'Restoring' a Yamaha SG-2 (FINISHED)

[windmill]

looks good

Well done

[ludobag1]

Looks pretty ,i love the dark rosewood

[ThePearDream]

The neck looks so much better now!
Does it still need a new high e tuner?

[SuperAxe]

The neck looks so much better now!
Does it still need a new high e tuner?

Thank you.
I carefully wedged the tuner bits open with a screwdriver; You can just see it on the photo

Both the high and low E tuners were a little loose so clamped them back a little bit. They are in pretty good condition for 55 years of age.
The guitar's birthday was December 5th !

[SuperAxe]

As previous photos show, I decided to stick with the original chromed brass nut. I took the crappy pins of it though and used a drop of superglue to hold it in place.

Couple of nut shots:

[SuperAxe]

Been working on an amplifier which is now finished so back to the SG-2.

Sourced some soft steel bar and have drilled the 2.5 holes for the pole pieces. The six holes on the right have been tapped to 3mm x 0.5 pitch. The only 'suitable' pole pieces I can source in NZ are like the one shown. It has the same head size as the originals. Once all is tapped I will saw the bars to size.




Also been thinking about the vibrato handle for the SG-2 and the SA_50. They are the same so I am hoping to find a replacement solution for both of them.

I think my current approach will work but I am waiting for materials and tools to make them.

Anyways, I bent the handle by hand (3 bends) so I have something that approaches the original and I can use it for testing. The original handle has compound bending (radiused) which I probably wont be able to replicate.

I have the collet for the SA-50 but not for the SG-2 so my solution will not need a collet. I am also hoping to address an issue with the original construction re the handle being too lose in its fitting.
More to come on this...

[ludobag1]

For the radius maybe with heat on a form on wood ? Or if you find someone with a tube plier (a plomber for example)
What you miss is thé nut for the collet ,or the collet itself? On pics i see 2 collet and one nut

[SuperAxe]

For the radius maybe with heat on a form on wood ? Or if you find someone with a tube plier (a plomber for example)
What you miss is thé nut for the collet ,or the collet itself? On pics i see 2 collet and one nut

Yes, you are right. I miss one of those special nuts which taper on the inside....

[SuperAxe]

After 7 months of doing other things, I am back on this now...

I disassembled the pickguard, cleaned it and then straightened the pickguard as it was very wonky. I also wound a new bridge pickup which hopefully will sound good. Probably being too optimistic for the first attempt


Dirty pickguard:




Ready to be cleaned:




Cleaned:




Straightening the pickguard with heat. Could not find the iron so used the next best thing




Now that the pickguard is nice and flat again, it can be traced to make a template...




And fully re-assembled




Potentiometer date detail - The potentiometer dates shown are both 41.11 from the Showa Emperor period (Hirohito). This corresponds to a Western date of November 1966.

[SuperAxe]

I noticed I started this thread November 5th 2021... So it took me almost a year to restore it

Accomplished most items I listed in the OP which is a good thing. The two most demanding items were the making of the whammy bar & collet and the making of the bridge pickup from scratch.

I can proudly say that the whammy bar/collet works wonders and the bridge pickup sounds fantastic. No idea how the bridge pickup compares to an original though...

Here some photos showing how it looks now.


First up -
1) hand made bridge pickup to look sort of similar. This is a prototype but I am going to leave it in as it sounds so good.
2) new slotted grub screws on the G & D string saddles to replace the 4 black ones (managed to buy a whole lot from AliExpress)
3) new whammy bar and collet. I have made a video of it and will post that after I have done the editing.




Here closeup of the collet assembly - note the teflon sleeve the bar sits in

[windmill]

Excellent work

well done

[BoringPostcards]

Great job! Looks amazing.

[antisymmetric]

Beautiful work, looking forward to seeing this one up close.

[Amon 7.L]

Spectacular restoration, I love it!

[shoegaze_head]

Awesome job! The refret especially made such a difference in the guitar.