Yamaha SBV/SGV- anyone have experience?

[noisepunk]

It is rare when my girlfriend is interested in a musical instrument that isn't a hollowbody or a telecaster, and it's always something crazy looking, and right now it's these, the 'flying samurai' guitars and basses. So I'm wondering what these were like, because I know they have a slight bit of a following on here, and are pretty much the SG-2, 3 and 12's with a different body shape, which has an even bigger following here.

Nik?

[frelonvert]

Yes, I have a Yamaha sgv300 in green... grrr...
The yamaha sgv guitars are reissues of the yamaha sg2-a sg5.
If you want to see all the evolution of these guitars,i have used to make this panel (I know I have forgot the sg12 !).


The sgv300 and sgv800 are more commun in EU and USA because they were import models. They are made in taïwan.
Great guitars for surf tones and small hands (thin neck)... easy and funny to play.
You can find some demos on youtube.
From what I have heard the sgv800 is suppose to be more versatile with the different pickups. It has also an angled headstock and biding neck.
I have never tried one so I can't tell realy.
I love my sgv 300 because of the fast and easy neck, pickup configuration, vibrato and look. For the price of a squier you have something very unique.

[Jaguar018]

After a massive gas attack a couple of years ago I got a SGV 500 and an 800. They looked super cool and all, but I never bonded with them at all. Both of the guitars were playable but I don't recall them having much character in their sound-- which is to say that they neither sounded trashy (in a cool way) nor really pronounced and special. Sold them both fairly quickly.

Edit: I should add that I had the reissues and not the originals. Easy money that the vintage ones have a lot more... dare I say... MOJO.

[noisepunk]

Thanks guys, good info- I doubt one will pop up any time soon, so we should have some time to watch demos to our heart's content

I also didn't know they reissued (or so, the body shape looks less pointy- a win- and the pickups look like they might be a pair of p90s) the SG-2

[Con-Tiki!]

personally, i love these guitars, but they are unlike anything else.
i have an uber-beautiful 800, but i think my old sgv300 had better sound. the p90's in the sgv800 are a little murky through my vox.
sometimes you can find their student-grade model, an EGV, for cheap. it's basically a squier strat in disguise.
cool-looking though.

check over at surfguitar101, and at shortscale.org

[noisepunk]

Cool, thanks for the tip!

[roscbarn]

Have a SGV 300 black one, the pickguard faded in a beautiful cream color.

Thin neck, very confortable and fun to play. But this guitar is the heaviest in the bunch (in a weight sense) .

Love the blender knob which control the humbucker-like combination of pickups at the bridge.

[niksureal]

i made my own, loved the feel and balance. my only complaint were the pickups . but i chose those so my bad. i have always wanted a real one, especially after how much i loved the one i made. i will build her a body or a whole guitar for that matter give a good deal too. i already have templates.

[noisepunk]

i made my own, loved the feel and balance. my only complaint were the pickups . but i chose those so my bad. i have always wanted a real one, especially after how much i loved the one i made. i will build her a body or a whole guitar for that matter give a good deal too. i already have templates.

I might have to take you up on that after our move- could be a sort of collaboration if I did the neck

[selectomatic]

I have an SGV300, and it's basically a very well-made guitar, very solid-feeling. The three single coils and blender pot for the bridge/middle give it a good variety of useable sounds, and I find the neck pickup alone sounds great even for soloing. If you like Danelectro necks (I'm thinking of the late '90s 'reissues'), you'll probably get along with the SGV neck. It's slender and the radius is pretty flat. The whammy bar is smooth and sensitive and much less troublesome than a JM type. I guess it's a bit heavy, but to me it feels about the same as a Jag. It lacks the locking tuners of the 800, but they've always worked just fine.

The one niggle I have with the 300 is -- weirdly enough -- with the rear pickup cover. The middle and bridge pups are close together, and they are housed in a single cover. For some reason there's a Yamaha logo there with raised letters. This spot between the pickups is exactly where I like to play, and the pick is forever hitting those letters. That damned logo isn't even visible from more than 10 cm away, but there's no missing it when I play. Two separate pup housings would have been better. I've just learned to accept the fact that the pick will catch the letters, and keep on playing. Never heard this complaint from anyone else, so it may not be a problem for you.

[Con-Tiki!]

Have a SGV 300 black one, the pickguard faded in a beautiful cream color.

Thin neck, very confortable and fun to play. But this guitar is the heaviest in the bunch (in a weight sense) .

Love the blender knob which control the humbucker-like combination of pickups at the bridge.

If you weren't in brazil, i'd guess you owned my old 300. Beautiful, but les paul heavy...

[noisepunk]

I have an SGV300, and it's basically a very well-made guitar, very solid-feeling. The three single coils and blender pot for the bridge/middle give it a good variety of useable sounds, and I find the neck pickup alone sounds great even for soloing. If you like Danelectro necks (I'm thinking of the late '90s 'reissues'), you'll probably get along with the SGV neck. It's slender and the radius is pretty flat. The whammy bar is smooth and sensitive and much less troublesome than a JM type. I guess it's a bit heavy, but to me it feels about the same as a Jag. It lacks the locking tuners of the 800, but they've always worked just fine.

The one niggle I have with the 300 is -- weirdly enough -- with the rear pickup cover. The middle and bridge pups are close together, and they are housed in a single cover. For some reason there's a Yamaha logo there with raised letters. This spot between the pickups is exactly where I like to play, and the pick is forever hitting those letters. That damned logo isn't even visible from more than 10 cm away, but there's no missing it when I play. Two separate pup housings would have been better. I've just learned to accept the fact that the pick will catch the letters, and keep on playing. Never heard this complaint from anyone else, so it may not be a problem for you.

All good information- the narrow neck and flat fingerboard would be right at home to her- she plays mostly acoustic and classical guitar, and her current bass is a notoriously toothpick necked fender performer.

[frelonvert]

Have a SGV 300 black one, the pickguard faded in a beautiful cream color.

Thin neck, very confortable and fun to play. But this guitar is the heaviest in the bunch (in a weight sense) .

Love the blender knob which control the humbucker-like combination of pickups at the bridge.

Yes, the pickguard of my sgv300 faded in cream also and it is realy nice.
But mine is not heavy... around 3kg a little more than my strat but not much.

[andreuthegiant]

This is my super cool SGV 800:



I like it very much. Nevertheless, I don't use it very often (my JM wins).

[PJazzmaster]

now my turn: