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Saw one for sale and after consulting with Sean and a bit of negotiation I bought it. It is in unbelieveable condition a 50 year old guitar and it looks brand new I can't find a mark on it. My photography doesn't do it justice. Serial no 18971 which Sean will no doubt be able to give me a year from.
Hi Bill,
That is a beauty. Does it have a model number anywhere on it? I remember this series raising a bit of uncertainty when I was doing my catalogue. It appears that the SA30 was originally coded SA5 at introduction in 1966 only. The SA30 appeared in 1967-73 catalogues. I only found one catalogue reference to the 30T for 1968 but as there appeared to be no specification difference I assumed that this was a quirk (not unusual for Yamaha at that time). None of the pictures of this model I have seen have shown an actual code number (either SA30 or SA30T) yet all the ebay items refer to the model as SA30T. The "Supposed String Meister's" website displays catalogues referencing the code number SA30 only, no mention of 30T. Still a bit of a puzzle on this model I think!!!
Cheers,
Rod
The former Yamaha Guitarchive has a SA30 and a SA30T. One including tremolo, the other without. The SA30 produced from june 67 till 72, retail price 33.000, and the SA30T from juli 67 till 72, retail price 35.000. That could be the extra for the tremolo. Difference in model number, retail price and specs seem to suggest there was a SA30 with and without tremolo
The weird thing: Home market Japan catalogs mention the SA30T, export catalogs (US as well as UK) have the SA30, but all guitars shown are with a tremolo.
Anyone ever seen a SA30 without a tremolo ?
BTW: I don't think the SA5 was the precursor of the SA30 as presumed in the previous post. The SA5 was a short lived "early version" of the SA50.
No there isn't anything on the guitar to show the model. I just checked the archives again and Yamaha say the SA30 was released in June 1967 described as No tremolo model and the 30T released in July 1967 is described as the tremolo model. The only catalogue I have from that time is the 11968 catalogue in English which lists an SA30 but shows and describes the 30T as Leon says.
Sean's site shows a Japanese catalogue with as Leon says a 30T but no SA30. Mysterious
Sean?
That is all great additional analysis of this particular model. I have noted all this information in the event that I do an update/2nd edition of my catalogue, probably unlikely but you never know. Thanks guys.
Mimasu wrote: ↑Tue Nov 26, 2024 7:17 pm
Great find Bill !
Anyone ever seen a SA30 without a tremolo ?
Leon
Yes, it appears all the SA-30s with painted on F holes did not have a factory fitted vibrato. See my website for details. (I dislike using the wrong term tremolo).
balston11 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 27, 2024 9:31 am
No there isn't anything on the guitar to show the model. I just checked the archives again and Yamaha say the SA30 was released in June 1967 described as No tremelo model and the 30T released in July 1967 is described as the tremelo model. The only catalogue I have from that time is the 11968 catalogue in English which lists an SA30 but shows and describes the 30T as Leon says.
Sean's site shows a Japanese catalogue with as Leon says a 30T but no SA30. Mysterious
Sean?
I have a hunch the T stands for Thumbnail fret marker. That would explain the higher price as the SA-30(T) model has fretboard binding and a more elaborate marker inlay. The 'ordinary' SA-30 has dots and no fretboard binding. I suppose I could go through my database and check each individual SA-30 & SA-30T to verify my theory but I do have other things on atm. (I have photos of every SA in my database btw).
I had four SA-30s at one point in time. Two with and two without thumbnail markers. They all had vibrato bars and their serial numbers covered a range from about 10,000 to 26,000. My database covers serial numbers from 00020 (SA-5) to 32137 (SA-60).
This is why we needed Sean on the thread the SA30 is different from the SA30T but appears to have a trem picture to illustrate. Note the lack oof thumb markers and the trem
Doesn't explain why the archives refer to it as a non trem model
