Exploring Yamaha's Innovation Road
Stunning historic models from the company's Japanese archive on show
VGS2020: Hamamatsu, Japan, is the home of Yamaha's Innovation Road Museum, a showcase offering 12 video and sound display areas allowing visitors to explore the products that have defined the company's progress since its foundation in 1887.
Here, Yamaha's own Paul Hindmarsh gets to raid the cabinets, conducting a hands-on playing tour of the many historic Yamaha guitars and basses on display.
Showcased instruments include the wildly creative SG7 “Flying Samurai” and SG3/S302 solidbody guitars (1966), the stylish SA15 semi-hollow (1968), the popular double-cutaway SG2000 (1976), the posh SC1200 (1977), and the edgy RGX1220R (1987).
But that's not the end of the story. In part two, which you can watch in Yamaha's Virtual Guitar Show home, Paul gets access to a a top-secret vault containing prototype Yamaha guitars and basses that in many cases were so unusual and futuristic looking that Yamaha was concerned the world might not be ready for them. Watch part two here>>
Get the MusicRadar Newsletter
Want all the hottest music and gear news, reviews, deals, features and more, direct to your inbox? Sign up here.
MusicRadar is the number one website for music-makers of all kinds, be they guitarists, drummers, keyboard players, DJs or producers...
- GEAR: We help musicians find the best gear with top-ranking gear round-ups and high-quality, authoritative reviews by a wide team of highly experienced experts.
- TIPS: We also provide tuition, from bite-sized tips to advanced work-outs and guidance from recognised musicians and stars.
- STARS: We talk to musicians and stars about their creative processes, and the nuts and bolts of their gear and technique. We give fans an insight into the craft of music-making that no other music website can.
“I feel like that song had everything we needed to come back with”: Bring Me The Horizon’s Lee Malia on Shadow Moses, its riff and the secrets behind its tone, and why it was the right anthem at the right time
“For those on the hunt for a great quality 12-string electro-acoustic that won’t break the bank, it's a no-brainer”: Martin X Series Remastered D-X2E Brazilian 12-String review