CA Guitar Repair Blog: 1999 Yamaha RBX200

This Yamaha RBX200 was rescued from a house fire, or more precisely; after about half an hour in a burning room. Here are some pertinent details about the instrument:

Serial Number: PL27118
Origin: Kaohsiung Yamaha, Taiwan
Date of Manufacture: May 27, 1999

It's here in the shop for damage assessment, basically. After submitting my assessment and repair recommendations, the ball will be in the owner's court; so to speak. I've titled this post as 'Part 1,' but I really don't know at this point if there will be a 'Part 2.' We'll begin with full-length front and rear views of the RBX200, followed by the serial number on the back of the headstock.

1999 Yamaha RBX200

Serial Number

Now, we shift focus to the headstock as a whole. This headstock features a gloss black finish, four Yamaha tuners, and a single string retainer for the D and G strings. The tuners show signs of rust, and the plastic washer for E string tuner has melted into nothingness. In the pics below you'll also notice lots of paint blistering; but that's not really a problem as playability won't be affected.

Headstock Face

Blistered Paint

Lone String Retainer

Back of Headstock

Rusty Tuners

D and G Tuners

E and A Tuners

Enough of the headstock, then. Let's move on to the bolt-on neck, also finished in gloss black. This neck features a single-action truss rod, adjustable at the neck heel, and accessed via a channel routed into the body. Now, here comes one big problem. With the truss rod loosened fully, the neck is actually back bowed. So, I'll have to straighten the neck somehow and if I can't; that will be it!

Truss Rod Channel and Adjustment Nut

Neck Heel

Neck Pocket

Truss Rod Adjustment Nut

Neck is Back Bowed

Let's talk about the fretboard, then. It's radiused at roughly 12 inches, and appears to be genuine rosewood; not some other wood dyed to look like the real thing. This fretboard is streaked with caked sweat, grime and who-knows-what; I believe it was already like this before the fire. Looking at the top end of the fretboard, something else becomes apparent. There's no nut, and the slot itself is missing chunks of rosewood. Boy, have I got my work cut out for me!

Rosewood Fretboard

12" Fretboard Radius

Damaged Nut Slot

Meanwhile, the 22 frets are in no better shape. They're all badly tarnished and strangely discolored. This time, I think we can point to the blaze as the culprit. On the brighter side, this fretboard is adorned with whitish pearloid dot inlays and yellowish pearloid side dots; a nice touch indeed.

Frets in Poor Condition

Pearloid Dot Inlays

Pearloid Side Dots

Moving on to the front of the gloss black body, everything appears to be stock save for the 'skull and crutches' airbrush graphic and 'Password Protected' warning sticker. Besides the two tarnished chrome strap buttons and rusty vintage-style bridge, the only other feature of interest is the lone P-style pickup. It is still functioning with a DCR of 7.73K, as measured. I almost forgot, also residing here are two chrome dome knobs for volume and tone, and a rather gnarly output jack.

RBX200 Body - Front View

Upper Horn Strap Button

Rear End Strap Button

P-Style Pickup | DCR 7.73K

Vintage-Style Bridge

Corrosion is Apparent

Rusty Bridge Ground Wire

Control Knobs and Output Jack

Well, here we are at the end of our mini tour, looking at the back of the body. First, there's a battle-scarred 'Yamaha Since 1887' four-screw neck plate, which bolts the neck to the body. Next is the control cavity, which appears to be unshielded. This cavity houses two mini pots for tone and volume, a ceramic tone cap; and cobweb-infested output jack. Nothing really works here, as connections are iffy at best. Recalling the rusty bridge ground earlier, one can only imagine the current state of the control cavity wiring. If the repair job ever progresses this far, I recommend that all components be upgraded.

RBX200 Body - Rear View

Yamaha Neck Plate

Control Cavity

Volume and Tone Mini Pots

Output Jack

Folks, it's nearly midnight as I type this, but I'm in good spirits; thanks to the owner's visit earlier this evening. We had a really intense discussion for more than an hour, in which I explained clearly the various issues uncovered, and most viable solutions. For starters, he's instructed me to begin working on that nasty back bow, with the understanding that this will make or break the entire repair job. So, I'm thinking of clamping the neck for at least a month with a little heat thrown in for good measure.