thé teeth

The screw for tighten the spring is under thé plate ,the screw move a part who compress the spring from the body inside (it work invert than on jazzmaster trem )normally you have access of it by thé hole of thé cover (dust will hiden it )

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In this pic the screw miss but will be under where the spring is

A link where you see all thé part(for sg2 or 3 but same trem)

https://www.yamahamusicians.com/forum/v ... hp?t=15682


pics i have take when i have dissassemble mine
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Re: NVGD: 1967 Yamaha SG 5a Flying Samurai

Post by Axolotl » Sun Apr 17, 2022 3:19 pm

ludobag1 wrote:
Sat Apr 16, 2022 1:19 am
For the arm ,maybe you have to mâke the collet a little highter (50)(the part threaded who have a nut at underside(51) of thé plate where the spring is under)this way the nut for arm(45) will push more thé teeth
Merci beaucoup Ludobag!! After taking a look to your message and pics I dug in the trem and followed your instructions. I fiddled with it a bit and I was able to make the trem arm quite firm!! Amazing.

Now for the bad news, the trem spring is gone :( . There's only some kind of plate in which a screw doesn't really do anything. So I guess the rest of that mechanism you mentioned is gone. I will try to get a softer spring to some point after all. Still, with the firmer trem arm I think the trem will be quite usable (will confirm when I restring the guitar)

Other than that, this thing has been really played and loved. There is significant wear on the arm rest and deep finger marks in the fretboard, specially on the frets 3 and 5.

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Re: NVGD: 1967 Yamaha SG 5a Flying Samurai

Post by ludobag1 » Mon Apr 18, 2022 1:54 am

:) It is a pain to otate strings to have access under (unlike jazzmaster one)
But it you have a jazzmaster spring spare you can use it to remplace a yamaha one ,jazz spring must be a little shorter but normally will work
The screw you miss can be approch by thé jazzmaster spring screw too ,the screw with the conical nut compress the spring in thé same way ,but it differ than on jazzmaster cause it not compress between the 2 plate but between the plate and the body(there is a métal disq in thé hole for this)

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