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66 yamaha SG3 pt.2

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 6:34 am
by joeSG100
A year or so ago i posted this thread on a yamaha sg3 i got in a trade.

http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/vie ... p?t=111796

At the time i naively didn't realise that the neck had been changed for some kind of strange repro neck (probably made in someone's shed). Since then i'd been hunting for an original neck, and in May i managed to find one. i noticed a guy posting on facebook about a butchered husk of an sg3, and negotiated a price for just the neck (though i slightly regret not buying the body from him too), and after a month or so of worrying if i was being scammed or of the neck was going to end up being smashed or warped in transit from the US to the UK it arrived.

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I wasn't expecting it to be pretty from the photos i saw but it was in worse shape than i was expecting, one of the neck screw holes had a big gauge of wood missing, i'm pretty sure it had been refretted really badly and the nut looked like it needed changing. From the looks of the screw holes it'd had about 100 different sets of tuners in it's life and the whole neck had been refinished in a horrible orange stain.

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comparison between the repro headstock and the legit one

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Re: 66 yamaga SG3 pt.2

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 6:42 am
by joeSG100
I took the guitar to a local luthier who (who happens to have had one of Paul Mccartney's violin basses in the shop when i dropped it off) to have the missing chunk of wood fixed, a refret and a new nut. (though he mistakenly put a fender style nut with the extra bit of rosewood behind, no big deal)

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Once i got it back it was playing a million times better than it ever had, the neck shape (though i think somewhat oversanded) is an incredible soft V shape which i think is now my favourite neck. Ultimately i made the decision to leave the horrible orange stain on the back of the neck because it just felt amazing. Smooth and satin-y, i couldn't bear the thought of covering it in sticky new finish. Because of this the back of the neck and headstock will always look horrible, though i knew from the beginning this guitar would never be a perfect museum quality example so i'm not too bothered.

Re: 66 yamaga SG3 pt.2

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 6:47 am
by joeSG100
The next step was addressing the front of the headstock, and whilst i planned on leaving the back of the neck ugly and un restored, i wanted to bring the front of the headstock somewhat back to originality. Since we're in lockdown i though that having a go at refinishing it myself was the way to go. Whether that idea was out or boredom or the fact that i wanted to have had some small part in fixing the guitar i'm not sure (probably both) :D . Either way this would be my first attempt at finishing any part of a guitar.

Re: 66 yamaga SG3 pt.2

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 6:48 am
by joeSG100
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Sanding

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Masking

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Sanding sealer

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colour coat

Re: 66 yamaga SG3 pt.2

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 6:52 am
by joeSG100
joeSG100 wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 6:48 am
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Sanding

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Masking

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Sanding sealer (probably could have been sanded down more to get rid of those divots from the tuners but i was a little scared to take loads of wood off)

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colour coat

Re: 66 yamaga SG3 pt.2

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 6:58 am
by joeSG100
Pretty much from the moment i found the neck i started looking into a replacement decal. Having found none available i set a friend of mine with better photoshop skills than me onto the task of replicating one, and with the help of some old 60s service manuals and forum members who sent me photos of their logos we managed to recreate a decent version of the script decal.

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Testing a decal out on the old neck

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Then onto the real thing

Re: 66 yamaga SG3 pt.2

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 8:30 am
by joeSG100
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All reassembled

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Finished Headstock, the tuners are old west german schallers i was sent with the neck, string tree is un original and came off the repro neck. The headstock refinish isn't perfect but i'm happy with it, can't wait to get out gigging with it whenever all this covid stuff blows over :D

Re: 66 yamaga SG3 pt.2

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 8:32 am
by joeSG100
Almost forgot, i'm getting a repro metal tuning fork pin made for the headstock since yamaha won't sell me one haha

Re: 66 yamaga SG3 pt.2

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 1:07 pm
by antisymmetric
Shaping up very nicely!

Re: 66 yamaha SG3 pt.2

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 2:29 pm
by SignoftheDragon
Full marks! Looks great!

Re: 66 yamaha SG3 pt.2

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2020 4:42 am
by joeSG100
cheers guys!

Re: 66 yamaha SG3 pt.2

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2020 12:36 pm
by BoringPostcards
Awesome. It looks great. Too bad Yamaha are weirdoes and will never give us a proper reissue of these.
One of the all-time most beautiful designs.

Re: 66 yamaha SG3 pt.2

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2020 1:48 pm
by joeSG100
BoringPostcards wrote:
Fri Jul 31, 2020 12:36 pm
Awesome. It looks great. Too bad Yamaha are weirdoes and will never give us a proper reissue of these.
One of the all-time most beautiful designs.
Oh totally, my all time fave. I bet loads of 20 something year old king gizzard and the lizard wizard fans would snap reissues up if they did haha

Re: 66 yamaha SG3 pt.2

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2020 1:59 pm
by BoringPostcards
joeSG100 wrote:
Fri Jul 31, 2020 1:48 pm
BoringPostcards wrote:
Fri Jul 31, 2020 12:36 pm
Awesome. It looks great. Too bad Yamaha are weirdoes and will never give us a proper reissue of these.
One of the all-time most beautiful designs.
Oh totally, my all time fave. I bet loads of 20 something year old king gizzard and the lizard wizard fans would snap reissues up if they did haha
King Gizzard are an amazing band. Indeed, they could sell a bunch, but apparently they don't like 'looking backwards' as a brand.
A real shame. Some of their older models are the best looking ones they've ever made.

Re: 66 yamaha SG3 pt.2

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2020 2:15 pm
by joeSG100
It is a crying shame, you'd think they could easily enough follow the fender model of cranking out new designs whilst also making retrospective reissues