1980s Yamaha CH-10MII & FL-10MII Effects Pedals

Vintage Japanese stompboxes, lesser-known, but very high-quality units

This could be the last pedal post or any post, for a little while, SCGM goes on vacation starting this morning. With that disclaimer, let's get to the gear... These pedals are both real nice and the price tag is about half that of their Boss counterparts and slightly lower than the vintage DOD pedals.

The only catch is that the Yamaha MII line doesn't come along nearly as often as those or even some of the boutique pedals from the 70s and 80s. The delays still run for around $100, but these two were scored for a much lower price than that. The chorus pedal is real clean and the fact that it's stereo is also a bonus. When paired with a DOD DFX94 digital delay pedal, it replicated that Andy Summers "Walking on the Moon" sound to a tee.

The flanger is also very nice, I chose this over another good vintage, 4-button flanger made by Arion. This one was a little more quiet and didn't seem to change the volume or tone very much. When looking for vintage pedals, keep these in mind. You can save a ton of cash and still get killer vintage tone.

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution photos here.

1970s Granada 5-string Bluegrass Banjo

Sweet vintage banjo was made in Japan at the famed Matsumoku factory

Here is a real treat, the first stringed instrument that is not a guitar to be featured here at SCGM. This one belonged to a family friend and when he was looking to get rid of it, the chance was too good to pass up. In nearly 25 years of playing, this is the first time a banjo has passed through these hands, but this is a very nice instrument, even though it may not be played very often.

Granada instruments were made at the Matsumoku factory, known for cranking out guitars for Yamaha and Ibanez at different times and still revered today for making both acoustic and electric guitars for Aria, like this beauty that we found last summer. While the level of banjo expertise is minimal, both the wood and binding around body and headstock give a hint to the quality of this piece. The binding especially is reminiscent of Gibson guitars of the same era.

This is also the same brand that made a nice classical guitar which found it's way around at the same time last summer. So, that's two-for-two with Granada, if you find one, it'll likely be at a good price. Go for it...

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution photos here.

1980s-90s Boss DS-1 OD-2 & SD-1 Effects Pedals

Vintage black label effects, industry standards, made in Japan and Taiwan

As promised, there are no shortage of effects posts. A month-long search for deals on vintage stompboxes yielded over a dozen candidates and the ones that made the cut will be featured. After the MXR Distortion +, I was able to score great deals on three Boss pedals, the DS-1 & SD-1 probably being the OD/Distortion pedals on most players' boards and the OS-2 was said to have a different feel, so one of those was swept up as well.

First thoughts are that the DS-1 is very noisy and the distortion a little muddy. I was hoping to get more of an 80s thrash metal sound with it, but maybe that's why they made the Metal Distortion pedal? The SD-1 has that classic Guns N Roses sound just nailed, but it's also noisy. At first I a bit worried that these pedals were bunk because of the noise, but I've read that the problem is common and many modifications are available to fix it.

The OS-2 is the only one of the three pedals that was made in Japan and the date ties to 1986. The DS-1 is 1990 and the SD-1 dates to 1981, but these pedals began coming out of Taiwan in 1989-90, so I'm guessing 1991 with some serial number referencing getting lost in the conversion. The OS-2 was putting out a sound close to that MXR pedal mentioned above, so I'll probably pair it with the DS-1 and put the SD-1 on a board with the MXR.

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution photos here.

1978 Fender Model F-35 Acoustic Guitar

Vintage Japanese dreadnought, still in great shape 35 years later and sounds better than ever

This just fell into my lap the other day, while looking at another 1990s solid top and the owner happened to bring it along, he had never listed it for sale. Fender acoustics are kind of like the Rodney Dangerfield of guitars, they just don't get no respect...

That could be because the electrics are top industry standards alongside Gibson, but the acoustics have never been mentioned in the same breath as Martin, Guild, Taylor and Gibson. Still, All 3 Fender acoustics that I've had in the last year have all been great players. This F-35 plays and feels a lot like an old Yamaha FG series guitar.

This one was definitely made in Japan, as the decal on the back of the headstock states and the F series was produced from 1972-1981, same as the FC-10 3/4 that was one of the first guitars featured here at SCGM, so we can assume that the classical also originated from the same place.

I was able to clean off most of the little scuff marks on the back and sides of the guitar and some small stuff on the edges of the headstock, the only signs of wear that remain are some dings on the face. I filed down the saddle a bit to lower the action and put on some Martin SP Custom Lights. Really nice guitar in the same league as the Yamaha FG-200 and Takamine F360 that were recently featured.

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution photos here.

1980s DOD FX20 & FX60 Effects Pedals

Vintage American-made stomp boxes, still held in high regard to this day

The pedal parade continues, after researching countless online forums for information on what to look for and what to stay away from, around 15 pedals were recently acquired to put together a couple of boards for rhythm and lead guitar rigs and of course, most of the pedals will be featured here.

These DOD pedals always had good reviews and the prices were consistently lower than more-popular brands like Boss and Ibanez. In fact, the FX60 was chosen over a reissue Ibanez CS-9, considered a top rival to the Boss CE-2, arguably the most-famous chorus pedal of all-time. 

The Phasor actually hasn't been able to be used yet, as one of the eyes on the battery pad is busted and I don't have the correct adapter yet, so I'll either have to fix it or get a power supply. I paired the FX60 with an overdrive pedal and was dialing in on some classic Def Leppard sounds, stuff like Photograph and Armageddon It. That's usually the first thing that I do when I get these babies in the mail, just plug them in to make sure they work and try to replicate the sounds of bands or songs that I love.

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution photos here. 

2000s Vox AC15CC1 Tube Combo Amplifier

1x12 with both pro-quality cleans and effects, sounds even better than it looks

This is just the 2nd tube amp that I've ever owned, with the vintage Carvin head that was featured last month being the first. A Vox was the perfect choice for another one, because it has a completely different feel than that Carvin, where say a Fender amp might be a little redundant. 

The cleans on the Carvin are one of the better features of the amp, but you get a warmer version on this Vox and the tremolo effect also put this one over the top. This line was discontinued sometime in 2008-09 and they have been known to have their issues. But owners of multiple Vox amps usually prefer the sound on this model to the newer one.

On top of sounding great, this thing is in excellent condition. The biggest blemish is some sticker residue along the bottom-right corner, I got some of it off, but didn't want to pry any further and risk ripping the gorgeous purple-green-gold mesh that looks incredibly sharp. The faux leather cover and the fact that I won't use it for gigging will keep it that way.

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution photos here.

1997 Hohner Model No. HW700S Acoustic Guitar

Sweet 15-year old solid spruce top dreadnought, gorgeous mahogany on the back, made in Korea

This is the 3rd Hohner guitar that I've picked up in the last couple of months and it's been a complete trifecta, as there has been a 1970s electric, a 1980s classical and now this 1990s acoustic. All 3 have been quality guitars and nice players, with both the classical and acoustic being made in Korea.

After I put a new set of Martin SP XLs on this guitar, my fears about the original nut and saddle were validated, as this guitar amazingly has both high action and a little bit of a buzz. The nut definitely needs to be bigger, I had filed down a new bone saddle for this one, but the buzzing was even worse. I'll probably have to take this one in, because fitting for a nut is a bit trickier than a saddle and I really just want it done, so I can hear what this beauty really sounds like.

As it stands, the current setup really kills all of the tone, the G and high E strings are both hitting frets when struck, creating the buzz and the indentations on the saddle make the two highest strings sound really tinny. You can see in the photos that I've stuck some masking tape in between the nut and the strings, that cuts out the buzz, but also robs just as much tone.

This is a nice guitar though, it has Schaller/Grover style tuners and the hold tight. Finding an entry-level guitar with a solid top is always nice, when it's 15 years old and not made in China, even better. The solid mahogany back is the nicest feature to me. This one still looks great, the original owner played the hell out of it, but took good care of it.

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution photos here.

1981 MXR Distortion + Effects Pedal

Vintage top-quality stomp box, made in the USA and used by Guitar Gods Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I hadn't really played with many effects in 20+ years of strumming guitars, but much has changed since then. This was the first piece that was acquired after that beautiful Cry Baby Wah and it's another classic boutique-type pedal.

MXR pedals were among the best in the business back in the late-70s, Eddie Van Halen changed the face of rock guitar with help from the Phase 90 pedal on the first two VH albums and Randy Rhoads gave it another makeover while using this model Distortion + unit with Ozzy Osbourne a few years later in the early 80's.

Like most distortion pedals, it's a little noisy and on it's own, it's a little dirty for my taste and doesn't quite have the amount of gain that I like. Another weird thing is that the distortion seems to have a small amount of flange built-in to it, not sure how to tone that down yet. I've paired it with a vintage overdrive pedal, which will also be featured soon, and that got closer to the tone that I like.

This is vintage, the old ones don't have LED lights or AC adapter jacks. They are very expensive too. The Phase pedals generally go for $150+ and these D+ units usually can't be had for anything less than $100. Like old guitars, these vintage pedals contain higher-quality parts and generally give off better tone.

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution photos here.

1995 Takamine G335 12-String Acoustic Guitar

Sweet little 12-string, made in Taiwan, not to be confused with the current G Series

This is actually the guitar that started all of this madness, when I picked this up a little over a year ago. I bought a Takamine G334 6-string brand new back in late-1994 and when I saw this available at a great price, I couldn't pass it up. Even with some dirty old strings, it sounded and played nice enough.

Fitted with D'Addario Acoustic XL strings, it sounds really bright and plays a little easier than the Fender solid top that was featured here a couple of months ago. Like the Fender, this is also a quality guitar. This one has nice tuning keys that bear the Takamine name, but were made by Ping.

The finish is a little hazy, which is something that I've never seen before. Looks like someone may have tried to clean it and messed it up. Other than that and a couple of small nicks, it's in perfect working order.

12-strings are always popular models and this is one of the better ones that I've played. The only one that was better was a high-end Guild and that's really no contest... Still, I've never had a Takamine, or even a Jasmine for that matter, that wasn't a good player. Great guitars for all levels. 

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution photos here.

1976 Yamaha FG-160-1 Acoustic Guitar

Vintage folk guitar, Black Label era, made in Taiwan 

Looks like I've settled on a few brands on my quest for affordable vintage acoustic tone: Carlos, Takamine and Yamaha. This is the 2nd FG-160 that I've had in the last year and this one is a better player by a mile.

Like that other 160, this one is not in museum-quality condition, with a fair amount of nicks scattered along the face, back and sides of the body. But, all of the flaws are cosmetic, the guitar is still rock-solid, no breaks or cracks and all of the tuners are in good working order.

Whoever had this before set the action pretty low, but that suits me just fine. I set it up with Martin SP Custom Light strings last night and cleaned it up a little bit. Even with the smaller gauge strings, the low-end is still nice and warm. All of these FGs have been players, the next Japanese model that comes my way will be staying...

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution photos here.