Why do I like my Yamaha SC400 so much?

[Dr. Martin]

Is anyone familiar with the SC400? It's a through-neck 3 single coil from the mid 80s, it is very playable, though with quite a dark sound. I'm toying with the idea of replacing a tone capacitor. It works well as a couch guitar, I don't know how it would gig or in mixed sessions. Any comments gratefully received.
(This is not a picture of my actual guitar).

[muscmp]

tone capacitor may help some but the tone knob may be the best. also, tweak the amp.

play music!

[Dr. Martin]

That makes sense, I'm usually operating with tone fully bright, volume wide open, and on the neck pickup. It just seems generally darker sounding than my other electrics. Still, I wonder if anyone knows that model guitar.

[Steve DeRosa]

I've owned the more conventional-looking (kinda SG-meets-Gretsch Corvette) but similarly-appointed SSC-500 since '82; served as my main stage guitar until '86, my backup until 2011, and my beater since then - here's my tuppence worth:

• First off, I've also got the same hot-wound pickups in my guitar (albeit with blades rather than individual polepieces) as well as that massive cast bridge assembly (not exactly anyone's first choice if you're looking for a dark, "woody" tone) and I'd be very curious what kind of amplification you've been using. Over the last 35+ years I've run mine through my '64 Ampeg Rocket, Randall RB-120, Music Man 410-65, several incarnations of Peavey Studio Pro and Bandit combos, Fender Champ 12, Line 6 Flextone Plus, Tech 21 Trademark 10, '65 Super Reverb RI, and Bugera V22 and V5 combos, and the one word I'd never use to describe my pickups is dark; to my ears they sound like a cross between a hot P-90 and a '60s Tele bridge PU, tappable (via the push-push tone control) to a very-Jimi late-60's Strat tonality - and in its full-bore setting through a clean tube amp at moderate volume, that neck pickup sings sweeter than Pavarotti's parakeet...
• Don't know whether yours was made before or after the transition to Taiwan production, but the Japanese-built Yamahas from this period (mine's a MIJ) are arguably their finest-made/sounding solid electrics; I had Vinnie Fodera (he of the five-figure handmade uber-basses) do the setup work on mine - his shop was two blocks from where I lived at the time and he still did a limited amount of general repair work - and I recall him being extremely impressed with the level of fit and finish, even more so when I told him that I scored it for $199 brand-new w/HSC. Although I'm usually very careful with my gear, this one saw 25 years of in-the-trenches use (and looks it, compared to the rest of my stable) and continues to do yeoman service: pickups still sound great, pots and switches still work fine (mine has individual on-off pickup switches - extremely versatile, and why they never reissued this baby is beyond me), wore out two sets of tuners (the factory originals - the only weak link here IME - and the first replacement set of Grover Rotomatics; got a second set of keystone R-Matics on it now that look like they came from the factory and tune a whole lot better than OEM), but this little cherry-red beauty keeps delivering the goods year after year - and this is one guitar that I'm sure will continue serving some lucky player long after I'm gone...
• I'm very particular about neck width/contour - my Holy Grail is those early-'61 Strat B-necks, followed by the pre-Norlin '60s Gibson flat-C 1-5/8" (or less) Slim-Taper - but I found this one quite comfortable and negotiable from the get-go, in my hands similar to the PRS "wide-thin" profile of the late-90's, but with more of a C-shape that allows me to wrap my thumb over to the A string with ease; it's also very stable - unlike many of their American counterparts I'd venture to guess that the MIJ Yamahas were still being made with properly-seasoned/air-dried woods, and it hasn't required any adjustments whatsoever since its initial setup...

As suggested I'd check out the tone circuit and, should you need/want to replace the tone pot, I'd recommend converting it to a tapped setup like the SSC-500 if yours has four-wire pickups; if you use the "tapped" position as your default setting you should have no problem getting the crispness you're after, and a quick push on the tone control will drive the front end of your tube amp into a nice bluesy crunch - proof positive that you don't always need a stompbox...

It's a little late and I don't want to incur the wrath of my S.O. - but I'll be pulling mine out tomorrow morning, firing up the Bugera V22, and reminding myself why I like my Yamaha SSC-500 so much...

[Dr. Martin]

Hi Steve, thanks for the very comprehensive reply, worth a bit more than tuppence, if you ask me. My SC400 is MIJ, in 1982 by the looks of it. I'm glad you rate it so highly. After your long list of desirable high end valve amps, I'm more than a little embarrassed to admit it's generally played through my Roland Micro Cube RX, (don't let on). I do use the Black Panel model though.
Compared with my Strat and Mustang, it does have a darker sound, something that a little amp tweaking would likely sort out. The poor guitar is rarely played in company, our sessions are usually acoustic based.
I really ought to unearth the Fender Super 60 from my shed, it is scary loud though. Thanks again, C.

[moon]

Yamaha have got quite an impressive record across many different types of musical instruments. The best they make can be really excellent and the cheaper ones tend to be excellent value for money which often outperform anything else in a similar price range.

If it's too dark definitely try a new tone cap - get two or three with different values and see which one you like best.

If that doesn't do it, swap out the pickups. Or rewind the ones you've got (it's not that hard).

EDIT: as clintj mentioned below better advice is to check the pot values & try higher resistance.

[clintj]

If you have the tone knob dimed, the tone cap is bypassed out of the circuit as long as the tone pot is working right. I'd look first at pickup adjustment, especially height, before digging into the guitar to alter the sound. Single coils are finicky about that.

My list to consider would be a treble bleed mod, then value of the pots (higher resistance pots will brighten things up).

My bandmate has the cousin to that guitar, the model with the humbucker bridge pickup, and it shouldn't really be hurting for clarity and brightness.