NGD - Yamaha Ty Tabor

[gordo]

Pretty rare for me to do a NGD because I'm supposed to be downsizing.  Every now and then a situation presents itself and in my case I've always had a Yamaha RGX-TT on my bucket list and a local guy was selling one at a really decent price and was willing to waive shipping costs if I met him locally.  I'm not usually a fan of "signature" guitars but this one checked a bunch of boxes and Tabor (Kings X) is one of my guitar heroes.  It's a quirky guitar at best and although I'd never played one I knew what to expect.  Made in 1999 (the production run was 2000 to 2003 so it's either an early run or proto).



It has a straight string path.  Nuff said.  Forgive the dust in the photos, it picked it up way more than it should have, this beast is clean.




It has this weird Firebird meets Ibanez meets Strat thing going on.  The core is maple with basswood as the main chunk.  It is carved to fall away from the center block.  The net effect is that it feels tiny and weighs next to nothing.  The pickups are a SD JB on bridge with a coil tap/high cut switch.  The single coils are Duncan SVR-1's.  Technically they are dual coil/split pole weirdos that are voiced to be vintage strats but are much brighter than even stock strats and still humbucking through some sort of magic.




The output jack is carved into the back pointing up, so as you look at it on the strap it's looking right at you.  Far too convenient.




Because it's carved to be thin at the edges and the multiple pole switch is so big they had to put a bubble on the control cavity. The trem is blocked at the factory and I'll get used to the guitar before I remove it.  I don't think Tabor unblocked it because he used so much bridge muting.  Don't know, don't care.  I don't subscribe to leaving the spring cover off because it sounds better.  Just needed it off to set this beast up.




The knobs are very weird.  The intent was to make the volume knob pinky friendly from playing position and the rubber rings make it easy to grip.  Trouble is, that as the body falls away and the knob is so recessed it's less than intuitive.  That and the fact that 23 years later the rubber has devolved to dried out gaskets.  I love this guitar and will get used to this quirk.  Might hit up Yamaha for replacements if they exist.  Another strange quirk is that the pots are tiny little 16mm's.  Very strange choice for a guitar of this level but it works very well so I'm not about to change them out.




Fretwork with a minimal polishing on a 23 year old guitar.  Not too shabby on Yamaha's part.  The only inlay on the fretboard is the TT logo.  I don't recall seeing this on any of Tabor's other guitars or albums so this was likely a one-off on Yamaha's part.  Instead of fingerboard inlays the fret markers are all inlaid on the side of the neck.  Again, strange, but easy to get the hang of, especially on a dark stage.

[Invertiguy]

Nice score, that thing looks awesome! I definitely have a soft spot for unusual guitars, and that one in particular is the right mix of practical and distinctive.

[Willybomb]

Well.... now you have me intrigued...  I've been gassing for an MJ Charvel, but.....

https://reverb.com/au/item/54258188-yamaha-rgx-tt-ty-tabor-signature-model-2000-translucent-red

[Drew Hallenbeck]

That's a great looking guitar, congrats!
The thing that really caught my eye though, I have the same solder spool holder with the same BLMS sticker in the same place! My first (lazy) glance had me thinking, "man, I don't remember buying that guitar"!
Great find, hope you get many years of enjoyment out of it!
As for the rubber on the volume knob, they're probably just O-rings that could be replace easily enough. Check your local hardware store and rock on.

[jimilee]

Oh man, that's really nice Gordo!


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[Haberdasher]

That's a sweet axe. Congrats on getting a deal, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!

[madbean]

I have to admit a little jealousy here. Ty Tabor is one of my absolute favorites of all time. Good for you!

[jjjimi84]

This is such a neat guitar and the way you showed it off made it even better. What a great deal and I am glad you found a bucket list guitar.

[brucer]

Cool guitar and great post.  Interesting details and pictures!  Thanks for sharing.

[gordo]

Thanks everyone.  I tend to be far more traditional and this would be far closer to an Ibanez neck than I'm comfortable with but the old beast had it's maiden flight for Christmas services tonite and just sang like a bird.  For all the quirkiness it did what it was supposed to and just to complete the whole picture I ran it thru a 100w Lab L5 into a 2x12 Orange cabinet in an isolation cabinet.  It did the ping-y Tabor stuff in spades and does a really amazing job of cleaning up with the volume control.  Had the L5 set on the edge of breakup and when I needed to get a little rowdy I used the Yamaha OD pedal that jjjimi84 painted up for me to tip it over the edge.  So I could go from squeaky clean with hair on it, to light break up, to mid gain drive with the flick of a footswitch or the twist of the volume knob.

To say I'm stoked about this score is a huge understatement.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

[gordo]

Follow up, the only two guitars left on the bucket list are stupid expensive so will likely never happen:

• Framus Jan Akkerman
• Gibson Les Paul Recording

[madbean]

Follow up, the only two guitars left on the bucket list are stupid expensive so will likely never happen:

• Framus Jan Akkerman
• Gibson Les Paul Recording

I've got two as well and both Gibson. '61 SG and a Cherry 335.

[gordo]

Yeah, good call.  I've never been able to play an SG because I have a bit of a death grip on necks but recently played a Pete Townsend model that was really cool till I saw the price tag.  Fat neck and a wrap around tailpiece on a P90 setup that is what I think an SG should be.

I had a walnut colored 325 when I was a kid that was one of the best guitars I've ever played with it's Firebird mini humbuckers that I wish I could get back.  Dumb shit you do chasing cooler stuff.