Are you a fan of Yamaha guitars? I bet you’ve either owned one or know somebody who has, am I right? From their affordable acoustics to the evergreen Pacifica series, Yamaha are a brand that hits every price point. They’ve been particularly strong with beginner and student guitars, but they’ve also made some of the greatest top-end electrics and acoustics in the business. Check out their Hamamatsu-made instruments and you’ll see exactly what I mean!
Yamaha have been making excellent instruments since the 1940s, believe it or not! I thought it might be a useful and interesting thing to look into the timeline of their guitars and basses, to sort of track the company’s progress across the decades. Now, they are a huge company who create a dizzying array of instruments, so I don’t hope for this to be exhaustive. What I’ll do is go decade by decade, and plant certain flags in the timeline as I go along. Interested parties can use this as a stepping stone for further investigation.
If you’re a Yamaha aficionado, you’ll enjoy spotting all of the classic model names! If you’re less well-versed on the brand, you may be surprised at how varied and prodigious their output has been!
The Yamaha Guitar and Bass Timeline
1970s - The SG, and Hooky’s Bass
1990s - the Decade of the Pacifica
2000s - Looking Backwards, Looking Forwards
1960s
Yamaha began back in the 1940s, but the 60s are when things really kicked off.
1966 - The first Japanese-made folk acoustic, the FG180, was made. Yamaha also released some pretty far-out guitars in the form of the SG-2 and SG-3, with a matching SB-2 bass. These are not the famous SG models from the 70s, but something quite different altogether! 1966 also has the SG-7 being released, which as far as I’m concerned is one of their coolest designs!
1967 - First Yamaha classical guitars appear on the scene. The start of many!
1968 - The classical line is broadened with the first Yamaha flamenco models. Also, the company’s first hollow bodies (SA-50 and SA-15) show up too. The end of the decade saw further variations on those original SG models, including an SG-3C guitar.
1970s - The SG, and Hooky’s Bass
The 70s were a significant decade for Yamaha, with several historical models introduced, and many styles that are still in production today. Here are some highlights…
1971 - Folk guitar range expanded with FG1500, FG2000 and FG2500 models.
The following year brought the first model with a pickup, the FG350E.
1974 - Not only the debut of the L series high-end acoustics, but also the SG-175, the origin model of the famous Yamaha SG. This was followed up in 1976 with the SG-2000 and SG-1000 models. The SG was clearly designed to offer an alternative to the Gibson Les Paul, and was built for thick tone and sustain. The SG-2000 was the model that Carlos Santana got involved with, and which was used by Big Country’s Stuart Adamson. The SG-1000 is the post-punk guitar of choice thanks to its use by John McGeoch of Siouxsie and the Banshees.
1977 - The release of the BB-1200 bass, a future classic. This is the Peter Hook bass! Hooky eventually got a signature model, but his BB-1200 is on every Joy Division and New Order song ever recorded.
1978 - The release of the SA-2200, which Yamaha themselves describe rather excellently as the ‘crowning model for hollow body electric guitars’. I’m not arguing!
1980s - A Decade of Change
1980 - the dawn of the new decade saw the release of Yamaha’s first line of effects pedals, the PSE series.
1982 - Another ‘crowning model’ from Yamaha, this time the SG-3000, the range’s top model.
1984 - BB-5000, the company’s first ever 5-string bass.
1986 - the very hair-metal-friendly SFX-1 and RGX guitars are released.
1987 - the debut of the APX acoustic series, which is still super-popular today. Also the company’s 100th Anniversary.
1990s - the Decade of the Pacifica
1990 - The debut of the Pacifica, with the Pacifica 912 model. Designed in LA in collaboration with several session gunslingers, the Pacifica was created to be the ultimate in versatility. 1990 also saw the release of a signature bass for Billy Sheehan.
1997 - Yamaha’s first ever digital modelling guitar amp, the DG series.
1998 - The CPX ‘Compass’ range of acoustics are released. This range has remained popular ever since.
2000s - Looking Backwards, Looking Forwards
2000 - Yamaha return to that cool reverse ‘banana’ shape of the 1960s SG-3 with the newly redesigned SGV800 guitar and SBV500 bass.
2001 - SLG100N, Yamaha’s famous Silent Guitar is released first in a nylon string format. A bold design for a bold idea, this proves popular and is still in production.
2009 - NX series nylon string guitars released, made popular by Rodrigo Y Gabriela.
2010 - SRT System introduced, which replicates the feel of real air space in an acoustic guitar’s plugged-in sound. 2010 also saw the re-introduction of the Yamaha SG with a trio of new models that included the SG1802, SG1820 and the active-pickup model 1820A.
2011 - The popular THR digital ‘house amps’ are released, and again are still in production.
2015 - The Yamaha Revstar model debuts, offering a new design and style.
2016 - The Transacoustic is released, whcih features pioneering technology to give the acoustic guitar real-time effects like reverb and chorus directly from the guitar, with no external effects or amplification.
What’s Next for Yamaha?
As you can see from this rather heavily truncated timeline, Yamaha have offered a wide range of styles and innovations over the years. Classic models have been reintroduced alongside fresh designs, and there seems still to be an attitude of looking ahead, which is commendable for any company of this size.
Yamaha own Line 6, so much of their recent innovation has been based in that direction, with new Helix models on the horizon. No doubt that will continue into 2026, but I wonder if it’ll be long before we see some new guitars coming our way? Keep an eye out right here on the guitarguitar website, where you know we’ll keep you updated on the latest moves by Yamaha and everybody else!
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