Yamaha SE200

Mahoganey body & neck, rosewood fingerboard, 22 frets, a slighly less contoured Strat clone (square-er edges, no body cutout on back). Three single coil pickups, 5-way selector switch, 1 volume & 1 tone control. Metallic flake blue finish w/ black plastic pickguard. I got this guitar new in 1985. Made somewhere in the Far East, I never actually noticed, but since the consensus here on HC seems to be Taiwan, I'll go w/ that.

Stock bridge absolutely sucks; flimsy stamped metal. I replaced that with a Schaller bridge almost immediately.

Stock tuning machines were pretty poor also; they barely held their tune for long enough to play an entire set. I replaced them around 2001 with LSR linear pull tuners. These are a major improvement, but have some problems of their own (!)

Stock pickups sounded kinda cool actually: very low output, with none of the sparkle or glassy high end one normally associates with Strat-type single coil pickups. Warmer, rounder, but not thick. Almost like a Danelectro sound. Very good for clean rhythm guitar parts, funk, avant-garde Fred Frith sort of stuff, etc. Didn't really have enough output to make a tube amp sing for good overdrive/distortion sounds.

Unfortunately, the stock pickups were also very susceptible to noise (RF and EMF). In 2003 I replaced these with Seymour Duncan Vintage Rails. WOW! What an amazing improvement! Now this guitar sounds like the archetypal Fender Stratocaster. It rocks, it twangs, it does it all.

Considering its intended sell price ($199) and market (presumably beginners), this guitar was set up pretty darn okay. No surprises or disappointments, nothing worth raving about nor condemning Yamaha for.

Action is average. The guitar did require a fret dressing right out of the box, and every now & then I think I should just refret it with lower profile frets; even now, after 21 years of regular play, the frets are so high off the fingerboard that I can almost do pitchbends by squeezing the neck, like McLaughlin's or Malmsteen's scalloped-fingerboard work.

The layout of the controls is awful: Both the Volume knob and the pickup selector switch are right where your strumming hand goes when you're wailing, so I tend to move both controls accidentally way too often. On the other hand, it's trivial to do volume swells with your pinky.

It's lasted me 21 years and shown no signs of slowing down...though, as noted, I've replaced the bridge, tuning machines, & pickups. But I've used it on a gig without a backup, never had a strap button fail, finish is still 100% intact (except for the place where I dropped it onto some broken concrete).

Never had to call Yamaha about this guitar.

I've been playing guitar since 1973; in addition to this Yamaha SE-200 I own a Paul Reed Smith CE24MT, a Roland G-303, an Ibanez AF75, and a Vox Phantom. If this SE-200 got lost or stolen I would *not* go out of my way to replace it with an identical instrument...but I would definitely get another Fender-esque guitar with single coil pickups (probably a Tele).

What I love about it is that I won it in a raffle; it was free.

8

This thing was made in the 80s. Iv had this guitar for the last 15 years. 22 frets THis has your typical strat controls. 5 way switch etc.

The stock pups in this like mention are very jazzy. i play mostly blues and jazzy stuff. So pups work fine. However, I do think I will upgrade them.

This thing weights a ton, 9.5lbs on the scale. bolt on neck. This thing is built like a tank. its been dropped, ran into walls while running aroun dthe house as a teen. laughs. body is mahagony. Mine is black and beat to hell so I can see the wood very easy in spots. BUt it did take work to earn the war scars. :) your typical strat copy. Made better than most id have to imagen. you could go to war with this thing. stock tuners keep tune just fine. rosewood fretboard. the first thing I did when i got this guitar 15 years ago was replace the cheese stamp bridge neck is fits my big hands fine.

sounds good. but may change the pups out to see what she does.
For the record this thing sounds so pretty acoustic, and will sustain for years. better since it weighs as much a a les paul. lol.

This guitar has been setup over the years by me. action is great.
I am in need for a fret job tho. :( guitar was perfect when I got her as a kid.

This thing will out last all of us. and keep on kicking.

This guitar has been my friend for a lot of years now. I wish it could be replaced if anything happened. But its made it through a few fires, car accidents, camping trips, ex girlfriends. and one window. Dont ask. heh

Rock on.

Bought it in '84, 22 frets, s/s/s/, dark metallic blue w/black guard

5 way switch with 2 knobs (1 tone, 1 volume)

Unsure of the wood, but heavier & a bit fatter than a standard strat, this thing is beefy!

I never liked the pickups on this guitar, I like in your face rock & roll & blues played loud, and the stock pups are very "jazzy" low output, you really had to attack them extremely hard to get any kind of "edge" out of them.

I finally replaced them this week with high output overwound pickups and what a difference it makes, this thing is like a different guitar altogther! I cant put it down now whereas before I would play it for about 5 minutes before I got disgusted with it. I'ts about as subtle as a sledghammer now, the pickups are ceramic & a bit harsh, but compared to before it is a joy to play, now it's a real rock machine with growl & bite. Maybe not the greatest for blues, but hey, I got the pickups for $15 so I'm not complaining!

The guitar is extremely solidly built, nice finish, tuners are very good for a "budget clone". The bridge as other people have noted is kind of chintzy, but it works.

This guitar will last forever, it is built like the proverbial "tank". That cliche is overused, but it is applicable with this guitar, I've had it for 20 years and it'll go for another 20 I'm sure.

Unknown

I have seven other guitars, mostly humbucker equipped. Now that I have changed out the pickups in this one it can go toe to toe with any of them. Now, it's a keeper that will get a lot of playing time.

It would be impossible to replace new, but now I would miss it if it were stolen, it kicks major ass now. But you gotta replace the pickups if you want to rock & roll!

Unsure of year. Made in Taiwan. 22 frets, has three single coil pickups, 5-way selector, volume and tone. Strat clone.. not sure what kind of pickups. Very heavy, dunno what kind of wood its made of. Dark blue metalic finish with a black pickguard. Cheap bridge with Yamaha japan tunes.

I play indie rock, punk and some rock. Suits my indie style well because the guitar has a great clean tone plus I can get a lot of nice tones from the guitar. I use an old Baldwin Delux Professional 30 watt amp with trem and reverb. The amp is over 40 years old and sounds great with my guitar. With distortion it dosen't sound that great but still suits my style well.

Action is alright on the guitar. The pickups could have been set better, palm muting can sometimes be a problem because of the center pickup being in the way. The bridge is crap, I want to have it replaced.. and the 5 way selector is a little loose.

I've just got this guitar but I am certain it will last forever. I have jammed with my band earlier and will have no problem playing live. Finish has some scratches.. and the screws and some of the pickups are a little rusty but otherwise in good shape for an old guitar. Strap buttons are solid and I can depend on this lasting for a while and would gig without a backup.

I've never contacted Yamaha

I've been playing for about 4 years and I have gone though many guitars usually getting bored of one, or finding things I dislike about them and changing till I find something I like. If it was stolen I would probably just end up buying something else but would miss it. I love the clean tone of the guitar and the look of it, very nice shape.

my guitar has 22 frets ut the volume controller is to close to the bridge so when im doing a palm muted te volume goes down unintencionnaly and its a point aganist and the selector is a little unestable so when im changing the way selector this one keeps on the middle and dont generate any sound but this guitar is so good anyway

i play heavy and power metal and a little bit of blues and this guitar is prety good at doing riffs but the picking sound is not great but anyway is good for the blues and a smooth and low distorsion as the used by santana. the guitar is a little bit noisy but if you are clean when you are playing this guitar has a good response and the artificial harmonics are not good at all

the pick ups are not good placed caused when im doing a palm muted the pick are over the middle pick up and it gives a little of hit noise to the play

this guitar is amazing durable i has it since 1994 and it keeps like the first day this guitar are the most durable i've ever know.
it has only one calibrated in all its time use

ive never used the customer support so i cannot have any suggestion

anyway this guitar is amazing and i wont sell it
at least i get the joe satriani 2002

Unsure of Mfging Yr. or where was made. Standard Fret/solid body Strat clone w/ s/s/s,finish is a paint with gloss top coat. Has die cast tuners w/no apparent brand name. Medium fret set up.

This guitar is really suited as a strong country/R&B instrument due to a slight weakness in the pick-up output. I have used this guitar with a Chandler tube driver/Ross compressor & the Digitech P2000 delay pedal. It generally takes on a more bass quality in the neck position, but will brighten up on the bridge pick-up. It handles the above well but tends to muddy up when distortion is added. My playing style is very hard hitting and it will take it well.

This guitar was a given to me by the guy I gig with. It had been converted to Left hand and this caused some problems when I converted it back to right. The electronics had to be completely gone through for resoldering of connections and realignment of pick-up's. The action suffered from the conversion. When made over Left/h the set up caused some damage to the saddle which I am still trying to correct. The action had to be completely redone, otherwise it plays well down to the 12th fret where it will start dead ringing.

A very durable guitar, seems to have been abused some and none the worse for it. There are noticable dents in the head, neck, and body. It seems other than the cosmetic effect of this no problem.

So far have completed my own repairs so I would go with a N/A.

I have been playing for 30 yrs. I have made most of my career playing bass guitar. I own a USA Fender Jazz 5, Takamine classical & Washburn Acoustic/Electric. I have an Ampeg Isovent 2x15 2x10 w/horn and a Rickenbacker R35B solid state amp. Pedals mentioned above.
As far as the guitar it seems fairly sturdy, and as a clone goes it handles fairly good.

1984 Made in Taiwan (I think)
Mahogany body, mahogany neck w/ rosewood fingerboard
s/s/s passive pickups with master volume, master tone, & 5-way selectro switch. Interestingly, all the controls are directly soldered on to a printed circuit board.
Fixed bridge made of stamped metal...totally cheesey, I replaced it with a Schaller bridge. Yamaha enclosed tuning machines...they look decent, but since this guitar *never* stays in tune, I just replaced them with LSR straight-pull machines. (Might need a new nut too.)

Basically it's your typical crappy Asian Strat clone.

Pickups are very susceptible to noise, & have weak output...but it sounds GREAT! Tweezy, twangy, crisp and clanky, it makes the perfect techno-pop rhythm guitar. Also does a surprisingly passable job as a clean bebop-jazz sound. Its sound seems to fit into a mix nicely, not too fat or too huge.

It does, however, suck through distortion.

Typical cheap guitar (hey, it only listed for $199 brand new!), i.e., absolutely nothing to rave about.

I've had this guitar for 17 years and it works as well as it did from day one. Very dependable, ought to last forever.

Despite the necessary replacements (bridge & tuning machines) and a forthcoming unecessary but desired replacement (I'm installing 3 Seymour Duncan Vintage Rails pickups), I would recommend this guitar to anyone looking for a Strat-type guitar that can withstand a lot of abuse.

I think was made in japan. the pickup configuration is s/s/s. it looks like a strat clone. I don't know what kind of wood is it made but is a very heavy one.

I like the clean sound of the guitar, but at the rock'in side is not as good as I expected. I use a Crate GX15 amp and I never have used a distortion effect but the amp one, that's why maybe the sound is not as I expect but is not as bad. also, I have a IBANEZ CS9 stereo chorus and It sounds awesome with this guitar.

The finish, I think is a quality one, because this guitar is verryyyy old!!!! has the original paint and only has a little scratch, product of the guys at the delivery, I think

I think this guitar will last forever!!!!!

"the worst customer support has yamaha over the entire world".

about one year playing it. I don't want to ever think it will be stealed, was a gift from my mother, and would never buy it again not because was from my mother, but for the love I have to this guitar. I would like to have a good distortion effect to see what this axe is capable of.

strat (ish) copy 1980s. vol, tone. s/s/s. made in taiwan. rosewood neck, dunno body but heavy. nice tuners, stays in tune, no trem.

sound: quite versatile can certainly rock but also good for mellow acoustici strumming. thing is the pickups are not very powerful compared to a strat. used as strat back up but had to twiddle the knobs to match the sound (not really possible).

quality control truly remarkable. realy nice neck, low action, easy to play but painted finish on neck caused friction on sweaty palm. (easily cured with light scrubbing of neck with wire wool to remove shine).

very reliable/durable, used regularly on gigs, will probably last forever. have used without backup noo problems but cannot really sub for my strat simply because of the difference in the pickups. great for more mellow stuff but dont expect to get a heavy distorted overload sound- noo!

dunno this is a 15 year old guitar.

played for over 10 years find it v good/ excllt. might replace it but try not to get too involved with objects. a great guitar to play but v heavy compared to strat and has weak pickups but still a nice sound less jangly and cutting than a strat, mellow sound. plays like an expensive guitar when well set up. just bloody great for a cheapo guitar better than some twice the price.

made in japan, has 22 frets, 5 way selector, nice dark mettalic blue finish, chrome tuning knobs, basically it looks like a squire strat, I am a beginner and I don't know too mutch about good features but it looks great, feels, and sounds great and that's all the features a beginner needs

clear and clean great for rythem, I'm using a simple dean markley amp with no effects, can sound extrmly bright or extremely acoustic, very versitle when it comes to sound has 150 sound modifying combinations, I love it it makes for a great beginner guitar in any style.

i bought this guitar used so I have no idea what it was like from the factory but when i got it it was perfect everthing was in perfect order except for a couple of smalls dings in the finish and scratches on the pick gard

this guitar is very sturdy except for the output jack comes loose quite often it may just be a flaw in my guitar but it's very annoying it is sturdier than I expected for such a low price and could definetly take a beating, it has lasted this long and i suspect it will survive for many years more, It's dependable and both strap buttons are very solid, I most definetly would use it in a gig without a backup

customer support sucks on all of the SE series i could only find one posting on the entire web which contained a picture of one and some history of the guy who played it, as far as getting help or information from Yamaha good luck they barley recognize it's excistence and what's even worse is in guitar store master books the guitar model isn't even listed it is truley an abandoned treasure.

I am a begining player I started playing 2 weeks ago, as for regrets or unasked questions i have none i thing this guitar is worth double what I payed to a beginer, In the store I bought it at I had a large selection of squires, ibanex, and pearl guitars but I chose this one because it's affordable, versitle, dependabele and the best guitar for a beginer that anybody could find. I bought a Dean Markley 55 watt k-20b amplifier which has no effects but is a great beginner amp and who's better to say whats easiest for a beginer than a beginer if god was to frown upon me and destroy my SE I would search all I could but it would probably be hopeless for no one can find even literature on one.