This guitar was made in 1988 to 1991 and retailed on release at 90,000 yen according to Yamaha’s Japanese archives.
However they appear in Western Catalogues much later they were made in both Japan and Taiwan, possibly at different times.
They certainly appear in catalogues for 1994 in the west.
I have seen made in Taiwan models up to as late as May 1998 OH26307 is a Natural coloured January 1998 model and
OL10111 is a black May 1998 model both MIT. In The March 2016 sale by guitar auctions there is an MIT SA
1100 dating from 1999 with the serial number PH05177 so is this the last year?
Even more mysterious is that these guitars do not appear in any of the 1998 or 1999 catalogues.
Possibly the first run from 88-91 was Japanese and they made some from 1994 onwards in Taiwan, but this is just speculation.
Specifications
Body Bound Beech and Birch finish
Neck Set Bound Mahogany Bound C shape
Fretboard Rosewood Dot inlays 13.75" radius 22 frets
Headstock Black Yamaha in caps and super axe in gold script black on white truss rod cover with SA 1100 written on includes the
swirly thistle like logo
Tuners Yamaha branded sealed
Pickups 2 Alnico 5 Humbuckers coil split
Controls Black 2 volume 2 tone push push for coil tap 3 way switch with white tip
Nut 42mm
Hardware Chrome
Bridge T-O-M stoptail
Pickguard Standard Black on white
Colours Brown Sunburst, Orange Sunburst, Black or Natural
One distinctive feature is the very wide spacing of the 12th fret dots in somecases right at the edge of the board
A further complication is this guitar the serial Number should indicate a MIJ in 1986 which is
two years before the launch, I would be inclined to believe that it is yet another Yamaha Serial Number anomaly. You would think
that if it was MIJ they would have taken the photo at a slightly higher angle to show it.
Update January 2020
Alois Permaneder from the Yamaha forum has purchased a lovely 1100, which he points out is only 5 serial numbers away from
one of the above guitars See pictures below. He has also pointed out that the strange serial number I show above may be
SYJO001 which makes sense as a November 1988 model. Well spotted and good thinking. Thank you.
