another "not-quite clone"

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zak
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another "not-quite clone"

Postby zak » Sun Jul 27, 2008 6:26 pm

Anyone here into the old Yamaha SG-2A, SG-5A and SG-7A guitars?

They don't really qualify as "Mosrite clones" but they've got a few Mosrite-inspired features such as a very similar roller bridge and odd neck attachment (see below)...and I think they're cool as heck in a mutant kind of way.
My bass player recently got a '68 SB-5A bass and it's a shockingly well made instrument that plays and sounds great (very similar to a Fender Jazz bass, only way cooler looking), and I'm waiting on a modern remake, (c. 2000 or so) the Yamaha SGV-300 that I scored for peanuts.

This is the SG-2A:

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Here's a SG-5A:

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That bridge pickup isn't a humbucker, it's actually two single-coils housed in the same casing, and controlled by a "blender" knob with both pickups on together in hum-canceling mode in the "center" position.

Here's another one (click to enlarge)

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Here's the upscale SG-7A (click to enlarge)

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These things were really popular with Japanese eleki groups, in fact Takeshi Terauchi has a signature model (with the Blue Jeans logo on the headstock). The modern versions (SGV-300 and SGV-800) can be seen in the hands of bands like the Ghastly Ones and the Surf Coasters:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RTgLzNAUS-0 (SGV-300)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CeH58TTNHt8 (SGV-800)

The original versions featured an interesting take on the Jazzmaster/Jaguar tremolo and one of the most unusual truss rod adjustment systems I've ever seen.
What appears to be the "neck plate" is actually just a plastic "fig leaf" which covers the trussrod access hole:

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There's an opening in the neck itself through which the trussrod is accessed:

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The neck itself is attached in a blatantly Mosrite-like fashion and the neck pocket extends beneath the neck pickup, just like a Mosrite. These are photos of the SB-5A bass, but the guitars are put together the same way:

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The modern version (SGV-300) feature some departures from the original design. The neck is attached in a conventional manner and the trussrod access is at the headstock, and there's no more zero fret. The tremolo is a new design, which is like a hybrid of Mosrite and Stratocaster tailpieces - the assembly pivots on roller bearings like a Mosrite, but the strings anchor in a Strat-like block which is suspended above the body instead of inside a cavity in the body in the Fender manner.

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Tone-wise they're definitely closer to Fender (somewhere between Strat and Jaguar) than Mosrite, although the slightly fancier SGV-800 has two large wide single-coils that are somewhere between Mosrite pickups and P-90s.

Both models are discontinued (or at least no longer available outside of Japan), although Yamaha still makes the outrageously expensive Blue Jeans/Takeshi Terauchi signature model...for a mere 1 050 000 yen!! Yeah that's not a typo - over a million yen...that's almost $10 000!
http://www.yamaha.co.jp/product/guitar/ ... l07041801/

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dubtrub
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Re: another "not-quite clone"

Postby dubtrub » Sun Jul 27, 2008 6:46 pm

When I first saw this design I thought they were too radical, but the more I look at them the more I like them. Definitely Mosrite influenced and definitely one beautiful guitar. I was unaware of the truss rod adjustment. Although it would be much more difficult to manufacture both cost and labor using that method, it is very unique idea. I really like that bridge/vibrato assembly.
Danny Ellison

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zak
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Re: another "not-quite clone"

Postby zak » Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:07 pm

dubtrub wrote:it would be much more difficult to manufacture both cost and labor using that method

No kidding! But I have to admit I'm kinda bummed that the modern versions don't have that feature. Oh well...

Paul played his SB-5A at our last gig and it sounds radically different from his two Mosrite basses, and it got a lot of "what the heck is that thing" comments!

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