LesB3
Member
Yep! I guess once they lost Gretsch, they were merely waiting for the next shoe to drop (Guild).OK, so Yamaha decided not to have those guitars made at SPG any more - so it's not a case of SPG closing and Yamaha being confronted with a problem.
I guess that could mean two things - either the Yamaha bean counters have looked at the profit situation and decided to pull the "retro hollowbodies" from the lineup because they're not making (enough) money for the company, or Yamaha has their own facility, or a better deal at a different one where they can build them. In any case, I guess we'll be speculating wildly on here until we see what happens.
I imagine it did come down to money... Yamaha doesn't sell / make a full hollow-body; in fact, the only hollow guitar they still make is the SA2200 (in Japan). Everything else is an "S" style solid body or a Revstar. "Professional" level Pacificas and Revstars ($2100 US) are made in Japan, "Standard" models are made in Indonesia, and the cheaper stuff is made in Indonesia ($500 US) or China ($220 US).
So, they may have decided that full hollow-bodies aren't worth the trouble (a la Gibson)...
Or, they'll move hollow-bodies to Indonesia...
Or, they'll move hollow-bodies to China (where they'll rejoin their Gretsch Electromatic stablemates).
Of course, there's always a chance they will decide to make them alongside the SA2200, which is exciting to think about, but probably unlikely.
Either way, I guess I'm glad I got mine when I did.