YAMAHA SUPER LIVE SERIES

The Yamaha Super Live Series was a series of radical electric guitars from the 1980s, including the Explorer / Iceman style HR models and the pointy V-shaped FZ-1000.

YAMAHA FZ-1000

The Yamaha FZ-1000 was a Super Live Series model from 1987. The FZ-1000 had an asymmetric small V shaped body and was distributed in Japan only. The bolt on neck has unusal double neck plates

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YAMAHA HR-Custom

The Yamaha Yamaha HR-Custom was introduced in 1994 as a Kyoji Yamamoto signature model. This model is based on the HR-1 from the 1980s , but does not have the complicated built in electronics of the HR-1, instead the HR-Custom has a figured maple top laminated spruce, maple, mahogany and karin body. The neck is also five layer laminated maple and karin. It has a Rockin' Magic Pro-III bridge and two DiMarzio humbuckers  These were made for distribution in Japan only.

 

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YAMAHA HR-I

The Yamaha HR-I was a Super Live Series model from 1987. This model was not made for long and only distributed in Japan so they are relatively rare. There are plenty of extra electronics in this model: the Rockin Magic II tremolo bridge has a built in piezo pickup, the two humbucking pickups are also active, there is a built in compressor and even a built in chromatic tuner.

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YAMAHA HR-III

The Yamaha HR-III was a Super Live Series model from 1987. This model was like the HR-I but without all the built in electronics and it was less than half the price of the HR-I.

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Specifications:

ModelImageFinish colorsMade inNumber of stringsFinish effectsScale length
YAMAHA FZ-1000
1987
black finish, white finishJapan6 strings--
YAMAHA HR-Custom
1994
orange finishJapan6 stringstransparent finish24.72 inches scale length
YAMAHA HR-I
1987
black finishJapan6 strings--
YAMAHA HR-III
1987
black finishJapan6 strings--
ModelControls materialNumber of control knobsPickup selector controlsTone controlsVolume controls
YAMAHA FZ-1000
1987
black controls3 control knobs3-way selector switch--
YAMAHA HR-Custom
1994
gold controls3 control knobs3-way selector switch1 tone control2 volume controls
YAMAHA HR-I
1987
gold controls4 control knobs---
YAMAHA HR-III
1987
black controls3 control knobs3-way selector switch--
ModelPickups configurationPickups brand and modelCircuit functionsPower supply
YAMAHA FZ-1000
1987
2 humbucker pickups---
YAMAHA HR-Custom
1994
2 humbucker pickupsDiMarzio pickup(s)--
YAMAHA HR-I
1987
2 humbucker pickups, piezo mounted tremolo-active electronics, compressor, tuner9V PP3 battery
YAMAHA HR-III
1987
2 humbucker pickups---
ModelBody styleBody materialBody top material
YAMAHA FZ-1000
1987
V shaped body--
YAMAHA HR-Custom
1994
Explorer-style bodylaminated mahogany bodyfigured maple body top
YAMAHA HR-I
1987
Explorer-style body--
YAMAHA HR-III
1987
Explorer-style body--
ModelBridgeHardware color
YAMAHA FZ-1000
1987
locking tremoloblack hardware
YAMAHA HR-Custom
1994
locking tremologold hardware
YAMAHA HR-I
1987
locking tremologold hardware
YAMAHA HR-III
1987
locking tremolochrome hardware
ModelFingerboard position markersFingerboard material
YAMAHA FZ-1000
1987
arrow fingerboard position markers-
YAMAHA HR-Custom
1994
crown fingerboard position markersebony fingerboard
YAMAHA HR-I
1987
dot fingerboard position markers-
YAMAHA HR-III
1987
dot fingerboard position markers-
ModelNeck jointNumber of fretsTuner layoutNeck material
YAMAHA FZ-1000
1987
bolt on neck24 fretsix-in-a-row tuners-
YAMAHA HR-Custom
1994
set neck24 fretsix-in-a-row tunerslaminated neck, maple/mahogany neck
YAMAHA HR-I
1987
set neck24 fretsix-in-a-row tuners-
YAMAHA HR-III
1987
set neck24 fretsix-in-a-row tuners-