Yamaha SG-3 tear-down and restoration

Bringing your older offset back to life.
Post Reply
User avatar
theworkoffire
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 4143
Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2007 12:59 am
Location: Punching the future in the face, London
Contact:

Yamaha SG-3 tear-down and restoration

Post by theworkoffire » Tue Apr 28, 2015 2:03 pm

It's filthy guitar month...

This is the SG-3 that was too scuzzy, even for Pat. :wtf: I've wanted to get my hands on one for years, but have never come across one in the right kind of condition; this is just about perfect for me. There's not all that much missing, but it needs some fairly serious work above the neck, some tinkering inside, and basically deserves a better life after years of abuse. We rescued a greyhound in the same condition, and she's turned out lovely, so hopes are high! ;D

This is what Pat sold me:

Image

It arrived yesterday after a month on the high seas. First glance, looks ok:

Image

But...well, I'll just photobomb the problems:

Image

Image

Image

I'm all for a bit of honest play wear, but...

Image

Image

Horrible replacement strap button:

Image

Knobs are ok.

Image

Rusty trem and home-made collet:

Image

Tetanus bridge:

Image

This looks surprisingly similar to my dog's gums - tuners removed with about as much care as the old girl's teeth:

Image

Hideous thick replacement fretboard...

Image

...which doesn't even reach the heel:

Image

Some new neck damage courtesy of the neck screws getting adventurous on their journey from Mexico (the very least of my worries ):

Image

Shadows of the missing tuners...teasing me! Somewhere in the world there's a set of the beautiful originals going to waste...there are extra holes from some replacements.

Image

So, that's the body. I figure that because the headstock repair is going to need the whole face to be refinished, I might as well go ahead and re-finish the whole body. There's no joy in the poly, really, and much as I love a good vintage beater, this isn't it.

My problem, then, is that the red SG-3s are my least favourite, so if I'm respraying it I don't really want to go back to red. The only other colours they came in were sunburst and pearl white... It feels a bit like sacrilege to change it, but I my logic with this is that I'm going to try to give it a loving life it never had, so I think I'm going to try to find a close match to the old pearl white. This is the first SG-3 I saw, and the one I fell in love with:

Image

So I guess that's what I'm aiming for. I'd welcome any input on the colour issue. Bear in mind I have a new replica SG-3 body primed and ready, with a neck well underway, so doing this one pearl white will scratch an itch, freeing up that one to be something a little more adventurous.

I'm also tempted to add binding to this neck when I put a new fretboard on, but they never produced these with bound necks until the later SG-5s and 7s, which have a different construction and headstock, so that feels like maybe too much of a stretch. Will be weird making an unbound neck...not sure I ever have :-[ Not for a long time, anyway. Must have replaced a few, somewhere along the way...

Thoughts?

User avatar
theworkoffire
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 4143
Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2007 12:59 am
Location: Punching the future in the face, London
Contact:

Re: Yamaha SG-3 tear-down and restoration

Post by theworkoffire » Tue Apr 28, 2015 2:41 pm

This is where the fun stuff starts ;D

I managed to find a couple of vintage Yamaha strap buttons on ebay and have them shipped over from the States. So at least the very last part of the restoration is sorted :whistle: :

Image

I took my 100W soldering iron and heated up the badge...

Image

...then slid a scalpel under it and prised it up.

Image

Image

Now it gets really gruesome. The trem cavity is full of utter crap...

Image

...including the home-spun collet of many nuts, one of which may be off the missing original. Will need to check against my SG-5 to compare.

Image

The awesome trem bearings:

Image

Hell-hole.

Image

The bridge springs and screws:

Image

The bridge base is pretty badly pitted:

Image

Was pleasantly surprised to find good shielding on the guard. There's none on my later SG-5a.

Image

The spider at the top was in the trem cavity :wtf:
Some hand-cut steel mesh under the pots, but that's the only body shielding. I'm not 100% sure the whole thing hasn't been re-sprayed at some time; there's a slightly lighter red under the topcoat, and this shielding mesh has red paint along the edges. Not sure what that white is...spider juice? Milk?:

Image

Tray of doom. And the wiring loom.

Image

I'll get the schematic drawn up properly and share it soon.

It seems Yamaha's mid 60s quality battle with Fender ended just under the guard. I'd take the body hardware over vintage JM/Jag any day of the week, and the rattle-free guard shielding, but the crappy body shielding and the weak plastic wires are heading for the bin, heritage or no heritage.

User avatar
Pacafeliz
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 18518
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2007 6:34 pm
Location: Cococologne, Germany

Re: Yamaha SG-3 tear-down and restoration

Post by Pacafeliz » Tue Apr 28, 2015 7:45 pm

:w00t: :w00t: :w00t: :-*
i love delay SO much ...that i procrastinate all the time.

User avatar
terminalvertigo
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 3777
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 7:08 pm
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Re: Yamaha SG-3 tear-down and restoration

Post by terminalvertigo » Tue Apr 28, 2015 8:29 pm

looking good so far!
GoodDeals:Jaguar018-Skip-Scotty66-Noirengineer-Panoramic-Soundhack-Tribi9-Stereordinary-Dug-Ginnungagap-Loomer-Eupat-FenderBob-Franco-AWSchmit-PeterHerman-TweedleDee-Diceman-Prospect-Danocaster-Glimmertwin-Jetset-Staytuned-ukfuzz-Aen-Atomicmassunit-MT,etc

User avatar
friendshipmaster
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1962
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2011 1:30 am
Location: sacramento, california

Re: Yamaha SG-3 tear-down and restoration

Post by friendshipmaster » Tue Apr 28, 2015 9:05 pm

Damn the red is my favorite..... That looks like a shit ton of work. Good luck

User avatar
antisymmetric
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 3601
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:32 pm
Location: New Zealand

Re: Yamaha SG-3 tear-down and restoration

Post by antisymmetric » Tue Apr 28, 2015 9:34 pm

theworkoffire wrote: I'm also tempted to add binding to this neck when I put a new fretboard on, but they never produced these with bound necks until the later SG-5s and 7s, which have a different construction and headstock, so that feels like maybe too much of a stretch. Will be weird making an unbound neck...not sure I ever have Not for a long time, anyway. Must have replaced a few, somewhere along the way...

Thoughts?
My $0.02: I've yet to build a neck with actual binding (although it will happen), but my default way of building seems to have become to slice the sides off the board, do the slotting, and then glue them back on. Looks like an unbound board, but nice and clean- no ugly fret tangs.

Can't wait to see you do your thing on this guitar. They're such lovely guitars, I've recently picked up a '66 SG-2 (in sunburst) and I absolutely love it, one of my best purchases ever. :-*
Watching the corners turn corners

User avatar
Jazzprod
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1816
Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2006 6:03 am
Location: Hammarö, Sweden
Contact:

Re: Yamaha SG-3 tear-down and restoration

Post by Jazzprod » Tue Apr 28, 2015 10:14 pm

Good to see you up and running again Ben! Will follow this! :w00t:

User avatar
SuperAxe
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 291
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2012 1:46 am
Contact:

Re: Yamaha SG-3 tear-down and restoration

Post by SuperAxe » Tue Apr 28, 2015 10:33 pm

I really liked the way you created that copy some years ago. I hope this will turn into a stunner too. Pearl White it should be.

User avatar
PorkyPrimeCut
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 24464
Joined: Tue Nov 28, 2006 7:46 am
Location: Leipzig
Contact:

Re: Yamaha SG-3 tear-down and restoration

Post by PorkyPrimeCut » Tue Apr 28, 2015 11:09 pm

No binding. That'd be my choice. Keep it as cosmetically close to the original as you can. Obviously, under the guard will be different & I suspect you'll be shooting for the full cloth wire treatment.

It's also a hell of a toss up between white & sunburst. I know you've opted for white with this one but it'd be great to see you attempt a burst with that replica body you've had hanging for years.

You seem to be attracting the grimiest of the grime, what with this & the fucked up Fender neck you're restoring. Spider juice! Ha!!!
You think you can't, you wish you could, I know you can, I wish you would. Slip inside this house as you pass by.

User avatar
theworkoffire
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 4143
Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2007 12:59 am
Location: Punching the future in the face, London
Contact:

Re: Yamaha SG-3 tear-down and restoration

Post by theworkoffire » Wed Apr 29, 2015 1:54 am

antisymmetric wrote:
My $0.02: I've yet to build a neck with actual binding (although it will happen), but my default way of building seems to have become to slice the sides off the board, do the slotting, and then glue them back on. Looks like an unbound board, but nice and clean- no ugly fret tangs.

Sounds like a plan - I have a friend makes all his tele necks with rosewood binding llike that. In the past I've tended to snip the tangs and fill the gaps with dust and glue.

Not sure the body will be good enough for a sunburst after the strip, Mark - there might be too many dings to get a smooth transparent coat, but I'll bear it in mind. Have never shot a burst, so that would be fun!

User avatar
46346
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 2826
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2011 1:39 am
Location: echo ECHO park PARK
Contact:

Re: Yamaha SG-3 tear-down and restoration

Post by 46346 » Wed Apr 29, 2015 2:41 am

i like your plan to go pearl white. and on your copy... man... IBM? Inca?

let me know if you need any images of the headstock logo/lettering. mine has the earliest scripty logo - it's beautiful!

i have always wanted to re-shield and re-wire my SG-3! mostly for noise, but maybe also for different pickup selection options. the roller mix of the double pickup is kind of unsatisfying. why not make a possible humbucker of it?

i have the loaded black jazzblaster guard you built years ago with every conceivable switching option for WRHB's... so i'm curious if you're thinking of another wiring scenario 8)
Cat Museum, ACME, Malcolm Mooney, Dream Apes, The Cooling Time, Kind Hearts and Coronets, Quarks

User avatar
theworkoffire
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 4143
Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2007 12:59 am
Location: Punching the future in the face, London
Contact:

Re: Yamaha SG-3 tear-down and restoration

Post by theworkoffire » Wed Apr 29, 2015 5:09 am

A slightly greener than IBM metallic was exactly whay I was thinking!

I'll go stock on this one I think, but certainly something different on the other. The replica SG-2 had a series circuit instead of the rhythm switch and that worked very well.

If you could email me a high-res image of your logo next to a ruler that would be really, really useful, thanks.

Does anyone know if there are any other differences between the early and late ones besides the logo?

User avatar
Jaguar018
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 8045
Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2008 6:48 am
Location: Burbs of Washington DC

Re: Yamaha SG-3 tear-down and restoration

Post by Jaguar018 » Wed Apr 29, 2015 7:12 am

As an unapologetic B&B fan, I fully support binding necks, whether or not they are original. :ph34r:

User avatar
selectomatic
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 369
Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2011 6:30 am

Re: Yamaha SG-3 tear-down and restoration

Post by selectomatic » Wed Apr 29, 2015 7:42 am

theworkoffire wrote:Does anyone know if there are any other differences between the early and late ones besides the logo?
The only difference I've been able to find (apart from the logo) is that my '67 has a fitted foam cover around the toggle switch contacts. My '66, which looked to be untouched under the pick guard, didn't have this.

I'd love to see the schematic for an SG-3 if you could put it up. Good luck with this project -- I can't wait to see how this goes!

User avatar
theworkoffire
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 4143
Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2007 12:59 am
Location: Punching the future in the face, London
Contact:

Re: Yamaha SG-3 tear-down and restoration

Post by theworkoffire » Wed Apr 29, 2015 7:49 am

selectomatic wrote:
The only difference I've been able to find (apart from the logo) is that my '67 has a fitted foam cover around the toggle switch contacts. My '66, which looked to be untouched under the pick guard, didn't have this.

I'd love to see the schematic for an SG-3 if you could put it up. Good luck with this project -- I can't wait to see how this goes!
Thanks. So all three colours were available throughout? Schematic is on its way shortly.

Post Reply