This cherry red Yamaha SC300T was my buddy Mark Zampella’s first guitar, purchased in the early 1980s.
Blues To Black Sabbath
Mark learned to play Black Sabbath, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Quiet Riot’s “Metal Health” on this funky, surf-style instrument. He learned his scales and chords, and he learned well.
Corrosion Of Conformity
Mark’s sweaty teenage hands left this guitar with some serious corrosion issues. A couple of the pick guard screws were rusted and lost their heads upon removal. The hex screws on the bridge saddles were equally corroded. The fretboard was all gunked up and body bore a hazy, greasy coating. Yuck!
Born Again
De-strung and cleaned-up, Rocco and I gave this hearty old Yamaha the following:
- A new bone nut (the plastic one cracked during cleaning)
- New balanced set of Alnico pickups
- New controls (the tone knob only works on the middle pickup…unique fail!)
- New switch (had to hack up the pick guard a bit to make it fit)
- New output jack
- Replaced whammy bar
- New springs in trem cavity (old springs where too stretched out)
This guitar is back to its former glory and ready to rock another day…or another 35 years! Check it out on the tracks below…those Alnico pickups sound good!
Greetings. Can you tell me what whammy bar will fit one of these? Thank you, Tim
Hi Tim,
Tremolo Bar Whammy Bar 6mm – got one on Ebay for $5! Enjoy!
Rob
Thanks amigo!
beautiful Yamaha!
do you know about a hard case that will fit this guitar safe?
Sorry, Jay. It came with a Yamaha gig bag. Not sure about a hard case.
hi there,
what type of nut fits this guitar best? have my eye on a few and they all have nut damage, must’ve been a common issue.
Sorry, Nate, that was a repair and I no longer have the guitar here to measure the nut.
R
I’ve got one of these in black that my mom bought from a pawn shop for my 15th birthday in the early 90’s. I played it in my high school garage band. I love this old guitar, and I still have it in my collection. This axe taught me so much! I took it apart piece by piece and reassembled it. I made a new nut out of bone in about 1995 and replaced the tuners in about 1996. A great beginner’s guitar.
Do you know where I can get a replacement tremolo bridge for the Yamaha SC 300T?
sorry, Carlton. Ebay is your best bet.