Hello I've had my eye on picking up a Yamaha SA-2200 for a while now and have been saving up my money. Lately however I've seen a lot more Yamaha SA-2000s available for often around the same amount of money as a used SA-2200. I'm puzzled as to exactly what the difference is between these guitars other than that the early SA-2000s apparently did not have the coil taps. I'm wondering if folks here could please enlighten me as to the differences between these models. On another note, it's really hard to find these guitars used (even new actually) and close enough to be able to play in person so I'm wondering how people feel generally about buying new guitars online. I feel weird about buying an instrument sight unseen so to speak but I'm wondering if it might be worth the extra money to just get a new one rather than risk an ebay no-return situation. I really appreciate your advice. Thanks! -B
SA-2000s has a spruce top vs. maple top on the SA-2200. Theoretically, the spruce top might sound a little sweeter, but I haven't played either model. I'd love to try both out someday.
I have the older SA2000. Wonderful guitar that has been seriously upgraded with pups & hardware. I also added coil tapping. The SA2200 would probably be fine without those upgrades. I hear good things about the pups and coil tapping is included. It would need a few years to sweeten up in the wood dept. though. Also quite a few SA2000's have 59 necks. I believe all the SA2200's are a 60's slim taper type neck. The board radius is pretty flat....12 inch I believe. and there is a healthy nut width. They are capable of the same low action and great playability as the Gibsons. The boards are ebony so Cool picks or other picks that generate finger like tones can help when you want to get the same tones as a rosewood fretboard guit. They can get the same tone as the gibson with a mid boost at the amp. They can also go into jazz guitar territory with no problem. Production consistency is predictably reliable which is one area where they out do Gibson. Cost would obviously be another one. hth
I owned an SA2200 which I fitted with BareKnuckle Mules. Totally transformed the sound from blandish and fairly generic-sounding, to really characterful. I would have no hesitation buying sight unseen with these, and I can't remember when I ever bought a poorly built Yamaha at any price point. Turning out second-rate product isn't a part of Yamaha's philosophy. These are fabulous guitars and absolutely outdo Gibson equivalents (in the case of the SA it would be an ES355), in just about every respect. They're also different enough to stand out from the herd of 335s out there.
I LOVE my 2200! I have played my friend's older 2000 and it was a nice guitar, but I really like my more recent 2200 more than the 2000 that he had. He recently played mine, and agreed that he liked it more than his 2000. The pickups in the newer 2200s are not bad at all, although I did recently change them out to Seth Lovers. I find the seth lovers to sound a little more sweet and woody sounding.
+1 This. I own a SA2200 and it has catapulted to the top of my list of favorite guitars that I have played. The pickups are fantastic, probably my favorite split coil HBs along side of the HB in the PRS DGT. I love everything about the guitar and it is far superior to the best ES-335 that I've played. Granted, I may have not played the best 335, but I've owned a bunch, including a Larry Carlton Custom.
I would not complain about owning either the SA2000 or the SA2200 both are high quality guitars with tremendous tone.... As far as your second question goes..If i'm buying from Guitar Center i don't worry about it because of there liberal return policy.. I recently bought online a vintage Gibson SG for a pretty sizable amount of coin..It turned out to be the most disappointing guitar i have ever bought..(Not the worst just the most disappointing)..Not to bag on it but i have played modern faded SG's that had better tone and feel.. After a week of trying to like it i returned it to my local guitar center..They issued a refund to my credit card instantly.. Now as far as buying used on E bay where you have no return policy other than if the guitar was mis represented by a large margin..I'm not a huge fan of this especially if i'm paying over a $1000 dollars for the guitar.. I would rather pay the extra $200 to $400 to buy new from a dealer that way if i do not like it it can be returned...
Thanks for all the feedback guys. I've been looking into the option of getting a brand new Yamaha SA2200 and no one seems to have them. One person told me that he thought they were discontinued and another had no idea and was going to get back to me when he found out more. It would be sad if its true. I'll let you know if I learn anything interesting. In the meantime I'll keep an eye out for a used one or maybe I'll get real lucky and find a nice Gibson-335 for less than my $2000 budget. (yeah I know, good luck). Thanks again.
I have had 3 of each...............the best 2 were a Pearl White Metallic Yamaha SA-2200 and a Red Yamaha SA-2000 S with the solid spruce top..............it does sounds different and to me was worth the premium over the regular SA-2000...............if you want to lose some of the cost of those guitars...............Yamaha SA-1200 S [Also Solid Spruce Top]................... same guitar just less "BLING"
I’d like one with a fat, round neck but all the ones I’ve tried had slim necks. Do SA2000’s really have 59 shaped necks? Do any other Yamaha 335 style models have fat, round necks?
