New Range Of Yamaha SGs?

[MrBump]

Hmmm....

Those that know me will know that I have a penchant for Yamaha SGs.

Just nosing around the web, and there appears to be a bew addition to the line up:

http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Yamaha-SG1820A-SG-Modern-Electric-Guitar-Silverburst/CJX

Personally, I'm loving them!  But just a shade under three grand?!?!

 :?

[Philly Q]

There was a snippet in Guitarist a month or two ago about these new models - designed to be "in tune with today's players", with rosewood boards instead of ebony, narrower headstocks, Tonepros/Gotoh hardware, Tusq nuts, CTS pots and Duncan or EMG pickups.

In other words they've turned the SG into a (very nice) LP copy with (top quality) standard parts and saved themselves having to make all that pesky proprietary stuff.  They still cost £2,700 - £2,800 though.

[Stevepage]

For todays players who don't have the money  :lol:

[dave_mc]

why is rosewood more in tune with today's players than ebony? if anything i'd have thought it was the other way round, surely?

oh, and that's crazy money, surely?

[MrBump]

^ It does seem like crazy money to be sure - but the SG2000s have always had the rep of "Les Paul" killers, and you can see LPs up at that sort of money.  I suspect that Yamaha probably maintains a more consistent built quality too...

What I don't get is the price difference - SG2000 up at about 1400, the new ones up at nearly 3...  The only REAL difference I can see is the EMGs and slightly different woods.

[roland_rat]

Looks nice but at three grand would opt for a Feline Lion every time.

[d1dsj]

I love Yam SG's but it does seem ridiculously expensive given the basic spec. The description says black hardware and it appears to be silver, and it has gLover tuners? Is that because they can't pronounce Grover??  :lol: Or is it a different manufacturer?   

[Ratrod]

Pricey!

But I do like the vintage white one and the black one with P90's.

[dave_mc]

^ It does seem like crazy money to be sure - but the SG2000s have always had the rep of "Les Paul" killers, and you can see LPs up at that sort of money.  I suspect that Yamaha probably maintains a more consistent built quality too...

What I don't get is the price difference - SG2000 up at about 1400, the new ones up at nearly 3...  The only REAL difference I can see is the EMGs and slightly different woods.

oh yeah, i'm not suggesting they aren't good guitars. I haven't tried them, but if the other MIJ guitars I've tried are anything to go by...

I just mean that at close to £3k I'd probably just buy a Feline/Legra/Wez V/Tyler/Suhr/Tom Anderson/Nik Huber etc. instead.

[gingataff]

I this what they've come up with instead of the new Frank Gambale sig?
Yamaha need an arse kicking.

[Simon D]

I like them tbh, but the price is a bit steep in my opinion. That's up into seriously high-spec PRS/totally bespoke custom job/Suhr/etc territory there, and I'm not sure that's what Yamaha is all about.

To my mind (and it's the mind of a long-term Yam player - my 11yr old Pacifica sits alongside my Fenders and PRS, and still gets played frequently), Yamaha shold be about great value, affordable guitars that give more than any comparable instrument at the price point. I'd love to be proved wrong, but I'm not sure these are going to do that.

[dave_mc]

my thoughts exactly. The whole point of MIJ (if you ask me, anyway) is to offer quality + value.

[gingataff]

The whole point of MIJ (if you ask me, anyway) is to offer quality + value.

Why? Is Japan a country with skilled craftsmen but cheap labour?

In a country where a single bell pepper will cost about £1.50 in an average supermarket and you can buy £100 watermelons (don't laugh), the salaries of the staff at Yamaha will no doubt be equally substantial.

Another sad point is that Japanese people tend to judge quality by price. If it's expensive it must be good,
and everyone wants the best.
In order to compete with Gibson, Fender and PRS, Yamaha probably has to inflate it's prices to gain credibility in the domestic market, and I'm sure they carry this policy over to the international market where the same rules don't always apply. Idiots.

Good design + High quality - any clue about marketing = YAMAHA

[dave_mc]

I didn't mean that at all. I meant what you were saying in the third paragraph, because the MIJ brand names aren't quite so sought-after (or as well-known), they tend to be a bit cheaper.

i thought everyone judged quality by price? Or at least, a large proportion of people in each country.

[Tricalibur]

It looks like the First Act DC Lola Custom

http://www.firstact.com/Products/CustomGuitars/Gallery/Kelliher_Bill_DCLola9.aspx

Id rather have a First Act personally being that they're like a grand more but totally custom. For a price like that you might as well go custom anyways.