NGD: 1980 Yamaha SG1000 - At long last
- stevejamsecono
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NGD: 1980 Yamaha SG1000 - At long last
Well, anyone who's been on this forum for long enough knows how I feel about these. I've been jonesing after one since about 2009, and repeated exposure to the music of The Skids, SLF, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Big Country, etc. etc. etc. has finally led us here.
Traveling all the way from Tokyo Japan in 3 (!!) days in one of the apparently rare hard cases for these guys.
I was originally going to remove this sticker until I read the delightful text on it. Never was much of a Bridgestone tires fan, but come on.
Now to the good stuff:
Damn.
Anyway. I bought an Orville Junior recently in another "been wanting one of these forever" bouts, and found it not to my liking. Luckily for me I found a friend of a friend locally who was really into it and got most of my money back, and immediately sunk it into this guy. The seller was fantastic to deal with, and the price was excellent. Not only that, it's one of the slightly lighter ones, so it's not the boat anchor that most of these seem to have the reputation of being. So much the better.
On initial play, I'm really startled that more people don't talk about how good these pickups sound and how well the push/push coil-tapping works. If there's one thing I've missed in my Studio Lord it's the ability to get a sharper, thinner sound closer to what my Fenders do. With a mere push, you get a nice option between "thin" and "thick" on both pickups, and both sounds are incredibly usable. There isn't a lot of volume loss, and it sounds awesome. Doesn't sound exactly like a Strat or Tele obviously, but for what I do it gets the job done, and it finally explains some of the moments on stuff like "Christine" and "Happy House" by the Banshees that McGeoch was on. Glorious.
Needless to say, we're still in honeymoon phase, but boy oh boy am I in love with this thing from first touch.
Traveling all the way from Tokyo Japan in 3 (!!) days in one of the apparently rare hard cases for these guys.
I was originally going to remove this sticker until I read the delightful text on it. Never was much of a Bridgestone tires fan, but come on.
Now to the good stuff:
Damn.
Anyway. I bought an Orville Junior recently in another "been wanting one of these forever" bouts, and found it not to my liking. Luckily for me I found a friend of a friend locally who was really into it and got most of my money back, and immediately sunk it into this guy. The seller was fantastic to deal with, and the price was excellent. Not only that, it's one of the slightly lighter ones, so it's not the boat anchor that most of these seem to have the reputation of being. So much the better.
On initial play, I'm really startled that more people don't talk about how good these pickups sound and how well the push/push coil-tapping works. If there's one thing I've missed in my Studio Lord it's the ability to get a sharper, thinner sound closer to what my Fenders do. With a mere push, you get a nice option between "thin" and "thick" on both pickups, and both sounds are incredibly usable. There isn't a lot of volume loss, and it sounds awesome. Doesn't sound exactly like a Strat or Tele obviously, but for what I do it gets the job done, and it finally explains some of the moments on stuff like "Christine" and "Happy House" by the Banshees that McGeoch was on. Glorious.
Needless to say, we're still in honeymoon phase, but boy oh boy am I in love with this thing from first touch.
Last edited by stevejamsecono on Tue Jun 06, 2017 4:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
And you find out life isn't like that
It's so hard to understand
Why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam
Resident Yamaha Fanboy
COYS
It's so hard to understand
Why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam
Resident Yamaha Fanboy
COYS
- Oig
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Re: NGD: 1980 Yamaha SG1000 - At long last
Dude! That's gorgeous
Congrats!
Congrats!
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Re: NGD: 1980 Yamaha SG1000 - At long last
Love the inlays!
- budda12ax7
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Re: NGD: 1980 Yamaha SG1000 - At long last
That is really nice...congratulations.
- stevejamsecono
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Re: NGD: 1980 Yamaha SG1000 - At long last
Me too man. I don't know how they came up with 'em, but they look great.Yeatzee wrote:Love the inlays!
Also, hilariously, the thing has like... 9s and is set up for super shred right now. I've been doing 11s with "slightly high" action for a little while now, and with the current setup it makes me feel like I'm much more talented.
And you find out life isn't like that
It's so hard to understand
Why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam
Resident Yamaha Fanboy
COYS
It's so hard to understand
Why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam
Resident Yamaha Fanboy
COYS
- Fiddy
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- Ursa Minor
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Re: NGD: 1980 Yamaha SG1000 - At long last
Nice! Long time coming! Those are the best NGDs!
The artist formerly known as kosmonautmayhem.
- marqueemoon
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Re: NGD: 1980 Yamaha SG1000 - At long last
That looks great.
- eskmsaul
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Re: NGD: 1980 Yamaha SG1000 - At long last
Such a cool guitar. I love these and the Ibanez Artists.
- shadowplay
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Re: NGD: 1980 Yamaha SG1000 - At long last
A very wise buy, looks immaculate and you are 100% correct about the pickups and the tapping.
D
D
Are you loathsome tonight?
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Re: NGD: 1980 Yamaha SG1000 - At long last
Awesome. Crazy value for money too for such a high end guitars.
Being a total Mcgeoch fanboy I read an interview where he said he used 9's..so I tried them on my two SG1000's and discovered I really liked them, they give that kind of light shimmery tone.
McGeoch was a player with an effortlessly light touch, delicate and super accurate with a crazy elastic flow.
Being positively ham-fisted in comparison I often shake my fist up at the clouds when trying to master a Mcgeoch part.
Being a total Mcgeoch fanboy I read an interview where he said he used 9's..so I tried them on my two SG1000's and discovered I really liked them, they give that kind of light shimmery tone.
McGeoch was a player with an effortlessly light touch, delicate and super accurate with a crazy elastic flow.
Being positively ham-fisted in comparison I often shake my fist up at the clouds when trying to master a Mcgeoch part.
- dezb1
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Re: NGD: 1980 Yamaha SG1000 - At long last
Nice! I bought mine a coupe of years ago excellent guitars the coil splits are a thing of beauty. I also got the original Yamaha case with mine but it's beat to hell it's done it's job though as the guitar is in near mint condition.
- andy_tchp
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Re: NGD: 1980 Yamaha SG1000 - At long last
Had the same experience with my SG50 That .009-.042" set never left that guitar (still on it when I sold it). The SG50 lacked the coil-splitting option unfortunately, else it might've been a keeper.stevejamsecono wrote:Also, hilariously, the thing has like... 9s and is set up for super shred right now. I've been doing 11s with "slightly high" action for a little while now, and with the current setup it makes me feel like I'm much more talented.
"I don't know why we asked him to join the band 'cause the rest of us don't like country music all that much; we just like Graham Lee."
David McComb, 1987.
David McComb, 1987.
- stevejamsecono
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Re: NGD: 1980 Yamaha SG1000 - At long last
It's quite interesting, and to be honest, having been playing those 11s for so long it just felt like I was training on a planet with super gravity and then coming back to Earth. Pretty cool.eggwheat wrote:Awesome. Crazy value for money too for such a high end guitars.
Being a total Mcgeoch fanboy I read an interview where he said he used 9's..so I tried them on my two SG1000's and discovered I really liked them, they give that kind of light shimmery tone.
McGeoch was a player with an effortlessly light touch, delicate and super accurate with a crazy elastic flow.
Being positively ham-fisted in comparison I often shake my fist up at the clouds when trying to master a Mcgeoch part.
Only problem with wise buys is inevitably I'll want another oneshadowplay wrote:A very wise buy, looks immaculate and you are 100% correct about the pickups and the tapping.
D
And you find out life isn't like that
It's so hard to understand
Why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam
Resident Yamaha Fanboy
COYS
It's so hard to understand
Why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam
Resident Yamaha Fanboy
COYS
- Maggieo
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Re: NGD: 1980 Yamaha SG1000 - At long last
Allow me to second that and add my congratulations. I love the Yamaha SGs.shadowplay wrote:A very wise buy, looks immaculate and you are 100% correct about the pickups and the tapping.
D
“Now I am quietly waiting for/ the catastrophe of my personality/ to seem beautiful again.”- Frank O'Hara
I am not an attorney and this post is for entertainment purposes only. Please consult a licensed attorney in your state for legal advice.
I am not an attorney and this post is for entertainment purposes only. Please consult a licensed attorney in your state for legal advice.