Guitar

A tale of two Yamaha SG-12 solidbody 12-stringers

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Regular Guitarz readers may remember that back in September I posted about a vintage Yamaha SG-12 offered for sale on eBay which had been rather disturbingly and tastelessly customised. I ended that particular blog post by saying:

There was recently another SG-12 on eBay which, alas, was incomplete - there were parts missing such as bridge saddles. That particular guitar sold quite cheaply. It'd be nice to think that whoever bought that one, could buy this example too and assemble a single Yamaha SG-12 as it should be and keep the rest as spares.

Well, imagine my surprise when reading in an email from Chris Fesker that this was indeed what happened and the above pictured Yamaha SG-12 is the resulting restored guitar put together from parts from the two donor instruments. But what happened to the left over parts which obviously included perfectly serviceable body and neck? It'd be a shame to let those lie around unused. I'll let Chris tell you the whole story:

Hi Gavin - my name is Chris Fesker, and I was looking for pictures of Yamaha SG12 guitars, when I ran into your blog...

http://guitar--devz.blogspot.com/2011/09/vintage-yamaha-sg-12-twelve-string.html

I am the one that bought that guitar, along with the other incomplete SG12 you mentioned that sold around that same time. I did combine the two, using all the good parts from the 'TRoth' guitar to repair the sunburst. Rather than sell the parted out TRoth guitar, and having noticed that the original red finish was still below the new paint, I stripped the black and gold repaint to the original red, and re-built it to the best of my abilities.

Here's some links to some pictures of both in their newly repaired state.
Red SG12 - http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w263/sonichris_photos/Red%201967%20Yamaha%20SG12/
Sunburst SG12 - http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w263/sonichris_photos/1967%20Yamaha%20SG-12/

I thought you might get a kick out of seeing them.

Thanks
Chris

I did indeed get a kick out of seeing the photos of Chris's restored SG-12s; it's so good to see something like that having seen so many bad bodge jobs, half-arsed relics, and crappy "customisations" carried out on otherwise beautiful vintage instruments.

Whilst the red (formerly "TRoth") SG12 pictured above isn't an accurate restoration, it has been finished with respect and reverence to the original design. I like the use of two Jaguar pickups - surely these are in keeping with this style of guitar, and where would you find the original Yamaha pickups outside of buying a re-issue SGV-300 and cannibalising it (which would be a shame in itself)? It certainly has an authentic vintage vibe and I would like to congratulate Chris on a job well done!

Happy New Year to all our readers!

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

- 1960s Yamaha Sb5a Bass Made In Japan
guitarz.blogspot.com: Here we see a very nice example of one of Yamaha's very earliest solidbody bass guitars, namely the Yamaha SG5A bass. Of course, it wasn't the very first Yamaha bass guitar - that distinction goes to the Yamaha SB2 - however...

- Two Vintage 1966/67 Yamaha Sg-3 Solidbodies Listed On Ebay Recently
guitarz.blogspot.com: I make no apologies for the claim that some may make that Guitarz is the unofficial Yamaha SG2/SG3/SG12 Fan Blog. Regular readers will already know that I am the proud owner of a 1966 Yamaha SG3 and indeed it has become one of my...

- 1966/67 Vintage Yamaha Sb-2 Bass Guitar In Sunburst Finish
guitarz.blogspot.com: Here's a rare beastie currently being auctioned on eBay. It's a Yamaha SB-2 bass, and dating from 1966/67 this is a very nice example of the first ever bass guitar that Yamaha produced. Regular readers will know that I have...

- Motorik Guitar Works Sd-40 - Yamaha Sg-2 Replica
guitarz.blogspot.com: Long-term followers of Guitarz will know by now that I am great fan of early Yamaha electric guitars, especially the SG-2, SG-3 and SG-12 models. (If you'd like more info on these guitars, please read my article on the Vintage...

- Yamaha Sa-20 Semi-hollowbody 12-string Electric Guitar From 1968
guitarz.blogspot.com: Regular readers of Guitarz will know of my enthusiasm for certain early Yamaha solidbody electrics, but being a recent semi-hollowbody convertee I am wishing I had the chance to sample Yamaha's early semis. In May 2011 we looked...

Guitar