Advice on pickups for a Yamaha SA2200

**green_tea** · 01-05-2009, 07:14 AM

Hi guys, I just bought a Yamaha SA2200 and it is a amazing guitar.

It looks flawless has the best neck I've ever played and sounds great unplugged.

But... Plugged in the pickups sound just OK to my ears. I guess they are stock Yamaha pickups. Single note lines sound good but chords sound muddy especially when I play chord melody with just my fingers.

So I'm thinking about changing the pickups and need some advice.

The guitar tech at the store recommended Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers, but I'd like to hear what you guys have to say.

The guitar has push pull coil splitters will that be a problem when installing non splittable humbuckers?

**javart** · 01-05-2009, 12:56 PM

Hi,

you have bought a great guitar! I got mine four months ago and I love every bit of it. I guess this is very subjective but in my case I don't find any problem with the stock pickups. The tone and coil splitting controls give access to so many good tones... Is it really worth changing pickups ? Any other SA2200 owners in the forum ?

Cheers,

J.

**green_tea** · 01-06-2009, 11:01 AM

The strange thing is I picked up a Roland Cube 60 today and the pickups don't sound muddy at all. But when I play it though my fender twin reverb they do.
So I guess it's the Twin then. I love the sound of my Twin with my strat but not the Yamaha. Well, single note lines sound good but chords sound muddy.
I haven't changed my pre amp tubes since I got my twin which was about 3 years ago, could that be causing the muddiness?

**NSJ** · 01-07-2009, 01:45 AM

I got an SA 2200 last year, had it repaired after my mom dropped it (inevitable headstock).

It's a great guitar, I play it through a Polytone Mini-Brute (neck pickup only) and I'm really digging the tone. No issues with muddiness-it sounds very sweet.

That said, come around April, I'll be getting my new Sadowsky Semi-Hollow, which I put an order in at the end of last October. Now that will be my dream guitar!!

**Gabe2099** · 01-07-2009, 04:56 AM

i never thought i would say this but... that yamaha looks pretty good!

i started disliking yamahas ever since i tried 3 different models at a local guitar store. i thought they looked too generic (they were solid body though) and sounded pretty bad for my taste. but this one looks pretty good, maybe it is because that's an archtop...?

about the pickups, i'm no expert but i think almost all pickups can be wired to split the coils. i'm not very sure thought, i sort of remember reading that somewhere but it could be my mind playing tricks on me...

**Banksia** · 01-07-2009, 07:37 AM

sorry greentea, can't help you with the P/U's. My question is: what happened to Yamaha? I recall back in the early 70's they were considered a prestige brand. I think they were more expensive than Ibanez and had a much better reputation Currently around Sydney their strat model is way down the price brackets and they're still not moving. I don't play nylon strings but I recall they had a very good reputation for nylon string models, but now my local guitar doesn't even stock the classical Yams. What happened?

**NSJ** · 01-07-2009, 10:50 AM

the 2200, I believe, is the only Yamaha still built in Japan. It's their top of the line, and a bargain--half the price of a 335--maybe even less than half. Vic Juris is one name guitarist who really digs it.

**gary mitchell** · 02-18-2009, 04:09 PM

i own one in the 90s for a while and can kick my but for selling it. i liked the pickups that were in it and was told by the dealer, that yamaha used dimarzio pickups but that was along time ago. i played on an old marshall blues breaker and a fender vibrolux. i liked it better then my gibson es335. that i bought later to replace it. when i was in kansas the gibson was cheaper then the yamaha.

**green_tea** · 02-19-2009, 01:56 AM

Originally Posted by gary mitchell

i own one in the 90s for a while and can kick my but for selling it. i liked the pickups that were in it and was told by the dealer, that yamaha used dimarzio pickups but that was along time ago. i played on an old marshall blues breaker and a fender vibrolux. i liked it better then my gibson es335. that i bought later to replace it. when i was in kansas the gibson was cheaper then the yamaha.

I think the pickups that are in it now are Yamaha Alnico V pickups.
After having the guitar for a little while now I seem to like the pickups more. But I would like to hear what other pickups sound like. I will have to do that one day but for now I'm happy with it.
I did try out a 335 that was in the store when I got my Yamaha, and I liked the Yamaha a lot more than the 335 that was in the store.

**jasonqtx** · 05-04-2009, 10:55 PM

Congrats on your new yamaha. I bought one a few years ago and though the pickups were not my favorite, I kept them in until the pots became a little scratchy. Last month or so, I ordered a pre-wired 335 assembly from mojotone.com along with some Lindy Fralin Gibson-style humbuckers and after installing them I was amazed at the improvement. The Fralin's are awesome. The tone is thick, woody and organic. Textbook 335 tone. I'd also considered Suhr SSV pickups and they may have been awesome as well but I can say that I don't regret going with the Fralins at all. All that said, the Yamaha pickups weren't really bad at all but the electronics were starting to go so I had little choice really. Hope this helps...

**jazzerswing** · 05-13-2009, 09:43 AM

Jason Lollar low-wind Imperials are great. They have a PAF vibe with really nice clarity. I have a pair in my 175 and love them.

**Thomasguitar** · 08-26-2009, 01:30 PM

Yeah I have the SA2200, same as yours greentea, but I put a Bigsby on it because I love the shimmer it gives a semi. It looks great too, not as "jazzy" but I have the Ibanez GB for that. as for the pickups I LOVE them. They are very articulate. I installed Duncan Jazz for clarity on my Ibanez AS103 and they are a great improvement, but in comparison the Yammy Alnico Vs seem simply higher quality. Just shines and in your face. The coil split I would never give up. Extremely useful for R&B/FunkBlues. Anyway, the axe itself is phenomenal. Simply the best semi on the market, outshines Heritage and Collings and Taylor deals...and even...do I dare...Gibson 335/345/355s/. Just the best, handcrafted in Japan still...what a steal..Love the brown..prefer it to the cherry sunburst! Peace

**DegoL** · 08-26-2009, 02:35 PM

I have an '87 Ibanez AS80 with original Super 58 pickups. Would you consider replacing them?. I hear they are good pickups, but, are there better options for jazz?

**Thomasguitar** · 08-26-2009, 02:44 PM

I like the Super 58s in the bridge but in the neck if used for jazz only. The bridge is great but the neck seems muddy and lack punch. They are a little dark for my tastes. I like Seymore Duncan Jazz PUPS for their extra clarity, great for blues and funk as well. They sound bigger and wider than the more compressed 58s...but it's a matter of taste, They can be split as well. The Duncans can be darkened easily using the pots for more jazz trad sounds.
PS: But remember they are the PUPs of choice for Metheny and Scofield..so what do I know. Just preference

**gwiz729** · 02-16-2010, 02:11 AM

Green tea,

did you end up swapping those pu's out? I might recommend Lindy Fralin's Unbucker's - "we wind the screw coil stronger than the slug coil. This makes the pickup sound a little more single coil, but the best reason to do this is for coil tapping. When tapped the stronger coil is active as opposed to half a pickup." from website

I like seymour's jazz pu, it is clear but warm enough I can get a jazz tone out of my strat. the Seth Lover's are almost too warm and I'm afraid you might get mud. Also Seymour makes the Benedetto pu's.

**Bushwackbob** · 02-16-2010, 11:16 AM

I just had the p/u's in mine swapped out for 2 Bennedeto A-6's and they are great. They are made by Seymour Duncan. I also had the pots changed to accomodate a split coil tap on each, as my guitar pre-dated when that was standard. Highly recommended.

**gwiz729** · 02-16-2010, 01:26 PM

Now that you have had it for a while is the Yamaha still a great guitar? If I play a gibson will it still be better? Are there any production years that yamaha's quality wasn't as good? How does Heritage 535 and 555 stack up against these?

A couple of years back I was going to buy a Guild Starfire IV (Rhode Island). It sounded really great for jazz but with a little bit of an aggressive edge. It was on sale for 1000 brand new. I went back a couple days later cash in hand to buy it and someone had smashed the window to the store and stolen it and the guitar next to it. I ended up getting a Guild X-170 (RI) and it has served me great (its built like a tank). I put a Gibson 57 in the neck and it sounded a lot better than the stock pu which sounded dead.

**Bushwackbob** · 02-16-2010, 02:53 PM

First, a correction from my earlier post, in that my guitar is the SA2000, not the 2200, although I don't know if that will make any difference. It is 30+ years old although many of those years it went unplayed.

This is a fantastic guitar. The stock pickups were okay, but this is a good upgrade and to me well worth the modest expense. I was familiar with the Benedetto pickup and wanted the sound across my guitar line.

**ionio** · 03-15-2010, 11:35 PM

Just got a new Yamaha SA2200 last week. Can't stop playing it, and have been late for work every day since. Amazing tone, so nice to play.

**Moot** · 02-18-2011, 03:09 AM

Hi! Short time lurker and first time poster.

I ordered a SA2200 last September and finally got it yesterday (Feb. 16, 2011.)
I've put in 5 or 6 hours on the guitar now.

My favourite humbuckers are Lollar Imperials, both the Normal wind and the 5% hotter wind. When I ordered the SA2200 I assumed I wouldn't like the stock pickups so I ordered another pair of Lollars. But now that I have the guitar I doubt I'm going to change its pickups. They're really nice - they have a good clarity and a nice girth. They possess many of same qualities that I like in the Lollars, but with their own vibe. I'm sure I'll eventually try the Lollars in this guitar but I'm not in any hurry to do so.

A bit off topic, but this is now my second Yamaha semi-hollow. I was finding the wait for the SA2200 interminable, so a few months ago I ordered an AES1500b and it changed the way I played guitar. Fantastic instrument. But I'm really digging the stunning piece of ebony that was used on the SA2200 - very sexy. I've had two other guitars with ebony fretboards, one special ordered from Warmoth's Fine Wood dept (or whatever they're calling it) and neither held a candle to the super-fine, dense wood on the Yamaha.

Anyway, I just figured I'd resurrect this old thread as my way of hello to the forum.

Hello, Forum!

Archie · 02-18-2011, 10:22 AM

I have a Yamaha AES 620. It sounded pretty good with the original pickups but I think it sounds better with the 57 Classics I put in.

**helios** · 02-21-2011, 08:17 PM

I've had a SA2200 for years, and I like it! I did change my pickups to Lindy Fralin unbuckers. If you put in new pickups, and you don't wish to split the coils, you might consider a pre-wired assembly.

I hear great things about Lollar Imperial humbuckers, and I also like my Fralin's. At any rate, I thought the stock pickups were good, but not great. Cheers, Jeff

**Thomasguitar** · 02-23-2011, 11:03 PM

I have the same 2 guitars the SA2200 and the AES1500B. I love them both and go back and forth as I yearn for something different from the already great Yamaha that I am playing. The SA is truely a fine crafted instrument. The PUPs I love AS IS and the ebony is a dream!

The AES is a one of a kind. I have the long scale with tremolo and the tension the long scale gives it the right amount of twang. I love the P90 is humbuckers and is warm enough for Jazz. Love the body and the construction! The orange is not as hokey as the Gretch Has almost blueish overtones when caught in the light and the flame is gorgeous!

**Moot** · 03-01-2011, 01:17 AM

Out of curiosity I replaced the stock Yamaha Alnico V's with the Lollar Imperials, and I'm loving it. The Lollars have a lower output and more sweetness to their tone than the stock pickups have, but they don't drive the amp as hard.

Really, the tonal differences aren't very pronounced - more of a volume difference - and of course the lower output means a tiny bit less bass, but more complex highs. I really like the tones the Lollars put out normally, but the 2200 has brought even these great pickups to life! Wow. I now have the feeling that any pickup would sound good in this guitar, regardless of design.

I really wish I could have both sets in there simultaneously, they both cover so much ground so well. The stock Alnico V's are awesome and, if I had to sum it up, better for harder driven rock and blues music than the Lollars (although the stocks easily cover all the sweet, nasty, or dainty musics really, really well) but the Lollars have a more complex, harmonically sweet tone that I, personally, just love.

I'm going to stick with the Lollars, I think, but I can see me switching back if I get back into the harder-driven blues/rock thing.

So to sum up: I'm happy with the Lollars, but they're not necessarily better than the stock Alnico V's. Which I think speaks very well of Yamaha's Alnico V's.

**bojan** · 03-01-2011, 07:17 AM

Changing the pickups? Modification or upgrading? The way I see it ... it seems that present day Yamaha guitars are truly modern instruments that were not conceived to clone any particular vintage vibe - be it in terms of looks or sound-wise. Thus, one is supposed to love (accept, tolerate ... acquiesce with?) their idiosyncrasies. My guitar is certainly not a Gibson, Gretch ... or Stromberg but, I would not want it otherwise.