1978 Yamaha SA 2000 Brown Sunburst

In 1977 Yamaha introduced an entirely new version of their venerable SA line of acoustic electric guitars. These were called 'Super Axe' as seen on the headstock of some models, but what makes them really special is that these were the first Yamaha's to closely emulate the ES-335, which all SA's since have followed. Prior to this only two models were actually semi-hollow body, and while beautifully designed, you would never mistake one for an ES-335.

The initial models were the SA 700, SA 1000 and the top of the line SA 2000, which is what this guitar is.
Looking at the literature from the time, Yamaha did a lot of engineering for these guitars, matching materials and components and then producing many prototypes which were tested by professional musicians of the day for feedback before the production guitars were finalized. This attention to detail shows up in many of the features of this model.

The pickups on this guitar are model specific, stamped with SA 2000 (see pics) and date coded to October 25th 1978. Pickups sound fantastic, with a wide range of tones available between the neck and bridge pickups. I would describe these as a true vintage semi hollow body sound able to deliver on blues, jazz or classic rock. Another nice feature of the pickups on this model is the Yamaha tri-mount used only on the higher grade SA's of this era. The tri-mount uses three adjustment screws for adjusting the pickup height, two on one side and one on the other. This allows you to not only adjust the height, but also the pickup's angle to keep it parallel to the strings.

The SA 2000, being the top of the line model of its day has a beautiful jet-black ebony fretboard with real mother of pearl, split block inlays unique to the SA 2000. Ebony fretboards feel very smooth compared to Rosewood. It also features gold hardware, four ply binding on the body and five ply binding on the head stock. Hardware and pickup covers are gold plated on this model.

Construction of the body uses four ply birch and beech laminate for the top and bottom. Center block is the same construction as found on the original ES-335's, with a hard maple center block sandwiched between spruce blocks with kerfs cut into them. The center block runs the length of the body, fitted between the top and bottom of the guitar. This semi hollow body construction, whose origin is from the original ES-335's, allows for a fuller, fatter sound than a solid body, eliminates the distortion that a full hollow body suffers from at high volume and delivers plenty of sustain with the bridge and tail piece mounted into the center block.

How does the SA 2000 sound - well in my opinion it lives up to its top of the line status, able to produce some fantastic thick sounds when you roll the tone back on the neck pickup and solid classic lead tones from the bridge.

How do these Yamaha SA's compare to other Japanese made 335 inspired guitars? The Yamaha's play, sound and look great with the consistent level of quality construction vintage Japanese guitars are renowned for. If you spend time looking into the finer details of the Yamaha's, it becomes clear that Yamaha did much more engineering and testing compared to the other brands. This makes sense given the size of the company, and scope of what Yamaha manufactures compared to niche Japanese guitar manufacturers. While the Japanese guitars of this era all shifted to emulating the pinnacle of the American made guitars, which for the 335 is 58 to the early 60's, most makes focused on trying to produce guitars as close as possible to the originals. As you play more of these guitars it becomes clear Yamaha's approach was a little different with the SA models. Their guitars remain true to the originals in many regards, but they were not bound by trying to produce exact copies, rather they strived to produce the best guitars they could and were willing to make improvements or enhancements based upon putting guitars in the hands of musicians and incorporating their feedback.

This guitar is all original including all of its electronics and most importantly its pickups. Condition wise it is very good with its share of scratches, dings and dents as can be seen in the pics.

The guitar has been completely gone through and received a full setup:
- Level crown and polish of the frets (polished in multiple grades up to 8000 grit)
- Set relief (truss rod), action (bridge height), intonation an nut relief
- Harness pulled and pots, jack and switch cleaned
- Tuner tension and pickup height/angle adjusted
- Entire guitar cleaned and polished
- Fresh set of D’addario .010 - .046 strings installed

The guitar plays beautifully and sounds fantastic. Pickups on these models truly standout. There is no buzzing or dead spots anywhere on the neck. The guitar needs nothing.

The early 335 inspired Yamaha SA 2000 is a no compromise model that was targeted to professional musicians and among the best of vintage Japanese guitars. This is a model I will always have one of for myself.

The guitar will come with a non-original hard case. A correct original Yamaha SA case can be provided at additional cost.

This guitar is located in the United States

I am a serious collector of high-end Japanese guitars with an emphasis on 335’s. Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions or visit my website to see my collection or learn more about vintage Japanese guitars. https://www.guitarsofjapan.com/