Yamaha — A Giant Among Guitar Makers

Yamaha is a company that stands on an entirely different scale from most other guitar manufacturers.
Its origins date back to the Meiji era (late 19th century),
and while it began as a musical instrument maker,
it has since grown into a global industrial giant.

Today, Yamaha’s product range includes motorcycles and scooters, boats and marine engines, jet skis, snow throwers, AV systems,
and even piers and swimming pools—so many that listing them all would take a full page.
It is one of Japan’s most diversified and world-renowned manufacturers.

Within such a vast organization, the electric guitar division is probably one of the least profitable.
Perhaps for that reason, detailed corporate accounts of Yamaha’s electric guitar operations are hard to find.

In 1972, Yamaha developed the prototype of its most iconic original design, the SG series,
and has continued to refine and produce it for more than four decades.
Although Yamaha has primarily focused on original designs,
there was a brief period when, like many other Japanese makers of the time,
it produced and sold copy models inspired by Gibson and Fender.