The Vault - A Treasure Trove of Rare, Unusual & Vintage Guitars & Basses

Here the holy grail of Yamaha SG guitars, the Yamaha SG-175, the then top of the range Yamaha SG that hit the music scene in 1974. The Yamaha SG-175 initially caught the eye of Carlos Santana who tried and tested the Yamaha SG-175 out. Although he thought it a great guitar, with a bit of weight due to the solid Honduran mahogany, he deemed the SG-175  still too light, and in his opinion lacked the sustain he was looking for. Yamaha Music Co used that and his further input in design and functionality to develop the now famous Yamaha SG-2000, probably the earliest truly famous Yamaha electric guitar. The changes to the SG-175 design meant evolution to a much heavier and contoured solid body electric guitar, the Yamaha SG-2000. For weight and resonance transfer, a solid brass block was added under the bridge and the guitar was made with a laminated thru body neck

Copies of some of the  original hybrids of SG-175/2000 can be seen on his Santana’s live renditions of “She’s not there”, “Europa”, “Black magic woman” and more recordings from the album “Moonflower”. The Yamaha SG-175 was produced in only small numbers, as only the best of the best of materials were used and is now a very sought after instrument amongst Yamaha SG aficionados.

It is a high-quality guitar built with a Honduran Mahogany body, bound with ornate abalone binding, the set neck is made from one-piece bound mahogany with ebony fret-board, again with decorative mother of pearl split-wing markers. The headstock is quite plain with triple binding surrounding the wood, there is no decorative floral motif inlay as common with the later SG-2000 and SG-1000, just the Yamaha Logo.

Here a Yamaha SG-1000 in Cherry Sunburst. The SG-1000 is the more rocky little brother of the acclaimed Yamaha SG-2000 that was developed in the 1970s. This guitar is a dream to play and handles and balances well and plays light and fluid. The guitar is a solid and quality build instrument with a set neck and ebony fret-board with mother of pearl, split wing position markers. Weight of guitar approx. 4.2 Kgs, neck width at nut approx. 4.4 cm.

Here a near mint condition, Yamaha SG-2000 Custom Shop issue 2009 in glossy vintage cream finish. Of all the Yamaha SGs, this is no doubt one of the most desirable Yamaha SG-2000s. Like all other SG-2000 models, these have their origins in the SG-175, after involvement of Carlos Santana. The SG-2000 would go on to become one of the heaviest guitars around due to the choice of woods and tome woods and application of a brass block under the bridge. This development took place in the early 1970s. This is a pretty guitar, and despite the weight, the guitar plays like a dream, light and fluid, and has a super straight neck, allowing a set up with very low action. This model is fitted with coil taps, as that give it a massive tonal range.