Yamaha SGV Series Guitars


Yamaha SGV Series Guitars
by Billy Cioffi
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It wasn't too long ago when the beginning or mid-level, yet serious future guitar god, had few choices when searching for a first real ax. I'm not talking about a Sears/Radio Shack, finger busting, impossible to tune piece of dreck you found lying around at a swap meet. No, you've been playing a while and it's time to get real and extreme. But you don't think you have anywhere near the dollars to put the dream machine in your sweaty hands. Dude and dudettes I'm here to tell you Yamaha has come to your rescue.

"Yamaha!" you say. "No way Jose! I've seen their gear...it's great, everybody knows that, but man it's for the big guys with the big bucks!" Wrong. At this year's NAMM show Yamaha introduced a new guitar line that has just about everything you could want in an electric guitar, at a price you can realistically afford. It has a design that looks like it came from Han Solo's rehearsal hall storage locker. The SGV300 and SGV800 have it all; sound, style, terrific sounding pickups and a tremolo system that rivals and, in some cases, surpasses instruments that cost several hundred dollars more.

The physical design is based on the vintage SG line that dates back to 1966, with a few tasty updates. One of the earliest innovations of Yamaha was the angled samurai headstock design which a lot of others have since copied. Both of the instruments in the SGV series feature a flat top, solid alder body and a 12-degree color matched headstock, chrome hardware, three-position toggle switch, volume and tone controls. A maple neck and a rosewood fingerboard will let your fingers glide and hammer harmonics like few other guitars in the price range. To top off the 21st century look, players can choose from a number of finishes: Black, Red or Blue Sparkle finishes and Pearl Green, Vintage Yellow or Red Metallics.

Electronics are original in-house Yamaha and that alone pretty much says it all: Dependable. The pickups are single-coils with Alnico V magnets which give you the gamut of vintage sound and modern crunch. These guitars are what I'd call "nuclear for nickels"; in other words, more bang for your buck! MSRP prices are: SGV 300 at $549.00 and the SGV800 sells for $699.00

For more information on the SGV Series Guitars, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Pro Audio & Combo Division, Guitar Products, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, Ca 90622-6600. Phone 714-522-9011 or e-mail: info@yamha.com or Web to: www.yamahaguitars.com/

Billy Cioffi is a Rock and Roll guitarist who has played with many acts from the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies in all fifty states and on five continents. He is also a songwriter, writer and journalist.

Edited by: Barry Rudolph

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