Yamaha SC300T is born again!

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!