Whitstable Guitars
A selection of good quality, used guitars and specialising in imports from Japan since 2008
1980 Yamaha Japan SG-800 "Oil Stain" & new hard case
£869.00 + shipping
JAPAN IMPORT
The Yamaha SG-800 was only made from 1979-1981 & is a fine guitar from the heyday of the Japanese master craftsmen. With prices of the SG-1000's & SG-2000's etc going through the roof, the SG-800 is a very viable alternative. The construction is still the same but with a Nato body with carved Maple top & a Mahogany set neck together with push/push coil split options on both pickups, the only differences from an SG-1000 are a Rosewood fretboard rather than Ebony, G-II pickups rather than the SGH-1SOB, no binding on the headstock & chrome rather than gold coloured hardwear.
n.b. Nato is a hardwood from the Mora tree which mainly grows in the Central & South American regions. It has tonal properties similar to Mahogany and has been used by many guitar builders as an alternative to Mahogany
When I saw this particular guitar for sale in Japan I was immediately very tempted. The guitar is almost original. It does have a few dents and scratches but all of this is consistent with a 40 year old guitar & I have photographed as much of this as I can and they are in the gallery. As you will see the majority of the dents are on the back and the bottom edge. The frets still have loads of life with no indents & the neck is straight. The guitar plays fantastically well as you would expect.
Just a couple of other things to mention on the guitar. I believe that the nut has been replaced & the silver "Volume" & "Tone" caps are missing from the control knobs.
Regarding price etc. I have seen some significant price increases in Japan but looking online, there are quite a few Japanese sellers on Ebay & Reverb asking around £800-£900 for these SG-800's but for that, you generally don't get a hard case & you'll have to pay VAT of 20% and import duty of around 4.4% making your guitar cost well over £1000.
These guitars really do play well & I love the Yamaha pickups. Both have coil split facility via a push/push tone pot & you can get an amazing range of really good sounds. Everything from screaming rock solos to some lovely rhythm sounds when just using the single coils
Overall, I would describe the condition as very good. Here are some specifications
Yamaha SG-800 Specifications
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Construction: Set Neck
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Scale Length: 24 3/4 " (628mm)
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Fingerboard: Rosewood
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Radius: 13 3/4 " (350mm)
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Frets: 22
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Body: Carved Maple Top, Nato Back
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Neck: Mahogany (Set-in Neck)
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Tuners: Yamaha Japan Sealed Tuners
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Bridge: T-O-M Bridge
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Pickups: Yamaha G-II Alnico Humbucking x 2
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Pickup Switch: 3-Position Toggle
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Controls: Front/rear Volume, Front/Rear Tone with Push-Push Switch on Tone Pot
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New fitted generic hard case (Thomann)
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Weight: 3.99kg
Hard Case
As said many times, all my guitars come shipped in a new black hard case which is included in the price. I find this is the safest way to avoid damage in transit. Alternatively, if you are collecting the guitar and, like some buyers have cases coming out of their ears, that's no problem, I'll adjust the price (usually around a £50 discount) and I can usually find you an old gigbag to take the guitar away in. The only hard and fast rule I have is that I won't ship a guitar in a gigbag.
If you are further interested in this guitar, you can either email me with any queries & I'll do my best to get back to you within 24 hours.
Or, you can buy quickly and safely using the PayPal "buy now" button and I will ship to most UK addresses the next working day. Highlands and Islands can be slightly dearer but I'll keep the cost as low as I can.
I can accept credit card payments by phone and will also offer a small discount to purchasers using bank transfer payments.
Overseas customers are very welcome but please email me first for shipping quotes.
