1980s-90s Arion SAD-3, SFL-1 & SOD-1 Effects Pedals

Vintage stomp boxes, one classic Japanese make and two reissues made in Sri Lanka 

These pedals are widely available and they don't really get much respect, but they definitely get the job done, especially for the price. The delay is the most expensive, as is normally the case, but the reissue OD pedal can be found for as little as $25 in some cases.

The positives of these cheap little guys by far outweigh the negatives, mainly the plastic casings and battery covers that can easily pop off and go missing. But on the positive side, these are all stereo pedals. I've found that the delay works better for vocals, but can also produce some freak out noise for guitars. The four-knob flanger (the vintage Japanese pedal) has a little more flexibility than many of it's competitors and while the Overdrive pedal isn't anything special, one thing it has going for it is that the noise level is very low.

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1992 Takamine G330 Acoustic Guitar

Vintage dreadnought, made in Taiwan, a precursor to today's G Series 

SCGM loves Takamine guitars, from the old Japanese Martin copies to today's G Series, the company has always put out quality, affordable products. This one was a craigslist find, it has it's flaws, but they're purely cosmetic. The finish has a milky haze, which I've read is moisture that somehow gets between the wood and the finish. The previous owner couldn't figure out exactly how it happened, but this Takamine 12-string from the same era also had the problem.

Like that 12-string, this guitar also plays and sounds great. I've had a G334 since December 1994 and this one feels nearly identical. The action is nice and low, with no buzz whatsoever. It also has the same die-cast Takamine tuners. We'll leave this one out of the case to see if that haze starts to dissipate after time and will set it up with a new bone saddle sooner than later, to get an even sweeter tone from this beauty.

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1970s-80s Teac ME-15 Electret Condenser Microphone

Found this little gem while browsing through a thrift store, turns out it captures acoustic guitar recordings very well 

I didn't expect to find a piece of gear to add to my collection while walking through my local Goodwill store, but that's part of the reason why I stop in there every week or two, because you just never know what's sitting on the shelves in those places.

Teac, of course, is an electronics company that still exists to this day and they were known for putting out high-quality consoles in the 70s and 80s. This mic definitely seems like a budget model, as the build isn't all that impressive. Plastic casing and a mic that is powered by a AA battery. Looks really aren't very important when you're talking about putting sound onto disc (or tape, in the era this was produced).

 I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this little beauty performed admirably when I recorded a rough acoustic guitar demo to test it out and the adapter that came in the box allows me to use two tracks from the same take. I'll keep experimenting with it and see how it handles when laying down drum tracks.

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1981 Carlos Model No. 249 Acoustic Guitar

The third Model No. 249 we've featured, this one also needed repair 

SCGM returns after a long hiatus with another one of our favorite finds, the Carlos Model No. 249 acoustic guitar. Unfortunately, this one needed more work than the previous two that I'd found, as the bridge was coming up so bad, that it wasn't playable at all.

This one was a year older than the others that I'd come across and the finish was just a tad lighter than the 1982 versions. Aside from the problem with the bridge, there was also a hairline crack where the neck met the headstock, but it didn't as though it was a fatal flaw.

This one was passed along to another Carlos collector, who will more than likely make the necessary repairs and add a very nice and inexpensive piece to their acoustic guitar arsenal. Check back here later this week for another Carlos dreadnought that will be arriving at my door in a few days.

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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.

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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...

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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.

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