My First Electric Guitar 我的第一支電結他 – Yamaha RGX612S

This is my first electric guitar bought on Christmas of 1988. It is a Yamaha RGX612S and is one of those “Superstrats” that are extremely popular at that time.

Coming from the “Superstrats” family, the RGX612S is equipped with thinner,  fast upper fret access guitar neck and stable tremolo system that are highly suitable for shredding and heavy metal music.

1988 年的聖誕節我買了我的第一支電結他 – 日本山葉牌的 RGX612S。RGX 系列是山葉回應當時極度流行之＂Superstrats＂的電結他。它的特點是具備了較纖巧、易於彈奏高音符的結他頸及不易走音的顫音系統，適合彈奏重搖擺音樂及速彈的技巧。

The RGX612S was manufactured in Yamaha Taiwan’s Kaohsiung factory with the following specifications:

這支 RGX612S 是由臺灣山葉的高雄分廠製造，主要規格如下：

Body  琴身	Agathis Basswood
Neck  琴頸	Nato
Fretboard  指板	24-fret Rosewood
Bridge  琴橋	Yamaha Rocking Magic Pro (RM-Pro) locking tremolo with Yamaha Locking nuts
Pickup  拾音器
Neck  頸	Yamaha Alnico single coil
Middle  中置	Yamaha Alnico single coil
Bridge 琴橋	Yamaha Ferrite Humbucking
Pickup selector  拾音器切換	Standard “Fender Stratocaster” 5-way selector
Control Knob  控制旋鈕	One Master Volume   One Tone for Neck & Middle One Tone for Bridge with coil split

For better grip and cosmetic reason, I have replaced those small metal control knobs with typical Gibson type’s Acrylic knobs.

Although this is a low-end guitar, the overall sound is quite good with clean single coil sound and distorted humbucking tone.

原裝的金屬音量及音調旋鈕較細小，操控稍為不便，購入不久後便把它們更換為 Gibson 結他較常用的透明旋鈕，個人感覺外觀亦較佳。

雖然 RGX612S 是低價款式，但整體音色不錯。兩組 single coil 拾音器頗清晰，另一組 Humbucking 拾音器亦能提供搖擺樂所需的失真聲。

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I can’t recall why I bought this guitar. Probably I was attracted by its aggressive look and the relatively low price tag. I had spent around HKD 4000 for this guitar together with a Roland Cube DAC 15XD guitar amplifier. While the Cube was given to my friend long ago, the RGX was lying quietly in its case for the past 10 years or more.

This 30 years old gear still looks great from outside but needs some fixing works especially on the electronics. Inspired by my close friend who is fond of guitar modification, I plan to make the Yamaha shine again in the coming months starting from the restoration of the electronics …

當日為何買下這支結他呢？坦白說，我也記不起。可能是外型吸引，很”酷”吧。當然最重要是價格便宜，加上一部 15 Watts 的 Roland Cube DAC 15XD 擴音機也不到四千港元! 那 Cube 多年前已送了給朋友，而這支 RGX612S 則沉睡在盒子裏超過十多年。

從外貌看來，這個老古董仍然瀟灑，只是三十年的風霜歲月已令它聲音變得有點沙啞，需要延醫治理。受一個熱愛改裝結他的摯友所影響，我決定要在未來數月内修復這支 RGX612S，令它重現昔日風彩。