Vibrato bar for Yamaha SGV800

[bowyn]

I finally got my hands on one of these:



The former owner lost the vibrato bar and I have no idea what would work as a replacement. Anyone have an experience with this kind of bridge?

Here's a close up of this type of bridge with bar inserted:



and without bar:

[newey]

Cool git, Bowyn. I've always liked the body style of those, very distinctive. These are now discontinued by Yamaha.

The bad news is that this guitar had a unique, Yamaha-made trem unit which used roller bearings on the fulcrum for what the brochure describes as the "smoothest tremolo ever". So other trem arms aren't likely to fit, and given that you don't have an existing one to measure, fabricating one yourself doesn't sound like a viable solution.

Your best bet will probably be Yamaha's customer support (I'm assuming you're in the US). The bad news- their customer support is byzantine in its complexity (I know, I own 2 Yamaha guitars, and a bunch of their stereo/audio equipment.)

Here's how it works: Try to follow along!

1) Yamaha has a parts-ordering website called the "24X7 Portal" You have to register to use it. And, you need a part number for the part you want. There is no parts list on the site.

2) Yamaha also requires you to register as a user to do anything on their website. This is separate from the registration on the parts "Portal". It's called "EZPass" or something like that.

3) You could (presumably) call customer service during business hours to get the part number, and to see if the part is even available. But this is free only if you are the original owner of the product and only if you bothered to register the product after purchase. Otherwise, that phone call will cost you $10 (USD).

4) An email to customer service is free. How speedy the reply is I don't know, never tried it. That's probably your best bet to get the part number and to check availability, though.

5) The other option is to order a copy of the "service manual", which hopefully has the part numbers. There is no digital download of the manual, you have to order a hard copy mailed to you. You can download an "owner's manual" off the website (after you register), but the owner's manual is a generic one applicable to all their electric guitars and doesn't list any part numbers.

You should also note that there were two models of this guitar, the SGV 300 and SGV 800. The only difference seems to be the pickups used, the trem looks to be identical on both models. So, if you can find an arm for either model, they should interchange.

[sumgai]

bowyn,

Hi, and welcome to The NutzHouse! ;D

When I look at your axe, I see a Fender Cam-Lock system, but underneath all that chrome I smell a Kahler. Fender's setup was used only a couple of years, on certain Strats, and is now considered rare for good reason. But Kahler is still in business, and doing quite nicely, so you might want to aim your Google-Fu in that direction.

HTH




sumgai

[bowyn]

I just recently purchased a Wilkinson 6 point vib/trem bridge for another strat project and noticed it's the drop in kind without threads. The bridge socket looks similar to the Yamaha one (ie. a black plastic/rubber/whatever ring at the hole) so I tested the bar out, but it's a bit too big. So I'm considering taking a strat type arm and dremeling the threads down to the inner circumference and fine-tuning it to the right size and seeing how that works.

I'm kind of one the fence about paying $30 for one from Yamaha, just cause I'm a cheap-o

I will definitely check out the Kahler style, as well.

Thanks so much for the info, guys.

[sumgai]

bo,

Do keep us informed as to your results, please. And pictures of the final results would also be nice. Ya never know when another player will come along, looking for the same info.





aumgai

[bowyn]

Off of the Vibrato/Whammy topic, but newey mentioned liking the body style, I figured I'd post a vanity pic of my Yamahas (I love Yamaha guitars):



From Left to Right:

- SC300: Stock except for the pickups which have been switched out for GFS Boston Blues (which sound incedible in this guitar). Honestly the stock pickups weren't bad at all, very "warm-stratty," but I wanted to try the BBs out and they REALLY impressed me.

- EGV301: Custom cut pickguard with a Seymour Duncan Invader in the bridge, wired parallel instead of series, and a Washburn neck humbucker. Of course the wiring was redone since it comes with 3 SCs stock and a five way switch.

- SGV800: Stock. Too sweet to mess with.

I have a battered neck and body for a red SC300 that I'm going to use in a rather adventurous project involving filling in and repairing the trem hole that someone seems to have taken a mutant rodent to and the headstock, also mangled... full face pickguard with top mount Dearmond style pickups, Ric style bridge and either a Tiesco style waffle iron vibrato or a bigsby type. Should be frustrating fun.