Yamaha SC700 Super Combinator Black 1979
Yamaha SC700 Super Combinator, black, made in Japan 1979. First up, let's address the elephant in the room: 'Combinator' is not a word. It probably sounded really clever in a Japanese boardroom in the late 70s, but hey, it officially scores some 'WTF' points. Second: holy heck, this is an exceptionally cool guitar. The base palette is Strat flavoured, but the blade style singles have a fair bit more grunt than a regular vintage single coil. Add a hefty hardtail, string-through bridge into the mix, and you've got a very assured, bright and thick take on the Strat tone. Now, those three switches you see are each three way: on, off, on at 180 phase reversed. That allows for a whole stack of different... contortions? combinations? combinatortions. My current fav is neck and bridge in phase, middle out of phase... it's a glorious grindy, punchy full fatness with just a little extra pluck and chirp; it's the tone I never knew I needed. It's one of several awesome tones this absolute gem-in-the-rough is capable of; you'll have so much fun. The neck is a great piece of maple and rosewood too; it's very similar in profile to a '62 style Strat and feels super friendly. It's no secret we're basically a vintage Yamaha exclusive dealer these days, but hey, when the gear is this good, who's complaining? Or is that combinplainorting? Certainly not I.
Model: Yamaha SC700 Super Combinator
Made: Japan, 1979, (serial 002677)
Finish: gloss natural, 2-ply black guard
Body: alder
Neck: maple, rosewood slab board, 25.5" scale, 12" radius
Weight: 3.650kg
Mods: none
Pickups: Yamaha C-1 blade single coil x3
Case: none
Cosmetic condition notes: minor finish wear. Headstock has a few dimples and marks on the end and bottom edge. The neck has minor dimples on the back, no major marks; it's clean and smooth in the hands. The back has widespread but very minor dimples and light surface scratches, the worst are on the top horn; no major marks. The sides are pretty clean, just a good scuffs near the jack and some light dimples around the rest of the body. The front us pretty tidy, just a chip up from the bridge pickup and some light scuffs around the body. Overall: very good condition (8/10).
Playing condition notes: Action is low, neck is straight, intonation is good, truss rod works. All electronics tested and working properly. The frets are pretty good, just some normal wear, 7/10 for fret life left. Wearing fresh 11/49 Moonshiners strings.