Beats 90% of similarly priced guitars in today's market in an instant!

This rare Yamaha electric guitar easily beats any other models of similar specification in its price range today. To get a guitar with this standard of playability, craftsmanship and electronics below £700 (new) is near impossible. Even with 30+ years of wear, most of these are still dramatically more playable than the majority of similar guitars today, and the craftsmanship is second-to-none.

The shape of the body, contours, position of the cutaways and the extended neck make the 24 neck completely accessible, and the low action makes for an overall easy playing experience.

Although the sound from the pickups is a little on the dark side from the large amount of mahogany, they are still remarkably impressive for the price. The electronics are very well wired and incredibly reliable.

Overall an amazing guitar, very hard to find in good condition but if you can get one then you're onto something great!

Cool Les Paul Killer

Made in Japan. Really nice Gibson-style guitar from Yamaha's great 80s period. The same pickups as the SG range but it has a more chunky neck. Sustain is superb; the SF 500 has a bolt on neck, whereas other models are set neck. The sound from the pickups was (as the other review says) a bit too dark, but changing the tone capacitors fixed that. When I got this the frets were worn beyond levelling so I had to replace them. Lovely guitar, although it weighs a ton.