What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

[raul693]

So about a month ago I bought this lovely Yamaha YG 1212 guitar for about 250-300$, a real find with top quality components and wood (two piece ash body, ebony fingerboard, incredible flloyd rose bridge), which happens to play awesome and is quite a looker, however, I'm still not taken by the sound (I put a Custom SH-5 in the bridge and left the original neck and middle, both are slightly high output singles but the SH-5 still overpowers them.

Turns out my guitar tech told me he has a friend who saw the guitar and loved it, apparently he had one stolen when he was young and for sentimental reasons (I'm sure he's also aware this is a very good instrument) he wants to trade it for his 1995 Fender Stratocaster Plus in what seems to be Midnight Wine (an American Deluxe equivalent). I went to take a look at it and except for a really stained maple fingerboard and obvious refret job it looks as good as mine, also it doesn't have the original Lace Sensors pickups but American Standard neck and bridge and Dimarzio Hs-3 in the middle.

So what's your call? The Yamaha I could eventually sell at 400-500$ max, but the Fender goes for 600-1500 $ depending on color and conditions, either would probably be my second axe. Now I'm not in love with the Yamaha (haven't had enough time to play a lot) but I know it's quality is JEM comparable (my dream guitar), yet a lot of my favorite players use strats (I've always wanted one) so I'm completely torn :banghead:

Here is the promised guitar porn (if you want more don't hesitate to ask):

 

[jtougas]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

See if y'all can meet to each try 'em out... one of you may be blown away, the other may be left feeling lukewarm about it.

But if it sings for you, go for it.

 

[TheLivingDead]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

Yeah try the strat first, but on value alone I think you should do it.

But personally, I wouldn't do it. I LOVE those Yamahas.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

TAKE THE FENDER AND RUN

 

[raul693]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

on value alone I think you should do it

Right now I'm leaning towards yes on the trade for that exact reason, the Yamaha will probably never fetch more than 500$ and probably will make me spend more (still some new gold hardware missing, the 5-way switch should be changed and the pickups don't do it for me); the Fender is fine, maybe spend on some new screws and strap buttons (perhaps someday pickups but it seems fine right now).

See if y'all can meet to each try 'em out...

The guy probably tried the Yamaha when it was back at my tech's house, I tried the Fender on Sunday on a crappy little solid state amp and it gave me a fine feeling (sound seemed stratty enough), specially the neck seemed to fit my small hands well, it seemed smaller than the Yamaha (really thin but really wide and flat) like a C shape.

Leaning towards the Fender, but there must be some very powerful reasons why the guy wants to trade even though he's losing some cash...

 

[metlking]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

TAKE THE FENDER AND RUN

This.....

 

[Fender_Punk]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

That Yamaha looks really nice, and I've played a number of mid-level and high-end yamaha acoustics and guitars and they are really nice, but they don't keep resale value the same way that an American Fender will.

If you like shredder guitars and floyds, keep the Yamaha and put better pickups in the neck and middle positions. If you want a Fender Strat...

TAKE THE FENDER AND RUN

 

[Lucid_Lunatic]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

I'm on eBay looking for a Yamaha like yours and you are about to get Orpheod.

 

[raul693]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Powdered Toast Man View Post
TAKE THE FENDER AND RUN
This.....

Thought about it but I don't want to be a decal whore, the best sounding guitar I've heard in my life is a Washburn I own, beats any Les Paul ever made.

That Yamaha looks really nice, and I've played a number of mid-level and high-end yamaha acoustics and guitars and they are really nice, but they don't keep resale value the same way that an American Fender will.

If you like shredder guitars and floyds, keep the Yamaha and put better pickups in the neck and middle positions. If you want a Fender Strat...

Your first point is very good, value is a very important matter here, I'm not going to retire with the profits, but it's better to win money than to lose it.

Regarding your other thought I'm actually not that fond of floyds, shred style axes do appeal to me because of the engineering and design associated with them, better tuning, playability, ergonomics, upper fret access,and in this case, materials. But I've always wanted that strat sound, even I considered swapping the pickups on the Yamaha to make it more strat than shred...

I'm on eBay looking for a Yamaha like yours and you are about to get Orpheod.

Don't know what Orpheod means, but good luck finding a guitar exactly like this one (Yamaha YG 1212 or 1221 don't remember), they were made through 1990-1993 and apparently were only sold in Japan, when I was doing research prior to buying it I had a hard time coming up with info on them, it's rarity is it's most appealing characteristic.

 

[DankStar]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

That Yamaha looks sick! (do people still say sick?)

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

Thought about it but I don't want to be a decal whore, the best sounding guitar I've heard in my life is a Washburn I own, beats any Les Paul ever made.

Simply based on value alone. You can trade and then if you don't bond with the Fender you can sell it for more than twice what your Yamaha will ever be worth.

 

[JonnyG92]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

Due to Fender being my preferred guitars, my choice would be obvious, but try them both. Worst comes to worst, I might end up buying a strat off of you in the future

 

[indie folk guy]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

I'd say take the strat (I'm not a fan of shredder guitars or floyd roses though).

The Fender is one of my favorite finishes esp for a Fender (I love seafoam green, pink paisley, midnight wine, lake placid blue, and 3 tone sunburst on fenders)

I'd say if you are after the stratty sound and you like the neck on it go for it and don't look back it doesn't sound like you are completely sold on either guitar at least this way that guy gets his dream guitar and you get a more valuable guitar (win-win situation) so even if you decide to flip the fender it'll probably give you $1k to work with on your ideal guitar.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

I absolutely agree on all the posts for doing the trade. There are several indisputable factors here...

You're not a Floyd fan, you're not thrilled with the tone of the Yamaha, it's only worth $500 tops, it is however a very nice looking guitar;

You've wanted a Strat, you love the tone, it feels good in your hands, looks nice, is easily worth twice what the Yamaha is worth, you'd be doing a favor for the guy who wants to trade for your Yamaha.

Really looks like a no-brainer to me. Do the deal before he changes his mind and you kick yourself for the next 5 years.

 

[raul693]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

Here are all the pics I took when trying the strat (sorry for the poor quality too, crappy phone camera):

Body

Original bridge

Fretboard

A little glimpse of the fretboard

Headstock OK

Correct neck plate with micro-tilt adjustment hole

Serial number matches with the model

Locking tuners in excellent conditions

And a better view of the color, don't know if it's Root Beer or Midnight Wine, you can also see little stains where the frets go into the neck, don't what that is but I didn't like it

 

[Varg]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

I'm a fan of super strats, and I'm NOT a fan of regular stock strats.

Even I would say take that strat. I think the Yamaha is pretty ugly looking to be honest.

 

[Varg]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

I'm on eBay looking for a Yamaha like yours and you are about to get Orpheod.

I thought you were selling or giving away all your guitars and getting a banjo?

 

[raul693]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

Worst comes to worst, I might end up buying a strat off of you in the future

Hard to imagine mate, were very far away, I'm from Venezuela

I'd say if you are after the stratty sound and you like the neck on it go for it and don't look back it doesn't sound like you are completely sold on either guitar at least this way that guy gets his dream guitar and you get a more valuable guitar (win-win situation) so even if you decide to flip the fender it'll probably give you $1k to work with on your ideal guitar.

Don't know if it's Midnight Wine or Root Beer cause I'm sort of color blind, what I do know is I'm definitely not sold on either guitar. Also, being more realistic the Fender would fetch 600-1000$ no less no more.

I considered making the Yamaha as Strat as I can whether by buying vintage style singles and a Humbucker more suited to H-S-S setup (say a Pearly gates based on wood types, don't know what singles) or going all the way and getting a new S-S-S, probably the first choice since it would be cheaper.

Really looks like a no-brainer to me. Do the deal before he changes his mind and you kick yourself for the next 5 years.

This is why I'm giving this a lot of thought, I also don't wanna look back and see I traded off my unique guitar for a very common strat.

NEW INFO: More pics, also in another forum someone pointed out that the fretboard looked really messed up (saw it personally, it's just very stained but it feels good, yet that really hits resale value right?) and most importantly that the refret job looks suspicious as in taller, wider and flatter frets that may screw up the guitar. Any tips on this last part?

 

[indie folk guy]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

you are gonna have varying opinions, if the guy got it refretted by a decent luthier you have nothing to worry about.

Maybe he chose a different than stock fret wire that he preferred.

I say as long as it looks good, it plays good and sounds good IT IS GOOD!

Maybe I'm just fortunate to know how guitars should be setup and have a couple of trusted luthiers that can setup guitars the right way nearby so I know what to look for and feel for on a guitar. Everything in your pics look fine but pics are never the same as holding an instrument to me.

But if something is wrong you should know by the way it plays and/or looks. That just looks like a player's strat to me, that stuff around the frets is likely just dirt you could easily clean that up unless my eyes deceive me. I still say go for it. I really don't think you are going to have buyers remorse trading that Yamaha, personally it doesn't do it for me, and you aren't sold on it. No matter how you look at it that strat will fetch more than your Yamaha ever could. Low side you'd be looking at $600-$800 used and high side $800-$1000 imho.

Either way $600-$800 is likely $200-$400 more than your Yamaha would fetch realistically. So you actually have the potential to make $600 more than your yamaha would sell for and more than you've put into it.

The decision is yours but I'd take the Fender

Seems like it's more of what you want and to be honest Floyd Rose guitars are a pain in the ass to setup (once you get them there they are a breeze, but getting them there ugggh).

 

[CapoFirstFret]

Re: What do you think about this trade? (Guitar porn included)

Here's the deal. Are you in this to make money? Are you going to turn around and resell this guitar to make a profit? Are you making this purely as a business decision? Go with the guitar that makes you want to *play* guitar and not sit in the room and stare at it. Go with the guitar that performs, that gives you a sound and feel that you're looking for. If we were talking the value difference between your Yamaha and a Gibson Custom Shop, I'd say money was something to pay attention to but at this price point, you need to go with what you are most comfortable playing and makes you want to play more.