possibilities. It’s not going to sound like a strat,
but you can get some cool Tele like tones. I’ve
been playing Strats a lot of at church lately,
so when I brought out the SA2200, I noticed
that it was killing the single note lines that are
so common in modern worship. The notes
cut through with more authority and punch
than a strat. For the crunchy stuff, the bridge
pickup loved my distortion pedals. I did find
myself leaning on the bridge pickup most of
the set. I’m so used to a somewhat scooped
sound, but with a couple of small tweaks on
the Tumnus & Tim, I had plenty of high-end
chime. Tone wise, it could definitely replace a
Gretsch and still thin up well for picking parts
via the coil taps. The guitar is slightly heavier
than my old 335 but not nearly as heavy as a
Les Paul. Yamaha did a careful job designing
so that the weight is nicely balanced. At high
volume, I could get it to feedback, but not
like a normal hollowbody. It can take a higher
volume because of the maple center block. I
got beautiful sounding swells with this guitar.
It has a ton of sustain and plenty of chime.
CONCLUSIONS:
I love this guitar. It’s got the 335 vibe with the
Yamaha modern twist. They took the basic
concept and made it more versatile, with better
intonation, playability, and versatility with the
coil tap pickups. It’s fun to play, and if you like
to play jazz, it’s a perfect lightweight instrument.
Yamaha has done a great job improving on a
classic design. If you are looking for a beautiful,
great sounding semi-hollow body guitar, you
really ought to give it a test drive. With the
simple addition of a Bigsby, it could quickly
become my favorite guitar. It does not come
with a case however, so I might recommend a
hearty gig bag for it.
MSRP $2,999.00
usa.Yamaha.com
January 2019
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