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I imagine you can get tonal duds and tonal crackers from one SA2200 to the next, just as you can with 335s and any other guitar made out of bits of wood stuck together. From what I gather, the stock pickups are a fair bit hotter than typical 335 pickups, so putting low-output pickups in might just take the corners off the sound - you would at least be removing one variable when comparing.
I did own an SA2100 a few years ago that I didn't like anything like as much as my 2200. The pickups in that seemed quite a bit hotter and I didn't like the sound overall.
I've got Tokai 138, 158, Gibson 345, 339, 336, and 335s style guitars from Collings, Ibanez, Taylor, Indie, Vintage, Cort, etc, plus SA2200 and a bunch of Gibson 335s. One recipe maybe but they all have a different voice. The closest matches to the Gibson 335s are the Tokais.
I did later get a Gibson 335 and have to say if you want a natural drive tone out of it, then you got to work damned hard to get the tone sounding organic. Of course it does that STAX/MOTOWN sound great, but it is a fiddly and pernickety beast - no one setting does all... it only likes certain partnerships too...
Tone: SA2200 seems "brighter" than ES-335, this may be down to the ebony board. I haven't noticed much difference in the sustain.
Handling: SA2200 neck seems wider than ES-335, and probably a little slimmer from front to back as well.
Electrical: SA2200 produces slightly more o/p than ES-335. It also has coil-splits, which occasionally have their uses.
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
What is the neck profile on these Yamaha SAs? I'm assuming (in Gibson terms) more 60s than 50s?
So maybe the tonal difference between a 335 and SA200 is based more on those materials than the pickups?
However both sound ace and I love them both :-)
http://www.guitarcollective.co.uk/product/yamaha-sa-2000/
Very nice it was - juar never quite bonded with it!
In general, more modern ones tend to sound thicker and more 'solid' than older ones - probably because they tend to be quite heavily built. Vintage examples tend to sound very 'open' and surprisingly bright in comparison.
This cured my GAS for a semi last year....Ibanez AS93
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c243/Ian_Lea/Mobile Uploads/DSC_0552_zpsxxmgzwbw.jpg
Ridiculous value for money.